What Jesus’ Grief Over Jerusalem Reveals Series

Sermon: What Jesus’ Grief over Jerusalem Reveals

Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Introduction: In Matthew 23, Jesus criticizes the scribes and Pharisees, accusing them of hypocrisy. He tells his followers that, while they are obliged to follow the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees by virtue of their authority from Moses, the scribes and Pharisees themselves do not provide good examples. The people should follow what they say but not what they do, because the scribes and Pharisees do not practice their word.

So far as the gospel of Matthew is concerned, these are the last words Jesus will speak to Jerusalem in a public setting. He has more yet to teach, and the next two chapters will contain extensive records of those words. This, however, is the point where Jesus' public ministry ends (Matthew 23:39).

Prior to this, Jesus has been condemning Israel's failed religious leadership who were given the best privileges but did not profit by them. The words of Matthew 23 are strong, cutting, and direct. Jesus is speaking to the disciples, the scribes, the pharisees and the religious leaders. You can hear the bitter, mournful attitude of Christ. Looking ahead to the disaster that will come on the city, Jesus speaks with a tender and longing tone. God’s desire was to gather them, protect them and cover them. God had faithfully sent messengers to enlighten, warn and alert them for their good, but they choose to kill the messengers. Like many today, the religious leaders were angered by God’s message and choose to “kill the messenger”. There seems to be an inherent need to blame others for bad or unpredictable situations. People also can't help but try to ascribe bad motives to such messengers or see them as incompetent, even if that makes little logical sense. When you read Matthew 23, you find list several indictments against the religious leaders and seven deadly woes. Despite being the chief city of God's chosen people, Jerusalem has earned a sad legacy over the generations,

Acts 7:51-53 “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; 53 ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.”

This city of David has become known as the city that kills prophets and stones the messengers God sends to her. That legacy will be emphasized eternally within the week as Jesus Himself will be condemned and killed in Jerusalem. Our Lord concludes this chapter with a pathetical lamentation over Jerusalem. Jesus reiterates his disappointment with the words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” Jesus feels a sense of loss. Loss is an inevitable part of life, and grief is a natural part of the healing process. The reasons for grief are many, such as the loss of a loved one, the loss of health, or the letting go of a long-held dream. Dealing with a significant loss can be one of the most difficult times in a person's life. Jesus sees God’s dream for Jerusalem slipping away. Like a faithful parent weeping over a wayward child who betrayed their trust and destroyed their future. These few word shews the passionate affection of Christ towards them, and His sincere desire for their salvation.

This kind of grief is not new to us. We can hear it almost every time listen to the news report of another shooting. We hear as mothers and fathers address the media weeping over their children. Proverbs 29:1, 2 “A man who hardens his neck when reproved shall be suddenly broken, and there will be no healing. 2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.”

Notice that a person who is often rebuked or warned and hardens his neck will be destroyed. As in many places in the Bible, the hard neck is used as a figure of speech to speak of the stubborn attitude that resists and disobeys God. This proverb speaks about the man who is often rebuked but doesn't listen to the rebuke; instead, he hardens his neck. Righteous obedience and faithful warnings are a blessing, wickedness always leads to mourning.