"Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem"
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Pharisees are up to it again. They see an opportunity to get this Jesus guy
to disappear, so they play on His emotions and try to run him out of town in
terror for His life. “At that very hour some Pharisees came and
said to Jesus, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ “ They act as if they’re doing Jesus a
favor, while in their hearts they’re trying to preserve their own religion,
power, and authority. But their warning
isn’t empty. Herod, indeed, wants Jesus
dead, as do the Pharisees. The phrase
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend” applies here. The Pharisees weren’t exactly Herod fans, but
neither party wanted Jesus around.
The Pharisees are
right, Jerusalem means certain death for Jesus, but He goes willingly. Jesus has set His face to go to Jerusalem,
the city that slays and rejects the prophets.
He sets His face toward Jerusalem though He knows what’s in store. Jesus’ path will not be diverted; it is
necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and die for the world and for you and no
scare tactic of the Pharisees will stop Him.
Jesus goes to
Jerusalem to win salvation for you and for the world. But Jerusalem, the Chief City, the City of Kings,
would not receive Him, as this city rejected and slayed many of God’s
people. Isaiah is said to have been
martyred there, Stephen was stoned outside the city gates, and this is the city
for which Jesus cries out, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
it! How often would I have gathered your
children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would
not!”
Jesus goes to
Jerusalem and to the cross, even for Herod and the Pharisees. Yet, they would not receive Him. Jesus desperately desires to gather all people
under his the eternal protection of His wings, yet many, far too many reject
this salvation. They refuse to repent,
believing that the salvation task can be done on their own. They refuse to believe that God could even
forgive them.
Do you hear the
agony in Jesus’ voice? It’s tragic when
people for whom Christ suffered and died refuse to be gathered under His
wings. The Word of Gospel, goes out. “Christ has died for you. He’s put away your
sins, come, hear His Word each week. Be
gathered into His brood.” But the gift
is rejected. It’s received as a child
receives a pair of socks at Christmas.
It’s tragic when
those for whom Christ suffered and died have no love for His Word, have no
hunger and thirst for His body and blood.
The Church is an oasis in the midst of this desert world, and people
refuse to be gathered where they may find refreshment and joy in the eternal
gifts of Christ.
Even for us, who
are here every week, by nature we seek to be the chick that goes its own
way. We have our pet sins in which we
indulge. There are those sins that seem to
hang around our neck like an iron chain.
Yet, Christ comes to gather you under His outstretched, nail - pierced
wings.
Jesus isn’t coming
to gather the perfect, the sinless, those who are without iniquity. He comes to gather the forgiven. That’s you.
For in Christ, you have been gathered unto His side. In your baptisms, though you may have gone
kicking and screaming, Christ gathers you like a hen gathers her brood.
He gathers you in
His wings, under His wounded arms and hands, to keep you safe from God’s wrath
against your sin. Jesus has extended His
arms over you in baptism, in His word of absolution, in the Supper. All gifts that bring to you the forgiveness
of the cross.
We don’t go it
alone because it’s dangerous. The devil
prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour the lone chick who wanders
away from the nest. Be gathered into His
embrace and His forgiveness that He has won for you on the cross.
Jerusalem is the
city that kills the prophets, but Jesus is coming again to gather you, His
faithful, into the New Jerusalem; a Jerusalem where these is no crying or lamentation. Where all of God’s brood is gathered before
His throne in everlasting praise and adoration.
When all of God’s people, with departed saints and the angels cry out,
“Blessed is He who has come in the Name of the Lord.”
This is the city God builds as opposed to
the city Man builds – Jerusalem redeemed, restored, raised from the dead. Her
murders have been atoned for by the blood of the Lamb. The blood shed in her
streets and alleys has been vindicated by the Blood shed once for all on the
cross. Her streets once littered with stones cast in hatred upon those who
proclaim God’s eternal truth are now paved in pure gold. The prophets and
apostles who met their death in her city gates are now her firm foundation. And
Christ the Lamb is her Light and her Life.
This is for you. Your citizenship
papers have been signed and sealed in your baptism.
Christ came to place Himself on the cross
and was raised again that you would be gathered under His forgiveness; that you
would be gathered into the New Jerusalem at His coming. We, who are citizens of this heavenly kingdom
by faith, wait eagerly for our King to come and gather us, finally, into our
eternal home- the New Jerusalem. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. Amen.
