PART TWO: A PROPHET ABOUT TOWN

“There’s a newcomer,”
‘twas the message circulated in the crowds.
Jesus, a prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee
Entered the temple to see the scene for himself.

It looked too much like a marketplace;
Apparently there’s profit to be made
In selling holiness to commoners.
The prophet turned over the tables
And drove out the money-changers and dove-sellers;
He offered healing,
To the blind, to the lame, to the forgotten;
But the priests and scribes didn’t like the hosannas
From the crowd (That’s a recognition of Messiah).
“We’ll be the judge of that,” they cried.
“By what authority do you dare teach?” they asked.
Jesus remained calm; he was firm but eloquent.
He preached in parables, illustrations about
Talents, and bridesmaids, and lamps full of oil;
The temple leaders clung to systematic righteousness,
Apathetic and indifferent to the trauma it caused.
“God is a commodity,” they claimed,
“And we’ve been just enough to earn God’s presence.
If others haven’t, well, that’s on them.”

Jesus just shook his head,
“God’s a banquet. And there’s plenty of room at the table.”

Yes, there were walls in this temple. The establishment
Assumed those walls were keeping God in place.
But in their efforts to section off God for the elite,
They’d managed to choke out God’s presence.
For God is in community; God’s kingdom breaks through
Into the lives of ordinary folks in ordinary moments.
“Soon enough the façade will fall,” said the prophet
“Not one stone will be left here upon one another.”

The temple is big business.
Its taxes fund palaces and roads and aqueducts.
And some of that money even comes back to the High Priest.
Sometimes you’ve got to choose the little gods.
And we can’t have this Nazorean stirring up trouble.
It’s bad for business.
So Caiaphas, the most righteous of all,
Set the plan in motion.
“We’ll put an end to this Jesus,” he said.
“But be discreet, don’t do it during the festival,
We don’t want to cause a fuss,
It’s bad for business.

And tell me, what do you know about
A man named Judas Iscariot?
Do you reckon he could be useful?”

And so the stage was set.
Rome would not bend,
Nor would its patrons nor its henchmen.
And can you hear the loud hosannas now?
Does the chorus seem muted to your ear?

We long for this to be a story about “them.”
We’re not the problem, we’re the solution.
If only Rome would shape up.
If only others would see the world through our lens.
The truth, of course, is different.
It’s not just Rome that needs a resurrection,
It’s each of us as well.

We are confined:
A virus has paused our commotion.
But ask yourself, what do you think needs saving?
Is your focus on temples?
Temples made of money, temples made of power,
Temples made of healthcare vouchers,
Temples made of status
(And dependent on the status quo)?
Or is your focus on God?
Jesus doesn’t intend to save temples.
Jesus intends to remind us of God’s presence.
As Friday nears, where will your focus turn?

But just as Jesus had to go through Friday
To get to Sunday, so must we.
Our journey’s a parabola.
Friday’s gonna be dark, and Saturday, too.
But the light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness will not overcome it.
Sunday’s coming!!!
Remember that, when the cheers die down,
When the palm branches wither and turn brown,
When the gathered scatter,
When the faithful weep,
When hope seems lost,
We’re gonna climb the hill, y’all!!!
Sunday’s coming!!!
Hosanna, sing loud hosannas
Cause’ Sunday’s coming y’all!!!