1. The urgent warning of God’s permanent Word (37a)
2. The urgent warning of God’s passionate grace (37b)
3. The urgent warning of God’s present consequence (38)
4. The urgent warning of God’s pending judgment (39)
MATTHEW 23:37-39
Thomas Huxley was known as Darwin’s Bulldog. He was one of the ones who popularized Darwin’s theory of evolution in the mid-to-late 1800’s. Huxley was known for having a tremendous sense of urgency. Chuck Swindoll tells a story about him and his sense of urgency in his book Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life. He wrote that Huxley was in Dublin, Ireland and was in a tremendous hurry to catch a train. At the time, in the 1800’s, Dublin was known for its horse-drawn taxis. Well, showing his typical sense of urgency, Huxley ran and jumped in the taxi. Before he even got the door closed, he shouted to the driver, “Hurry—I’m almost late—drive fast!” As soon as Huxley settled in his seat, he closed his eyes to rest for a few minutes. After what seemed like a very long time, Huxley opened his eyes to find out that they were going in the complete opposite direction from the train station. Of course, that startled him, so he shouted at the driver—“Do you even know where you’re going?” Of course the driver didn’t know where he was going—Huxley never told him where to go. So the driver didn’t miss a beat. He just calmly said, “No sir. But I’m getting there as fast as I can.” Yes, Thomas Huxley had a tremendous sense of urgency in everything he did. But just like his belief system, he urgently headed on a path to nowhere. If he had kept his eyes open on his taxi ride, he could have seen the signs that would have told him he was heading in the wrong direction. If he would have opened his eyes to God’s creation, he would have seen the signs that would have told him that Darwin’s theories were the wrong direction. That’s the way that God has chosen to do things. He gives us warning signs to let us know when we’re heading in the wrong direction. And He doesn’t keep those warning signs secret or subtle or hidden. He makes them bold and plain and urgent. Throughout history, God continually gave His chosen people urgent warnings. In our passage this morning, Jesus looks out over the city of Jerusalem. And as He does, He weeps. He weeps as He laments the fact that those people failed to heed God’s warnings. They failed to heed His warnings because they refused to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. But did you know that God still gives us warnings today? His warnings didn’t end with the Jewish people that Jesus was weeping over. He continues to urgently warn us today. As we stand on this side of the cross, do we heed His urgent warnings and recognize Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Or do we cause Jesus to weep over us like He did over Jerusalem? Does He weep over us because we fail to heed His urgent warnings? This morning, I want each of us to hear the urgent warnings of God. Is want us to hear His warnings and realize the urgency of our situation. I want us to quit putting off till tomorrow what He calls us to do today. Because there might not be a tomorrow. That’s how urgent His warnings are. I want us to heed those warnings by recognizing Jesus for who He is this morning. In order to do that, we’re going to look at God’s four urgent warnings. Our first warning is the urgent warning of God’s permanent Word. His first urgent warning is found in the first part of verse 37.
MATTHEW 23:37a
The urgent warning of God’s permanent Word. Jesus’ words in this passage mark a transition. All throughout chapter 23, Jesus was condemning the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees. He finishes in verse 33 by calling them serpents—a generation of vipers. And then He condemns them for killing people. But had this group of scribes and Pharisees actually killed anyone? Not yet anyway. But Jesus told them that the blood of all the martyred prophets would be on their hands. Why? Because they refused to listen to the Word of God that came from their lips. They heard it. They knew the words. As a matter of fact, the scribes were experts in God’s law. They knew all the ins and outs of all the commandments of God. Plus all the restraints that the Jews added on top of God’s law. And the Pharisees… The Pharisees were known as the most righteous people around. Outwardly, they kept the Law as perfectly as a person possibly could. I’ve always said that a Pharisee would make a perfect neighbor. They would do anything in the world for you. They would give you the shirt off your back. Outwardly, they were the best people you’d ever meet. But inwardly, they were a different story. That’s why Jesus called them whitewashed tombs in verse 27. They were beautifully maintained and sparkling white on the outside where everybody could see. But on the inside, they were rotten and decayed and corrupt. Jesus said that on the inside, they were full of dead men’s bones. But in our passage, Jesus makes a transition. He moves from blasting the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy