“And did the Countenance Divine, / Shine forth upon our clouded hills? / And was Jerusalem builded here, / Among these dark Satanic Mills?”
– William Blake, “Jerusalem” (1808)
In his poem “Jerusalem,” Blake imagined a divine city, a place of spiritual restoration, rising amidst England’s industrial decay. In today’s first reading from Isaiah, Jerusalem is also described not merely as a capital city but as a spiritual state of divine-human communion, personified in the feminine: “As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:12-13). In this spiritual city, God nurtures with abundant mercy. This maternal image invites us to ask: Are we living as children worthy of such love?
The maternal Jerusalem also finds fulfillment in the mission Jesus entrusts to his disciples in today’s Gospel. Equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit, the seventy-two disciples spread to surrounding lands to continue His ministry, announcing, “the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Luke 10:9). Traveling in pairs, they carry no money, no extra provisions—only the peace and authority of Christ. Jesus prepares them for rejection but also empowers them with spiritual strength: “Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions” (Luke 10:19). They go as lambs among wolves, yet they are not defenseless. Their strength lies in the love and peace they bring.
The first thing they say upon entering each house is simple but profound: “Peace to this household.” Jesus instructs them to lead with love, just as He did. It’s then up to the household to accept them or not. The love-first approach is courageous, not passive; it has the power to interrupt cycles of violence, disarming the all-too-common desire for retribution. It mirrors the tender power of Zion, the maternal figure from Isaiah—one who comforts, nourishes, and loves us unconditionally.
Jesus sent his disciples to help establish the Kingdom of God not through coercion and fear, but through love and healing—the same love and healing we cherish in our mothers. This New Jerusalem is a reality we help bring forth by embodying the love of God. Like the disciples, we are sent into the world to live as citizens of the heavenly city, trusting that the peace we offer may return to us even when it is rejected.
