Intercession for darkness, part two

Continuing the theme of intercession by nations:

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:22-25)

That is truly chilling. The nation had seen Yeshua's true nature--His goodness, His kindness, the twinkle in His eye when He let little kids climb all over Him. Some had eaten miraculously provided bread and fish. Others had shouted only days earlier, "Hosanna! Save us! You are the Messiah!" But because He didn't fit their perceptions of who the Messiah was (someone who would physically deliver them from the Romans and make Israel the governing power of the world), they rejected Him. They said no to Him; they asked for darkness. The Jewish leaders were so desperate to be rid of Him that they said to Pilate, "Give us Barabbas!" They would rather have had a dangerous prisoner loose among the people than a Man whose words attacked them in their complacency. The chosen people of G-d even went so far as to cry, "Caesar is our king!!"

That rejection of Yeshua reminds me of 1 Samuel 8. The Israelites rejected G-d as their King and their Husband. They wanted another ruler--a human king. They said, "We want to have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations." Samuel warned them of what that king would be like. They knew exactly what they were getting into, and they chose to reject G-d anyway. A heartbroken G-d said, "They have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (1 Sam. 8:7) But He heard their prayers and answered, though He warned the people: "And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day" (verse 18). He let them have what they wanted...He gave them over to their desires. They had to deal with Saul and with generations of wicked kings.

And yet, they did not learn. So in crucifixion, He gave Israel over to what she asked for...and then followed the destruction of the Temple, the Diaspora, and persecution that continues today.

It will not stop until they recognize their sin, until they mourn their wrong choices and begin to intercede rightly:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Luke 13:34-35)