Jerusalem is an ancient city and the focus of several religions.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and then was a refugee in Egypt, the only other information we have about his childhood is his visit to Jerusalem with his mum, and adopted-dad Joseph.

At the time of Jesus, the Jewish temple in Jerusalem had been re-built a couple of times, most recently by King Herod.

But it always represented God dwelling with his people.

When Jesus was a teenager, he and his family had travelled up to the city.

Joseph and Mary couldn’t find him on the way home because he was still in the city, lecturing the religious leaders.

This marks the beginning of his rescue mission, that would ultimately end in Jerusalem with his death and resurrection.

As an adult, Jesus would return several times to the temple and notably, violently disrupted a market that had been set up inside the temple courtyard.

Jesus did this because he was angry that the people were focusing on their own profit instead of worshipping God.

He explained that the temple was his own Father’s house.

In other words, Jesus was disrupting the way people worshipped God.

And he was the only one who had the right to do this.

We’re nearly at Christmas, and the festival is a reminder that the birth of Jesus is the start of God’s presence with us.

In fact, one of Jesus’ nicknames is ‘Emmanuel’,  which means “God with us”.

That’s why the temple is no longer needed, Jesus is God-on-earth experiencing human nature.

So you could say Jerusalem is a permanent historical reminder of God’s rescue plan.

At the centre of Jerusalem was the temple and it represented God’s presence at the middle of his people.

It, in turn, was a setup for Jesus, the rescuer of his people, and of us if we trust that he really is God expressed in human form.

Reverend Luke Isham, Horsham Presbyterian Church, writing on behalf of the Horsham Christian Minister’s Association.