Again to Jerusalem

Again Jesus and the disciples came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Mark 11:27-33 

Again to Jerusalem

Entering the city of great faith and doubt
tested and tried with each and every visit
the son of God, Incarnate one for all
knew this journey to be important, fateful.

The friends recording his return visit
might have wondered about all the testing
might have thought the Pharisees fools
to doubt the wonders of their beloved friend.

Yet the man who was God and Mary's son
knew too well the devices of broken humans
how jealousy and greed become the accelerant
to anger and rage waiting to explode.

The timid steps inside the gates were reminders
the cautionary tale of a city given to madness
an holy place that can erupt in such violence
and try to destroy the Savior of the world.

Oh, Jerusalem, how God's heart does weep
for children left to neglect on the streets
for the women scorned because of their birth
for the destruction of the presence of love incarnate.

Can we go again to Jerusalem and stop
the hatred, accusations and the abuse?
Can we go with the heart of our loving God
who made all people in the divine image?

Oh, Jerusalem, spread wide your gates
and welcome finally the love of God
that love which saturated every heart
which binds all humans to one another.