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246. Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem

Psalm 132, Matthew 23:37-39, Luke 13:34-35
Key Verse: "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!"
Luke 13:34

This is different from the lament expressed by Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Lamb Selection day, or Palm Sunday. Then He was grieving at how the people were missing the significance of what was happening in the moment. This lament, however, is a lament for all of the history of God with His people. His people have spurned His love and protection again and again chasing after sin and foolishness. They would not heed His warnings, just as they would not heed them now.

Their rebellion was causing Him to do what He would have rather achieved in other ways, through peace and mercy. Remember that evil, sin and death were never God's "plan A," for His creation. We are now working our way through God's plan of redemption, His restoration plan because we rejected His best for us. They, and we, didn't want His love and mercy. They, and we, want our own short sighted way and now they would have to face the consequences of their rebellion. This is the result of not heeding His warnings. First, however, He would have to make the sacrifice to pave the way.

In Psalm 132, we see Jerusalem as the promised Home for God. David rejoiced that the ark of God's covenant was coming to him. God in turn promised that there would always be a Son of David on Jerusalem's throne if the people would obey Him. Now, Jerusalem stands between the promise to a hopeful David and a grieving Son of David, Messiah. Jerusalem did not fulfill its part of the bargain. It had faced harsh treatment from enemies, starvation and finally exile, yet it still rejected God. As a loving parent grieves for the prodigal, Jesus sits at the temple grieving for the city He loves.

We cannot miss this picture. "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings," (Luke 13:34B) How can that sound like anything but love? In Isaiah God says, ""Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls (meaning Jerusalem's walls) are ever before Me." (Isaiah 49:15-16) Yet also in Isaiah, we see how God's people have rejected Him. ""In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it." (Isaiah 30:15)

The history of God with His people is a history of rejection of God by His people. So, Jesus grieves what could have been, while facing what must be. We see Him grieving here as a Mother for a lost child. How can a Mother forget the child she bore, nursed and cared for? That is the love Jesus is expressing here. Whether this particular lament occurred before the triumphal entry, as in Luke, or during Passion week, as in Matthew, doesn't matter. Jesus was a "Man of Sorrows," (Isa. 53:3), I'm sure that He grieved often for the plight of humanity and Jerusalem.

Most of us have faced disappointments of our own. We may have prodigal children, lost friendships, death of loved ones, discouragement over failed plans and broken promises. Near the beginning of this study, we said when Jesus was born that He would experience much of life as we do. "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus does understand. "Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7) He grieves with you. Let Him help you with your burden today. ""raise be to the Lord, to God our savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the sovereign Lord comes escape from death and trouble." (Psalm 68:19-20) Thanks be to God!

Hymn: "Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord" 

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