to weeping over Jerusalem. The parallel passage in Luke 19:41 says that as He came near the city, He wept. That’s when He spoke these words. He moved from condemning the scribes and Pharisees for killing people to accusing Jerusalem of killing people. He said that Jerusalem killed God’s prophets. Jerusalem stoned the ones God had sent them. One of the things that is clear when you look through the Old Testament is how many prophets God sent to Israel. From Moses to Malachi. As long as there was a nation of Israel, God sent the prophets. Why? To deliver His Word to them. God concretely revealed Himself to them through the mouths and pens of His prophets. He authenticated His Word through them with miracles and signs. And then He preserved His Word in writing. And what did Jerusalem do with the Word that they had been given? They disregarded it. Now, by the time of Jesus, they would certainly never admit to having disregarded it. As a matter of fact, the scribes and Pharisees would let you know how much they regarded God’s Word. But did they really? Romans 10:3 says, “For they [the Jews] being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” They were so busy trying to establish their own righteousness, that they forgot what God’s Word said. Remember Isaiah 64:6? “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” See, that’s what the Jews could never get into their heads. It doesn’t matter if you are a real good person. It doesn’t matter if you give people the shirt off your back. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best neighbor in the whole world. If that’s what you’re trusting in—it’s filthy rags. That’s what Israel was trusting in. They were trusting in their own righteousness instead of heeding the urgent warnings in God’s Word. The urgent warnings to turn from relying on themselves and turn to trusting in Him. But they didn’t. they didn’t heed the urgent warnings of God’s permanent Word. They didn’t heed the urgent warning of God’s precious grace either. Look back at verse 37:
MATTHEW 23:37
The urgent warning of God’s precious grace. What a picture Jesus gives us here. Picture Jesus gathering all the children of Israel around Him. Picture Him holding them close to Him. Picture Him nurturing them and caring for them. Protecting them and providing for them. And they wouldn’t have Him. Imagine a mother who has dedicated her whole life to raising her child. She sacrificed her body for him while she carried him. She sacrificed her freedom and youth as she gave her all to raise him and provide for him. She gave up her personal wants and desires as she poured herself into him. And then, at a certain age, he turns from her. He rebels against her. He curses her and abuses her and defies her. And as he shamelessly and boldly and defiantly walks away from her—she still stands behind him. Tears rolling down her face. Arms open wide. Longing, wanting, desiring nothing more than to hold him and love him and take away the pain of rebellion and defiance. But he won’t have anything to do with it. On a small measure, that’s what Jesus was feeling as He looked out over Jerusalem. As God, He had chosen them. He had brought them up out of Ur of the Chaldees from Abraham. They were nobody. They were nothing. And still God chose them. He multiplied them. He made them a nation. He poured out His blessings on them. He spanked them when they needed it and He blessed them when they didn’t deserve it. The bottom line is, He loved them. And every time they walked away from Him. And every time they walked away, He stood there with tears streaming down His face and His arms wide open. Graciously waiting. Notice I said graciously—not helplessly. See, often times the mother who is in that heartbreaking situation feels helpless. But God is not helpless. God is the all-powerful creator of the universe. Rebellion stores up wrath in Him. But His gracious love continued to give Israel one more chance to return to Him. How many chances has He given you? Do you continue to rebel against Him? After all that He has done for you. And after all that He continues to do for you. Do you still have the audacity to walk away? Do you try to ignore Him? Do you tell Him to talk to you later? Do you continue to willingly sin, thinking—“it’s OK, I’ll just ask for forgiveness later.” Why don’t you just go ahead and spit straight in His face? But He continues to hold out His precious grace. He still stands—tears streaming down. He still stands—arms open wide. “How often I would have saved you. But you just wouldn’t have Me.” The grace of Jesus is truly amazing. It is amazing that He gives us another breath to breathe. Are you using it to praise Him? Or are you using it to break His heart? God’s grace is amazing. God’s grace is precious. But God’s grace is also an urgent warning. It won’t last forever. And when He decides to remove it, there will be hell to pay. Hell on earth and Hell everlasting. That brings us to our third urgent warning. The urgent warning of God’s present consequences. Look in verse 38.
