Jesus crouched down next to Matthew. The dawn air was cool. They didn’t speak. Instead, they settled in shared presence. Jesus could see that Matthew had been awake for too long; he could sense the shadows of disquieting dreams. He thought back to yesterday’s confrontation. The authorities were fuming. The people were grumbling. Now, his friends were despairing.
At least, he could see that Matthew was.
“See that no one leads you astray…”
Matthew listened as intently as ever, but his mind swirled and the sound of Jesus’ voice was muffled. So distant. His chest tightened with the early rumblings of worry. Why would the rabbi say these things? Didn’t he know, he would lose the crowds! He would forfeit all momentum. Matthew glanced quickly past heads and shoulders gathered closely together…too closely…like a stampede. He saw familiar faces in the distance – old colleagues come out for sport and mocking the city’s latest doomsday freak.
He turned his eyes back to Jesus and began listening again. “The stars will fall and the earth will quake and smoke will rise forever and ever and…”
It was almost too much. Matthew almost turned and walked away, back home, back into the pleasant simplicity of the rat race. There were still taxes that needed collecting. He could be the guy. Of course, he knew that was nonsense. For him, at least – he could never go back. But what could it possibly mean to go forward?
Jesus leaned in closer to Matthew. “What are you so stuck on?”
Matthew glanced at him and back out over the country. He knew. But he didn’t want to say. He couldn’t bring himself to ask the rabbi the question he’d been wrestling all night: What about justice?
Jesus sighed. “You’re thinking about what I said. The prophecies. I’m not sure what is bothering you more: Is it that I echo the warnings of the prophets…or that I transform them?”
Matthew found his voice. “The prophets died early and unsung! I thought you would be more than a flash in the dark. I thought you would tear down the curtains and let the light stream in. Instead, you talk about pending judgment. That takes too long! And it isn’t ever complete.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Maybe someday?! But forty years too late. What about justice? What about justice now? Those prophecies…they never reach fulfillment. What about shalom?”
Jesus reached out and grabbed onto Matthew’s wrist. He held tightly. His eyes were as earnest as they’d ever been. “The sea churns restlessly. Empires must always fall. And repentance is always sought. And you’re right…for now, complete shalom is unfulfilled. Yet, even now it settles slowly into subtle rhythms. It harbors a heartbeat – though it isn’t yet full grown. This is the kingdom coming; this is God’s judgment call.”
“What is?” Matthew sputtered. He rose and thrust a finger out at the city. “What is? That we should fall once more, not Rome? I know you’re talking about Israel, about the temple, about Jerusalem! What about the chosen family? What about the promised land? What about justice?!”
Jesus stood slowly and followed Matthew’s outstretched finger with eyes like fire. “New wineskins, Matthew. New wine. But still the same vineyard.”
Jesus inhaled, tasting change upon the wind. And in the exhale Matthew caught the whispers of a proclamation, and it sounded like verse of unremembered prophecies, a forgotten future, a dusty hope, and Matthew tried to write it all down, and it came out like this:
Follow a little while longer and see
Repentance is more holy than remorse
Disaster bows to mercy
Shift perspective
Step into the heavenly
Watch a donkey become a war horse
Watch a lion act like a lamb
Watch the grave be emptied
Watch punishment revealed as consequence
Watch judgment be salvation
Watch the sword become a word
Watch an ocean of chaos dissolve into a sea of glass
Watch an idea be what matters
Watch matter follow the immaterial
Watch an army sing
Watch dry bones breathe
Watch a cross be made a throne
Matthew 24 • The Book of Revelation & 19:13 • Isaiah 13 & 24