We had just been in Caiaphas’ house. We had just descended into the sub-basement, the “pit” as it were, where Jesus may have been held while awaiting his first trial before the high priest. I had just read Psalm 69 to our group, remembering who to look to when we feel like we are in “the pit.” We climbed back out of the pit, passed by a place which could have been where Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.
I casually looked down from the courtyard where we were standing and saw a rooftop piled with all kinds of trash. In the picture you can see
- A shopping cart
- Milk crates
- Scooters
- A door
- Five gallon buckets
- Wicker shelves
- Wood pallets
- Barbed wire
- Bicycles
- A wheelbarrow
- Tires and wheels
- Refrigerator
- Rake
- Washing machine
- Cememt mixer (?)
- Dish antenna
- Rebar and cinderblocks
- Skateboard
You might be able to pick out even more discarded items. I’ll bet there are stories for each of the things that someone either tossed onto or carried up to the roof.
The reality of present day trash interrupted my meditations on the arrest and trial of Jesus, which led to his suffering and death on the cross. Then again, I’m sure they had a lot of refuse at Jesus’ time, too.
Our street looks like this on trash days. But we also put out furniture, mowers and trimmers and mattresses. I guess the age old question has always been, “What are we going to do with all this trash?”
Waite for it... 