Chazon: Another Eikhah - Seeing the Kingdom in the Darkness
Summary
Recall: As we move into Tisha B’Av, a day where the Jewish people collectively mourn tragedy and loss, we find ourselves reflecting on times of personal lament. The interweaving of our three passages, Deuteronomy (1;29-37), Isaiah (1;16-20), and Matthew’s gospel (27;45–61), reveal a thread of Lament: Lamah (Why? And Eichah (How?). This is the same word that opens the Book of Eichah (Lamentations). The word calls back through the generations, back to B’nei Israel as they stand on the threshold of the Promise Land. The echo carries into the words of the prophet Isaiah as he cries out, “How the faithful city has become a harlot!” And the cry carries forward to the execution of Messiah, where he cries out “Why,” echoing Moses in Exodus 5;22. The cry asks “for what purpose, and for what reason, have we arrived at this point? In other words, “How (eichah) did we get here?”
Standing on the precipice of hope, Moses traces the journey through the 40 years of in the desert, where an 11-day journey turned into 40 years of heartache and wandering. Moses opens his story, his lament, with “how”—"how can I bear your load and your bickering by myself?” The pivot point is Kadesh Barnea, on the ninth day of Av, where faith gives way to fear.
Like B’nei Israel, we want redemption, but we grow impatient for the Kingdom and allow our passions, our fears, and impatience to lead us into destructive ways. We see giants instead of a covenant keeping God who fights for us. We’ve all been there, soul-shocked and swallowed by grief and asking, “How can this be? For what reason? For what purpose?”
For B’nei Israel, it was fear of the giants that blinded their trust. What are the "giants,” the perceived obstacles that distort my perception of covenant faithfulness? Do I allow fear to reframe protective providence as abandonment? When I find myself preoccupied with lamah (why), and am consumed with explaining suffering do I forget to look for God's hand?
Reflect: As Yeshua hangs on the execution stake something deeply eternal moves in the unseen realm. Silence and the darkness of exile permeate the land. The three execution stakes loom large like giants. Hope is lost. Yeshua cries out “My God, my God, why [lamah] have you forsaken me?” But as he cries out again and gives up his spirit, the Kingdom of God breaks through!
Rabbi explains: “The parokhet [temple curtain] tears from top to bottom. The earth quakes. The rocks split. The tombs open. An apocalyptic vision. Yeshua's death is a proleptic sign anticipating the resurrection of the age to come. The death of Messiah and the rending of the Temple veil are inextricably linked to the temple system of worship. Heaven, earth, and even death bear witness. The Kingdom of God is breaking in!”
The Living Water cried out in thirst, the Light of the World went dark, the earth went silent—"how lonely sits the city,” This day was not Tisha B’Av, instead it is a day where the same questions of lament are asked and point us to hope and redemption. The events are so profound that a Roman Centurion, standing watch, confesses, “This really was the Son of God!”
Creation itself cries out at the final breath of its Creator! The Kingdom of God breaks through in violence. There is such rich imagery in this passage. Place yourself in the shoes of Centurion—standing slack-jawed and amazed. Think about what he has just heard! “Why have you forsaken me?”, is met by silence. But because of the resurrection, I can know that the deepest darkness I experience is not the last word. Is my focus on the chaos? Cast your eyes toward the glimmer of truth—the Kingdom of God breaking through.
Respond: Joseph of Arimathea (Yosef of Ramatayim) probably didn’t set out to make history this day. He was a student, a talmid of Yeshua. But through his chessed shel emet, (the truest kindness), (the dead cannot repay), Joseph becomes the kind of man Isaiah calls Israel, (and us) to become; “Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1;17).
Rabbi declared, “When all hope seems lost out of the deepest darkness the light of Messiah shines. The Kingdom of God breaks through. Not through power but through faithful people. A Roman centurion who finally sees. Women who refuse to leave. Yosef who practices chessed shel emet (the truest kindness.) Righteous people still do good. Life is lived not in the big gestures, but in faithful moments. May that be our vision and the vision of Sha’arei Shalom. “May we live our lives according to the values of God’s coming Kingdom” marked by chessed shel emet—kindness that expects nothing in return. May we be known as a people that live “according to the values of God's coming Kingdom.” Shalom!
