A Messiah's Hope For A Nation
Text: Matt. 23:37-39
Introduction
1. Illustration: In 1863 President Lincoln designated April 30th as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Let me read a portion of his proclamation on that occasion: "It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, who owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by a history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has grown, but we have forgotten God."
2. These words of Abraham Lincoln are just as true of our nation today as it was 148 years ago; for we have certainly forgotten God.
a. We have kicked him out of our government.
b. We have kicked him out our schools.
c. We have kicked him out of our lives.
3. As a result, we have seen our finances in chaos, increase in crime, and a decreased sensitivity to sin.
4. However, I believe there is still hope for America because of...
a. God's compassion in judgment
b. Our hope in repentance
5. Let's stand as we read together Matt. 23:37-39
Proposition: As a nation, we need to repent of our sins and put our hope in God's forgiveness.
Transition: We must understand God's love for this nation in seeing...
I. God's Compassion In Judgment (37).
A. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem
1. One of the truly amazing thing about God's character is that even though he is a just and holy God, he is also a God of infinite compassion and mercy.
2. We can see this is Jesus statement, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers!"
a. Some people wrongly think of God as a vindictive being in the sky watching what is going on and ready to pour out his judgment on us.
b. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When God sends judgment he does so with sadness in his heart, and only because we have deserved it.
c. The term "Jerusalem" has stood for the leadership of the nation, but here it seems to include a reference to the whole nation of Israel for whom Jesus is deeply burdened.
d. Jerusalem, the city of David, the city where God revealed himself in his temple, had become known as the city that killed the prophets and stoned those sent to her (Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary: Matthew).
e. Israel stands condemned for eliminating the voice of God's messengers, soon to include Jesus' voice and those whom he will send after him .
3. There was great sadness as well as rebuke in His repeating the name, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
a. It was much as when He had said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things" (Luke 10:41);
b. and when He had said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat" (Luke 22:31);
c. and when He would say some years later, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:4).
d. The name Jerusalem means "city of peace," and it was often called the holy city.
e. But over many centuries it had become the city of violence and of ungodliness.
f. In the book of Revelation it is called, "the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt" (11:8), Sodom representing moral perversion and Egypt representing pagan religion.
g. The city of God had become the city of Satan.
h. The verbs kills and stones translate two Greek present active participles and could be rendered, "who are killing... and stoning," indicating a process that was still continuing (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
i. However, Jesus still shows his compassion and mercy towards the people.
j. This is not to say that God overlooks sin; that is something he could not do and be just and righteous.
k. Yet it does show that he is willing to do anything and everything possible to give us the opportunity to repent.
4. Jesus further shows him compassion when he says, "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."
a. Just like Yahweh in the Old Testament, who provides protection for his people under his metaphorical wings, Jesus continues to desire the gathering his people.
b. He longed to draw Israel to Himself and protect her just as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings to protect them from a storm that would batter them or a hawk that would devour them.
c. There was a beautiful intimacy and tenderness in Jesus' words and no doubt in His voice as He mourned over His people.
d. He came to His people in truth and light and love and offered them the kingdom God had long promised, but they rejected the King and forfeited the kingdom.
e. Instead of inheriting the blessing God proffered for their faith, they inherited the judgment He promised for their unbelief. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
f. In the case with Israel, even though Jesus had given numerous opportunities for them to repent, they would not turn from their sin.
g. But he will not force himself; they must determine their own fate - "but you were not willing" (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, 750-758).
h. He would have loved to shelter them from the coming judgment, but because of their rejection he could not (Horton, 511).
B. Compassionate Judge
1. Illustration: Just before the death of actor W.C. Fields, a friend visited Fields' hospital room and was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible. Asked what he was doing with a Bible, Fields replied, "I'm looking for loopholes."
2. God has been very good to our nation.
a. Psalm 33:12 (NLT)
What joy for the nation whose God is the LORD, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.
b. We have enjoyed his prosperity.
c. We have enjoyed his protection.
d. We have lived under his blessings.
e. But all of that is changing!
3. We have not been good to God.
a. Isaiah 30:15 (NLT)
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
b. We have not shoved him in the corner; we have shoved him out the door!
c. We have removed him from the government.
d. We have removed him from the educational system.
e. We have removed him from the courtroom.
f. We have removed him from the media.
g. Instead we have embraced abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and all the lies of hell.
h. And because of this, I believe, God has removed us from his blessings!
4. The only way to change this is turn back to God.
a. Isaiah 55:6-7 (NLT)
6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
b. Politicians will not fix our problems.
c. Programs will not fix our problems.
d. More money will not fix our problems.
e. Only repenting before God will fix our problems!
