Our God, His Family

And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” (Zechariah 8:1-8 ESV).

I’ve heard it said that we should love others when they least deserve it, because that’s when they need it most. Our reading today echoes this action as God declares, “They will be my people, and I will be … their God” (v. 8). This is the same covenantal language found throughout the Scripture. God spoke words like these to Abraham when he was old and childless, saying that he and his wife, Sarah, would soon have a son. To Abraham God promised, “I will … be your God and the God of your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7). He never voided this covenant; He never denied this commitment. The strange thing is that more often than not, the descendants of Abraham were not faithful in keeping the covenant God had made with them. God sent prophet after prophet to his people, calling them back to obedience, but they refused to forsake their ways in favor of God’s way. They simply refused to listen. Finally God sent his Son, Jesus, to the world. He was rejected more than any prophet before him. But in the death of Jesus we see the restoration of the covenant that had been broken by rebellious people. The writer of Hebrews says, “It is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants” (Hebrews 2:16). The Apostle Paul declares, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29). This means “Jesus is not ashamed to call [us] brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11). In Jesus, the promise of a city where people old and young can rest and play is fulfilled. In the New Jerusalem, each of us will hear the loud voice that John heard: “They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). I wonder if at least one of the things God is doing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking just before Easter in some places of our country, is not to call all of us back home. Use today, this Monday of Passion Week, to ponder your eternal Father!