Transcript(from the video captions)
Shashamayan, we bless and sanctify you. We thank you so much for your word. We thank you for your vision that you give us today. I pray that that your word and your vision would would be one in us as we are one in you and one together. I thank you for that that you do all good things. That you are good and you call us to do good in the world. I just pray that your word would reveal to us how to take action in Yeshua's name. Well, Shabbat shalom again everybody. And it is so good to see your faces. Some of you just coming back, others just love seeing your faces. Although I know we have an excellent we have an amazing online ministry too and some can't make it here. So we acknowledge and say welcome to you as well. So five years ago I walked through a a season of severe stress. My mother died without warning. My father's health completely collapsed. My ankles swelled up from all the stress. My 21-year-old nephew died tragically. And then shortly after that, my father died. I found myself in a whirlwind, in a world of grief, lamenting the tragic loss of one after another. And I found myself
asking this a how how did this happen? All within 8 months. How did it come to this? How can this be? And then a second question llama. Why? Why did you allow this? How did why? For what purpose or for what reason? The how and the what. Grief shocks the soul. Loss overwhelms the mind. It unsettles the body. Every memory becomes another question. The psychology of second-guing sets in. And that brings us to right here, right now today. Shabbat kazone. As Judaism is unapologetic about where we are in the calendar and not just say just everything is all is well. It is well but at the same time we live in the tension of our Jewish past and our readings frame tishaba today the ninth of A because we are in the month of A. Ironically the Av we could say is father our compassionate father the month of Av. But yet we experience and enter into the tragedies of our past for now. Covenant collapse. The spies who rejected the promised land because of unbelief. The destruction of the first temple when the kingdom fell. The destruction of the second temple when Jerusalem fell. And then Betar, the last hope of Jewish
resistance at the Barhoga. All of that also the Crusades, the expulsions, the Holocaust, we don't merely commemorate. We enter into it. We read a this week. We mourn with our people. Tisha becomes the frame through which we hear and read the scriptures. And if you haven't entered into this before, here's the invitation this week. Because our people walked this road before us, many awaited the arrival of the kingdom of God. And now we walk with them. We stop and say, "I know you. I remember you. I hear you. You mattered because these are our people. Their legacy lives through us. Listen to the words of our haur today. Kazon Yeshiu vain emos aerah al Yehudah v yushim. The vision of Yeshuyahu, the son of Amos. We also read this in the Vim avar Moshe El Israel. These are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel. We have the vision of the prophet. We have the words of Moshe. We have it's going to be coming up. Stay tuned. Aha. How did we get here? We have llama. For what purpose? But we have something else, something dark, something shocking. The execution of Yeshua on tishab. No. Connected to the destruction of the
second temple. Exceedingly so. profoundly. Yes. Two tragedies forever intertwine. The rejection of Israel's king and the judgment of Jerusalem. Today we will experience the execution of Yeshua through the tears of tishab. But before we stand beneath the execution stake, we must fear first hear a of Moshe and then the aa of Yeshuyahu Isaiah. The first comes from our Torah portion. Moshe looks back 40 years in the wilderness. An entire generation has perished. Think about the lament there. A new generation now stands on the edge of the promised land. Before they enter, he remembers, he recalls, he enters into how Israel arrived at this very moment. Aha. How did an 11-day journey take 40 years? How And he doesn't begin with the spies. He begins with a burden. Essa levi. How can I bear your burden? He says, your load and your bickering all by myself. Moshe recalls that heated moment when he had to put the people down for a moment. It was too great to bear. And that led to Cadesh Barnea, the covenant crisis. Instead of faith, fear. Instead of a God who fights for them, they saw giants. The word says they turn back completely.
Moshe aha doesn't mourn a city. It laments an entire generation. These are his people. These are God's people. He laments his own soul who can't enter on account of them, the people that he shepherded. The shepherd is linked to the sheep, to his people. And here comes the aka or ha Torah Yeshiu. See Mosha is how can I bear your burden? But this is what Yeshuahu says the zona kira. How the faithful city has become a harlot. How how has the faithful city, the city of the living God, the people who are God's people become a harlot? Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now instead of justice, corruption. Instead of righteousness, violence, instead of covenant faithfulness, covenant corruption has set in. Two moments in history, the same cry. How? And this is why we read these passages. Every year together as we stand on the threshold of our promised land at Cadesh Barnea. Every year before tishaba, we remember we are that generation now that can move forward in the light of God. We are that generation. This is the vision of Yeshiyahu as he brings it forward. We hear the words of Moshe as he
calls us to remember and enter. And then we ask these questions. Where are our passions leading us today? A related question, what are we pursuing? What are we awaiting? Are we awaiting the kingdom of God is the question. Now we move to another crisis. First century Jerusaleim. The day of preparation pilgrims preparing for Pesak. The city is full. But just outside the walls, three execution stakes standing against the sky. Yeshua's execution. Imagine you are standing there today. Matthew writes this. Now from the sixth hour until the 9inth hour, darkness fell upon the land. Instead of the light of day at high noon, darkness, one hour passes, two hour passes, three hours pass. The darkness of exile, the darkness of destruction, the darkness of tishaba, the tragedy. And then a loud voice Yeshua breaks the silence with these words. Ali a lama shauvak shakin my god my god why there's the lama why have you abandoned me not aka not how he knows how the why not with an indictment but with a lament not How? But llama, why? Why? For what purpose? Our very Messiah right there taking on the weight, the burden that