Transition: Our only hope is repentance.
II. Our Hope In Repentance (38-39).
A. Abandoned and Desolate
1. There are many similarities between America of today and Israel of Jesus day.
a. Despite numerous warnings to turn back to the Lord, Israel continued to live in sin and hypocrisy.
b. God had removed his blessings from them because they had become spiritually bankrupt.
c. The major difference was that they were living under foreign occupation, but only God knows if that will continue to be a difference.
2. Jesus shows them the result of their rebellion and sin when he says, "And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate."
a. Jesus is especially burdened in light of Israel's coming judgment. He predicts the destruction of Israel's house, an expression for the temple in the Old Testament.
b. This is possibly its meaning here as well, although it may point more widely to judgment on Jerusalem's leadership.
c. Jewish authority will be lost with the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. This is the theme to which Jesus turns next (Wilkins).
d. There are two words in this verse that are important for us to understand.
e. Abandoned: to move away from, with the implication of resulting separation (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
f. It can mean either "abandoned to the enemy," or "deserted by God."
g. However, the differences in meaning are closely related.
h. If he gave up the Temple as his dwelling place, he would desert the city.
i. The result was the removal of his divine protection, which would led to the people being abandoned to the enemy, in this case the Romans, which happened in AD 70. Notice that Jesus says "your house."
j. The Temple had ceased to be a place of worship and was now only a building, and therefore, God had abandoned it.
k. God will not force his grace and mercy upon us, and there comes a time when it is too late.
l. For Jerusalem, that time had come. Unfortunately, they did not see it, and could not believe that the Temple could be destroyed, just as they had in Jeremiah's day (Horton, 511).
m. Desolate: state of a person who has been deserted or forsaken (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
n. Amos 8:11 (NLT)
“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD."
o. There is not greater calamity then to be abandoned and deserted by God.
3. However, Jesus leaves them with a word of hope when he says, "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!’”
a. He linked his death - using the word "for" - to the departure of God from the Temple.
b. This indicates a connection between Jesus death and the destruction of Jerusalem and tribulation for Israel.
c. Jesus was rejected by Israel, but the time was coming when they would recognize him as their Messiah (Horton, 513).
d. This is the last time that Jesus addresses the crowds, who have had their opportunity to repent.
e. The implications of Jesus' quotation of Psalm 118:26 are profound.
f. The same words were cited in 21:9 at Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem, shouted by those identifying him as the messianic Son of David.
g. Now as Jesus cites the same passage, he identifies himself with God's Messiah, Israel's Savior, the "Coming One," who will once again return to his people after a time of great judgment, when they will have no other choice but to acknowledge him as Lord, either in great joy or in great sorrow (Wilkins).
h. Were it not for Jesus' qualifying word until, that would have been their final moment in history and the theology of the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, would be radically altered.
i. Jesus did not say "unless," making Israel's restoration only a possibility but until, making it a certainty.
j. Even in the context of His most severe curses upon unbelieving Israel and her false leaders, that word offered hope.
k. One day Israel will finally say in faith, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," and in that day she will be forever redeemed, restored, and blessed (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
l. And there is still that hope for America.
B. Need to Repent
1. Illustration: Christian writer and commentator Warren Wiersbe, tells about a town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before had saved his life; so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced his plea: "Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged." One day Jesus Christ will say to rebellious sinners, "During that long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I would have forgiven you. But today I am your Judge."
2. Our only hope is in repentance!
a. Luke 13:5 (NLT)
No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
b. The word repent means to change the way we have been living; to turn away from our sins and back towards God.
c. We must repent as individuals.
d. We must repent as communities.
e. We must repent as a nation.
3. Our only hope is in confessing our sins to God.
a. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
b. We must confess that we have rebelled against him.
c. We must confess the idols in our lives.
d. We must confess our spiritual apathy.
e. We must confess our un-thankfulness.
f. If we confess God will forgive us and make us right with him again.
4. God is calling us to come to our senses.
a. Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
b. God has compassion on us just as he did with Israel.
c. God longs to make us right with him.
d. God longs to pour out his blessings on us again.
e. But he cannot as long as we continue in our sins.
Transition: Let us return to God and he will welcome us back!
Conclusion
1. I believe there is still hope for America because of...
a. God's compassion in judgment
b. Our hope in repentance
2. Hosea 6:1-2 (NLT)
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.
2 In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.
3. Are you ready to return to the Lord?
4. Are you praying for our nation to return to the Lord?
5. There is still hope!