MATTHEW 23:38
The urgent warning of God’s present consequences. What a pitiful picture the Jews were at this point in history. When you think of down times in the history of Israel, you normally think of the exile. You normally think about the time before Ezra that we’re talking about on Sunday nights. You think about the times when God allowed other nations to invade Israel. When they destroyed Samaria. When they destroyed Jerusalem. When they carried the Jews off into exile. When they had no land, no homes, no country, no temple. That’s when you normally think of Israel at its low point. But that wasn’t their low point. Their low point was still yet to come. Jesus says, that time when their house is left to them desolate. The word translated desolate carries the idea of something that is let go. Something that is discarded or left behind. Something that is abandoned. God abandoned them. Secular historians tell us that within 40 years of Jesus uttering these words, Jerusalem was completely destroyed. The temple which was the pride and joy of the Jews was reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble. The Jewish historian Josephus who lived during that time tells us of the siege laid to Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Titus. Things were so bad and the people were so hungry, that Jewish women were fighting amongst themselves over who would get to eat the flesh of their children. Is that shocking? It shouldn’t have been. God prophesied it in detail all the way back in Deuteronomy 28:47-57. In the very beginning of Israel’s time as a nation, God told Moses—if Israel doesn’t obey me, they will face consequences. They will be enslaved by other nations. They will be conquered. And things will get so bad that verse 53 says, “And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.” And that’s exactly what happened around 1500 years later in 70 AD. God does not take sin lightly. Sin is rebellion against Him. Sin is a slap in His Holy face and He doesn’t put up with it. He has set up a law in His universe that is called the law of sowing and reaping. Paul talks about it in Galatians 6:7-8: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” God will not be mocked. When you persist in sin, your house will be left unto you desolate. Whether that’s materially, emotionally, physically, who knows? But God doesn’t put up with sin. Does that mean that all of our bad circumstances are because of sin in our lives. Certainly not. They certainly weren’t in Job’s case. They weren’t in Paul’s case. They weren’t in Jesus’ case. Actually, they were because of sin in Jesus’ case. Not His sin, but ours. All of His suffering was brought on as a consequence of our sin. He reaped what we sowed. But if you look at the temporal consequences for sin that Israel had to endure. Why did they have to endure them? As another attempt by God to get them to turn back to Him. To trust in Him. To see Jesus for who He really is. But they wouldn’t do it. They still wouldn’t see Jesus as their Messiah. Why does God allow you to suffer the consequences of your sin? Why does He allow you to reap what you sow? For the same reason. As another way for you to see your need for Him. Another way for you to trust in Him. Another way for you to fully trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Have you done that? Will you do that? Or will you leave Jesus standing, weeping with His arms open wide for you like He did for Jerusalem. The consequences for your sin are urgent warnings. But there is one final urgent warning He gives us. And that’s the urgent warning of God’s pending judgment. Look at verse 39.
MATTHEW 23:39
The urgent warning of God’s pending judgment. Did you know that this was the last time that Jesus addressed the Jews? What’s interesting is that these same people had said these exact same words to Jesus within the last couple of days. As He entered into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey colt, they praised Him as their king. A huge mass of people cried out these very words. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” But did they mean it, or were they just following the crowd? They wanted Jesus to be their earthly king. And when it was clear that He wasn’t going to do that… these very same people gathered in a crowd again. Except this time, instead of crying Hosanna, they cried, “Crucify Him.” While Jesus wept over Jerusalem, He knew what awaited Him. He knew how everyone would abandon Him. He knew how He would be beaten and bruised and wounded and whipped and killed. But He wasn’t weeping for Himself. He was weeping over the lost. He was weeping over those He came to die for who would receive Him not. Why would that make Him weep? Because the next time they would see Him would be in judgment. That time described in Revelation 20:11-15: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem? Because they didn’t heed his urgent warnings. He gave them His Word. They heard it. They knew it. If they would have had cars, they might have even had it in the back window. They just didn’t see Jesus in it. They just didn’t live by it. He’s given you His Word too. Do you see Jesus in it? Do you live by it? Jesus gave Israel His Word and He gave them His grace. He gave them opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to turn to Him. But they refused. He is still giving you that same opportunity. What are you doing with it? Will you turn to Him? Or will you face the consequences? If you refuse to turn to Him today, you will reap what you sow on this earth. But that pales in comparison to the judgment you are storing up for you. Jesus is standing over you right now, just like He stood over Jerusalem over 2000 years ago. Is He weeping? If He is, come to His open arms today.