Moshe couldn't carry. Who could carry this? And the same question echoes through every exile, every time, every tishaba of the echo of Moshe. We call we remember the first echo even before our Torah portion. Lama Moshe says, "Hare am shalakani." He asked this in the Exodus. Why lama have you brought harm on this people? Moshe asked. Why have you sent me to Lamas? Why sent one? The agent of God asking Yeshua on the execution stake. The agent of God lama asking. And then Matiyahu, Matthew comes in. When some of those standing there heard it, they began saying, "This man's calling for Eli Yahoo." You hear that? They think he's calling for Eli Yahu. If he is the Messiah, then where is Eli Yahu? Eli Yahu always comes before the Messiah. And right then, right away, one of them ran and took a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. The sour wine, it does not quench thirst. It does not offer pain relief. It does not rescue. It may even possibly hasten death. The crowd waits. Will Eli Yahu come? Will the kingdom of God break through? And then Matthew writes this. Yeshua
cried out again, not once but twice, the second time with a loud voice. And he gave up his ruach, his spirit. And suddenly powerfully the parquette, the veil tears from top to bottom, torn, the earthquakes, the rocks split, the tombs are open. An apocalyptic vision. Yeshua's death, a prolleptic sign anticipating the resurrection of the dead in the age to come. That's why we have the apocalyptic. The kingdom of God is breaking through right now in this moment. Breaking into the darkness like the first rays of the dawn. And who sees it first? Not the chief cohim. Not the Sanhedrin. Rather a Roman centurion standing beneath the execution stake. He confesses this. This really was the son of God. The one condemned as a rival king is confessed by one of Caesar's own soldiers. Think of the deep irony there. And it becomes quiet. And as it's quiet, we think a Yosha vad. How lonely sits this city. That's a 1:1 lamamentations. How lonely sits this city. The kingdom seems defeated. Yet, just as in Yeshuahu Isaiah, just as in our Torah portion, there's a remnant. Matthew tells us about it. Among them
were Miriam of Magdala and Miriam the mother of Yakov and Yoseph and the mother of James and John's James and John Zebedee's sons. And then one righteous man comes forward. Yoseph of Ramataim, Arythea, a member of the very Sanhedrin that approved the execution. Also a talid of Yeshua, a follower of Yeshua. It cannot stop the execution. It cannot reverse the verdict. It cannot undo the injustice. But he can still do righteousness. Matthew says this, "The man Yseph went to Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body. And then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. He wraps him in dignity, the dignity of the deceased. He lays Yeshua in his own tomb that he cut with his own hands. This is shel emmett the truest kindness. Why? Because typically the dead can't repay you. You can't expect something in return here.
Now suddenly Yoseph becomes the man that Yeshi Yahu Isaiah was calling Israel to become. Kua Isaiah said this cease to do evil. He said this to the harlot nation in that day. Limuv learn to do good dear shumish pot. Seek justice. Ashu kamot. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Stand up for the widow and the widowerower. That's Isaiah's call to righteousness. And Midiash aka says this. Messiah was born on tishaba a not historically. It's a midash. It's a story. Why? Because on the very day that the temple was destroyed, God was already planting the seeds of Israel's redemption. Hope now turns to the coming of the Messiah.
The coming of the Messiah. The one who will rebuild the temple and usher in the messianic age as it is taught in our tradition. But Matthew brings us to a fascinating messianic Jewish parallel. This is ours. At the very moment Yeshua dies, the parkhead, the veil of the temple is torn. Why? Not because Yeshua replaces the temple, but because the future of the temple and the hope of Israel is now inseparable, inseparably bound to Israel's Messiah. They are one as they come together. They are one, inextricably bound together as one. To enter into Yeshua is as if we enter into the temple. And so we know the temple has not lost its significance. God forbid. Rather, its future and now Israel's future are inseparably bound to Messiah Yeshua. When all hopes seem lost out of the darkness, the light of Messiah shines forth and the kingdom of God breaks through. Not through power but by faithful people me and you. We now arise and we see it in the Roman centurion who finally sees Hazone the vision. the women who refuse to leave and Yseph who lives shall emit the greatest good and we see righteous people still do
good in the midst of a great darkness. So as we contemplate this today and as I I thought about share shalom and where do we stand in this now and I thought even now what if share shalom became known not primarily for our teaching and our aboda our worship but because when a thick darkness covered a generation We were the people who kept doing good together. And I thought, "Wow." And what if the Jewish communities in our area all looked over and they saw those people are already living according to the principles of God's coming kingdom because it wouldn't be hard to see. And just maybe they would catch the vision of the centurion and they would see. And I say as we stand before God today, may that be our vision because God has decided decisively in Messiah Yeshua for us to be called to be called forward. May that be our vision. May that be our witness. And may may we await the kingdom by learning and practicing all good today to the glory of God. Let's pray. Auash we bless and sanctify you. We we love you. Thank you for your word and your vision. We thank you for not only the warnings but the encouragement, the
strength that you give us to push forward that as we see in Torah and in our word and as we see in our lives, you are always active. You are always present and we know that you are greater than any god. You are greater than any giant and greater than any obstacle in our lives. And you are brighter than any form of darkness. You are the light and we press into you today, Lord, that you'd make us attentive to your instruction as we move forward throughout the week and the month and as we grieve on Tishba in Yeshua's name. Shabbat shalom.