Jerusalem: God’s Holy City預覽

A City of Unity and Love

Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together. — PSALM 122:3 (ESV)

Thousands of years ago, King David called Jerusalem “a city that is bound firmly together.” The Jewish sages explained that this description is not about the physical structure of the city, but about the nature of its inhabitants. From its beginning, Jerusalem was intended to be a city that connects people and brings strangers together.

Today, one can literally witness this apt description. Jews from all four corners of the world have come home to Jerusalem to form one nation. Others, Jewish and Christian, come from around the globe on pilgrimages to Jerusalem and find that they leave different than they were before. Christians encounter the Jewish people and their roots in a way not possible anywhere else in the world. For Jews, thousands of years of history and exile come together in one great story.

In ancient times people connected in Jerusalem for a very practical reason: Three times a year, on the appointed festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks), and Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles), the Israelites would make their pilgrimages to Jerusalem as instructed by the Bible. That meant that three times a year Jerusalem was the place where people could see each other, reconnect, or meet for the first time. Jerusalem united the people while enabling them to bond with God.

Christians will find it meaningful that Jesus and his family traveled to Jerusalem for these festivals as well. In fact, it was when they had traveled to the Temple for Passover that Mary and Joseph inadvertently left him behind. They were an entire day’s journey back toward home before they realized the then-12-year old Jesus wasn’t with them. After returning to Jerusalem and searching for three days, they eventually found Jesus in the Temple, listening to the teaching of the rabbis and asking them questions.

Jerusalem was a place to gather, learn, and exchange ideas. Thankfully, it still is. Today you can find Jews and Christians alike on spiritual pilgrimage, moved by the place where their spiritual forefathers trod, where events from the Bible unfolded, and where the Western Wall— the only remaining structure of the Holy Temple—offers sacred ground to gather for prayer.

Even during the exile, Jerusalem continued to serve as a unifying factor for the Jewish people. While Jews were scattered around the world, our hearts united around Jerusalem—which we prayed for, longed for, and pledged never to forget. Today, Jews and Christians alike believe that people of faith will be gathered to Jerusalem in the last days, united in this city by our love for God and our joy as the messianic era begins.

Past and present, Jerusalem has always been the heart of the nation of Israel, bringing about love and fostering unity. This is our strength, and Jerusalem is its source.