Compassion
Matthew 23:37-39 “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her
chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left
to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
JESUS ends this very hard teaching of the “8 Woes” and His
condemnation of the Pharisees with the hope He offers to all of us sinners.
His sermon
conclusion begins with His mournful “O Jerusalem”.
God had formed Jerusalem to be His city through King David.
Jerusalem was to be a city protecting His people from pagan gods and
proclaiming the way of the Holy God.
But God’s way
became mixed up with man’s way, and the only way out would be for God to bring judgment
on His city. Jesus mourns for the city and His people who have killed the
prophets He has sent. Jesus laments how He has sent these men to be His hands
to gather His people to Himself. But they have refused. Jesus is the Father,
the Brother, who longs to be reunited with His family. Yet, they refuse to walk
on the way home to Him. Instead, they have walked away to their eternal doom if
they do not repent.
As Jesus ends His
words with, “For I tell you, you will not
see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
He offers His salvation to His lost people. Jesus points to the final days
when repentant Jews and Gentles will confess Him as Lord.
LIFE Link: Jesus is the way home.
No comments:
Post a Comment