God Our Redeemer

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!” (Ps. 137:5). This verse recalls the importance of the city of Jerusalem within the Bible. Christians focus so much on God’s universal presence that we can struggle to consider any one place as holier than another. Yet the Bible centers on Jerusalem as the origin and goal of God’s redemptive work. Jerusalem, or Zion, is special to God, God’s own city. In verse 10, rather than the prophet or individual worshiper speaking, Zion itself speaks, looking ahead to the hour of its salvation. Like a fertile garden, Zion will one day bear the fruit of righteousness. Beginning in chapter 62, God responds by announcing that the time of vindication is at hand “for Zion’s sake.”
So this is a good day to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the modern city that regularly features in the news. Jerusalem’s violence is a scandal. A faithful Christian presence in Jerusalem deserves prayers of support, even as prayers of repentance acknowledge Christian complicity in the bloodshed. Jerusalem is a real place, and God cares for Jerusalem in a unique way.
However, the poetic name “Zion” reveals that, for Isaiah, Jerusalem is already a symbol as well as a site. The people of God are also Zion. Each believer is Zion too, not in whole but in part. Over and over, scripture witnesses to the connection between holiness and righteousness. The way to become Zion, a people capable of receiving God’s favor, is to be a community without “robbery and wrongdoing.” God loves justice! This affirmation is just as remarkable (and challenging) today as it was in ancient Israel. Where do you see injustice in the world? How are you prepared to intervene on behalf of justice?