I stood staring at this magnificent structure hardly believing that my own feet would soon be inside. The temple was the most magnificent building in Jerusalem far above any in the city. My eyes welled with tears when I thought about the prospect of just entering the Temple. Not that it wasn’t like me to notice such great engineering feats but My mind was set on something more profound than the symmetrical structure that stood proudly before me.
Only one thing filled my mind. “In His presence is fullness of joy”. I had listened to the rabbi in my village as he read the scroll about being in the presence of YHWH and it captured my imagination. I had heard him read “Better is one day in your courts than one thousand elsewhere” My heart longed for YHWH’s presence. Another reading from the rabbi came to my mind “As the dear pants for water, so my soul longs after you”. Had David felt exactly the way I was feeling now? How come that even the rabbis spoke these words like they never meant anything to them? I had gone to speak to the Rabbi about being in YHWH’s presence but I was shocked. He took me through a lecture about how the temple was built and how many cows were sacrificed. “Ahh....”, he sighed, “ That was a very long time ago” he added with a grin, “I would rather make my money here than trek 20 km to the temple in Jerusalem”. WHAT??? That’s all he was thinking about?
I resolved to set out for Jerusalem. “No one can understand me”, I thought.
Now, here I was before the temple. My heart was faint with longing. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like that. O wait…it reminded me of my wedding. I recalled the time I was waiting for my husband-to-be to arrive to take me. May be that was closest to what I was feeling now. I had lived a full life with my husband till he died tragically. I didn’t regret the wonderful marriage we had. It was simply beautiful. That was a long time ago. But this feeling was way beyond what I had experienced on my wedding.
I strode majestically towards the entrance of the temple like a bride to meet her husband. There were tears in my eyes. I could remember all the words from the good book. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
But nothing prepared me for the priest at the door of the temple. He looked immaculately dressed and wore a smile. But there was something about the smile that made me feel uncomfortable. It was…just not right. I walked up the stairs and I thought after nodding to him I would walk past him into my heart’s longing. His question came firmly. It was firm and not rude but it required a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
“Have you brought anything to offer in the temple of YHWH?”
I wasn’t ready for that. “What?”, I asked, feeling so surprised. He smiled and raised his voice, “HAVE YOU BROUGHT ANYTHING TO OFFER IN THE TEMPLE? Are you deaf?”
“I just wanted to be in YHWH's presence. I even didn’t know I had to bring something” I said softly. “Please let me in, I beg you”
“No”, he answered dryly, “The good book says you can not enter His presence empty handed”.
I didn’t have a thing but I was determined to be in God’s presence. I felt so ashamed. I had kind of attracted the attention of the busy crowd which until then I was unaware had existed. I had been absorbed by my desire for the presence of YHWH.
I turned to walk away. I was sobbing. As I walked slowly away, the buttons on my busuuti caught my attention. They were copper buttons. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do. I went away to a hidden alley. I grabbed the buttons and ripped them off the busuuti leaving two gaping holes. I tied two knots to cover the holes and up again towards the temple I went.
With confidence I answered in the affirmative to the priest’s question at the door and in I went.
“OOH, my heart’s desire! I am finally here”. It looks everything finally made sense when I was in YHWH’s presence. “The prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous seemed oppressive to me till I entered into His sanctuary and there I understood their destiny”
I felt like dancing. I could feel that God was close.
I glanced toward the front of the temple and there was the offering stall but that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the man seated by the side of the offering box. He was different from the priests that were serving in the temple. They looked like servants but…let me say he looked like a son in the house! His eyes were kind and the men around him listened to him with so much attention. His accent was different. May be from the region of Galilee? But could any good come from Galilee? Herod, their king, was such an evil man he had killed an innocent prophet. Nearly 30 years ago when I was still a young bride, his father had ordered the killing of children because a child was born who, it was said, would be the messiah. Can you imagine?
This Galilean looked to be around 30 years of age. Now wait a minute did I just think he was 30 years?? Could he be the.....? No.., I better stop dreaming. I know I have longed to see the messiah but that would be too merciful of God to let me have a glimpse of Him. I am undeserving of such honor. I only wanted to be in YHWH’s presence. That’s enough for me. As I walked toward the stall, I noticed that he was looking at me. Or was he looking at the man in front of me? The man in front of me was a tall man and looked wealthy. He had a bag that I now know was full of gold coins. Every step he took sent a vibration up his leg through his body to the coins in the bag which joyfully and proudly announced their presence. Every eye was now on Him! WOW!
O God, people are going to laugh at me! I have only 2 copper coins…sorry buttons! May be I should be so near the rich guy in front of me that people will not notice. I pressed on closer to him and it looked my strategy was working. The man suddenly stopped and all eyes with him. He looked behind his shoulder and down at me for a few seconds and I got the message: “Keep your distance” There are many other messages I got from that 5-second episode but I will keep with the most decent one: “Keep your distance” I was embarrassed! I will not go into how I felt except that I wished that the ground would swallow me alive. I glanced at the Galilean and this time I was certain He was looking at me. I could feel His empathy, his pity and kindness. Finally I had seen someone who I felt I could identify with in the temple of YHWH. All the rest looked strange and unfriendly. The priests, Levites and my village Rabbi had one thing in common. They were all different from the Galilean.
The turn finally came for the rich man in front of me. He opened the bag and poured the coins into the box for what looked like an eternity. The sound of coins falling upon coins excited everyone. Suddenly the priest got very busy. One was calling for the other to call 5 others to empty this box and bring another. There was gleeful excitement in the temple. I glanced again to the Galilean and He was still looking at me. You mean that display of giving to the LORD did not distract Him from looking at me? It had caught the attention of everyone including the people surrounding the Galilean, but not him. WHO WAS THIS MAN? He wasn’t moved a single bit.
The wealthy man then moved to the side and he looked he wanted to have a word with the Galilean. Who was this Galilean, even the rich man wanted to talk to him!
It was my turn now. I pulled myself together and remembered why I was here in the first place. I bowed my head and silently worshiped. ”All that I have, I give to you”, I prayed. I felt joy in my heart and tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t mind what other people had brought. I was in His presence. And that is what mattered the most.
As I turned to walk away, the Galilean called to me and there he was with the rich man on his left. I came to him and deep inside I knew that I was safe with him. He wasn’t thinking of humiliating me….or was he? He touched my shoulder so gently and that is when he shouted loudly.
“Everyone, listen to me!” he yelled.
Everyone had his attention. Even the 5 priests who were carrying away the offering stopped for a while and listened. What he said will remain recorded in the books forever because it shook the foundations of what everyone believed
“Now I will tell you who has given the most to the LORD!”…
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