Serenity

saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:42 NASB

Make for peace – Not much has changed in the twenty centuries since Yeshua addressed these words to his accusers. We still seem to have no idea what things make for peace. Everywhere we look, violence and anxiety increase. Everyone cries for peace but even at the simplest personal level, peace seems to be very hard to find. What did Yeshua know that we don’t? Why did he rebuke the Pharisees for their lack of insight? We have to explore the context in order to have even an inkling of what is at stake.

The event begins with Yeshua’s final entry into Jerusalem. As he rode down the Mount of Olives, the crowds began to shout joyfully, praising God for all that they had witnessed. Some of the Pharisees criticized them, imploring Yeshua, the leader, to instruct his disciples to be silent. Why would these Pharisees even suggest such a thing? Wasn’t this a momentous day, the appearance of what many thought would usher in a new age of Israel’s supremacy? What concerns did the Pharisees have?

Perhaps they thought the exuberance of the crowd was religiously disrespectful. After all, the Passover season was upon them. Pesach is a time of the celebration of a great miracle, but also a time of humility, God’s graciousness and death. Just as the angels were admonished when they celebrated the death of the Egyptian army, perhaps the Pharisees wished to admonish the crowds because they did not symbolize the depth of the celebrated event. If this is the motivation, then Yeshua’s remark demonstrates that joy is a fundamental component of the making of peace and celebration is its companion. Peace doesn’t come on legal treaties with famous signatures. It comes when the ordinary people experience the freedom to express themselves in public without reprisals. Perhaps that’s something Yeshua had in mind.

But there might be another reason for Yeshua’s cryptic remark.   These particular Pharisees did not recognize the cosmic significance of this event. They were too concerned about personal impact. How would Roman officials react to this boisterous crowd? What would others think of the status of this itinerant prophet from the backwoods of Galilee? How would the crowd’s enthusiastic endorsement affect their status and authority? Each of these concerns is egocentric. Instead of asking, “What does this mean?” (as the men at the Temple Mount asked just a few days later), these Pharisees were asking, “How does this affect me?” And therein lie the blinders of peace. Peace comes when “love your neighbor as yourself” takes precedence over “seeing that the tree was good for food.” Perhaps the reason that the things that make peace are still hidden is because we are still in the Garden gathering fruit from the Tree.

Today your eyes for the things that make peace can be opened. How? By recognizing that the man who said these things lived a life for others—and doing the same.

Topical Index: make for peace, shalom, Luke 19:42