14th April 2024
"Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6)
Last weekend was a grim landmark in the current war between Israel and Gaza. Six months on from the Hamas attacks of 7th October, many Israeli families still wait anxiously for news of loved ones taken hostage, whilst the devastation in Gaza continues to fill our news headlines.
Meanwhile, this month should normally be a month of celebration - Easter for Christians, Eid for Muslims and Passover for Jews. As I passed Muslims in their best clothes clearly on their way to Eid celebrations during my walk this morning, I found myself wondering what it must be like for faithful Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land to be marking these festivals at a time of such horror and grief.
Psalm 122 calls upon us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem". But how do we continue to pray for peace in the midst of such terrible violence and apparently unending misery? This is not something that is easily reduced to 200 words or so, but I think scripture gives us three reasons to hope and to continue to pray.
Firstly, the Bible tells us that God is sovereign and that God is just. During morning prayer recently, we've been reading the book of Exodus. In the early chapters we see how Pharaoh's hard heart causes misery first to the enslaved Israelites and then to his own people who suffer plague upon plague. Yet God is still in charge. God sees injustice, God remembers, and God acts.
Secondly, the life and death of Jesus show us that God has compassion upon us. In Jesus, Emmanuel, God entered his world and lived among us, suffering as we do. On the cross, Jesus identified with all victims of violence and evil, with all who die at the hands of arrogant, aggressive regimes. The cross reminds us that God cares, and that God is present in the Godforsaken places, the places of devastation and misery.
And thirdly, the resurrection of Jesus confirms that, in God's sovereignty and compassion, suffering, evil, violence and devastation will not ultimately win. In raising Jesus from the dead, God did something entirely new, creating new life and new hope out of utter devastation.
And so, we continue to pray. For the people of Israel and Gaza, that God will meet them in the horror of their present and walk with them in this dark valley. For those in power, that their hearts will be softened and that they will turn to God's ways of justice and compassion. For provision for the acute needs for food and medical supplies. And for the Spirit of Resurrection and new life to create a way through to peace - God's Shalom peace, encompassing justice, wholeness, healing, salvation for all.
