Consider the implications of verse 15: “It’s a dangerous thing to guarantee payment for someone’s debts. Don’t do it.”

Guaranteeing payment would include practices such as co-signing a loan for someone else. If the person defaults on the loan, you are responsible for paying it off. It’s risky business.

In this brief three-verse passage, Jesus has just had it out with his opponents, the religious obtuse, the scholars of appearance, the powerful men who he knows will have him killed before long.

He has told them the facts, that they’re liars and murderers, and that, in his omniscience and ability to see over the sweep of history, he sees the blood on their hands and will hold them accountable.

Many people, even non-Christians, appreciate Jesus the teacher, Jesus the healer, Jesus the provider, even Jesus the Saviour. But Jesus the end-time prophet is another matter altogether. Jesus who heals, feeds, teaches beautiful Kingdom of God principles and who redeems by his death on the cross is attractive to many. But when he speaks about what is going to happen generally in the world, and specifically to his followers, it can be shocking.

In his masterpiece work on the history of Jerusalem, Simon Montefiore describes the destruction of Herod’s Temple in AD 70 in gruesome detail. He says this about the arrival of the Romans, under Emperor Vespasian’s son Titus, at the Holy of Holies: “Titus, unable to stop the fire and surely relieved at the prospect of final victory, proceeded through the burning Temple until he came to the Holy of Holies.

Over the past two millennia, followers of Jesus have discussed, debated, and deconstructed the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, trying to get a handle on the logistics and timeline of his second coming. Self-proclaimed prophets and false Messiahs have led many astray, claiming to have figured out what was going to happen and when. Well-meaning Bible scholars and theologians have made clear their take on these matters.

There are people who don’t like to be surprised. They tend to be low on the intuitive scale – they prefer logic to feelings. Before they make a decision they like to have all the facts and figures so they can make a wise decision.

Followers of Jesus who are like this tend to be the ones who spend hours and hours poring over the pages of the Bible, trying to make sense of what it says about the return of Jesus Christ

Short, but powerful and evocative–that’s my description of Psalm 133. I might also add, easily read, but difficult to put into practice. Unity among the people of God is that great allusive goal that seems to always disappear around the next bend in the road. But there God has commanded his blessing, if we could only reach that blessed state.

The psalmist uses two metaphors to portray this good and pleasant state of affairs.