Jesus’ Sorrow over the Unrepentant
Luke 13:31-34
Primary Purpose: To call the congregation to love the Lord and to commit
themselves to Him.
This is a story of the heart longing of Jesus. How He longs to love every soul and that every soul is important to Him. He hates the sin, but loves the sinner.
I heard a story about Dr.Claude H. Barlow, a missionary to China and one of the most revered foreigners to work in that land. A strange disease for which he knew no remedy was killing people. There were no research laboratories for this disease, so Dr.Barlow conducted his own research. He
studied the disease , filling a notebook with his observations. He then procured a vial of disease germs and sailed for the United States. Before he
arrived, he took the germs into his own body, then went to the John Hopkins University Hospital to be observed. Claude Barlow was very sick now. He
allowed his old professors at John Hopkins to use him for experimentation. A cure was found, which a healthy Claude barlow took back to China with him.
His efforts saved countless lives.” This is in a small way what Jesus did for us, he took up our infirmities, our weakness, our sorrows and provided a
remedy for it. And now all who come to Him and ask for forgiveness will receive it.
Here we have a incident that may have happened toward the end of the ministry of Jesus on earth. He is headed to Jerusalem to be killed. As he is traveling some Jews come to him to warn him about Herod’s intent to kill him. This may or may not have been the truth. They may have just been
trying to scare Jesus away from Galilee. We know that Herod longed to see Jesus and to ask him questions because he does when Jesus is tried. But,
Jesus reply indicates that he will not be rushed. He is working according to his own timetable. He will do the work of the Father until the 3rd day- the
day of resurrection, which is close at hand.
This is Herod Antipas. He was the man who had John the Baptist beheaded. He was also the man who mocked and ridiculed our Lord in His trial. He dressed Jesus in a purple robe as a way of mocking the idea that he could become a king. He longed to see Jesus, but the desire wasn’t to follow Him, but to gain his power and wisdom. He was a wicked man. Jesus plainly says this by calling him a fox. Yet, Jesus also says that he won’t allow Herod to dictate to him where he will go or what he will do. He goes
and does what the Father tells him to do.
Then Jesus mourns over Jerusalem. Here is God in the flesh. The maker and creator of all living things, crying over those who did not receive
him. Jesus is heartbroken over those who reject his love. In John 1:10-11 it says of Jesus:
“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his
own did not receive him.” Yet when one does receive him, they receive the kingdom of God.
We don’t realize how much one lost soul breaks the heart of God. In Hosea 3:1 God tells Hosea to go and purchase back his wife Gomer. She had
been a prostitute and he married her as the Lord instructed him Hos 1:3. But,she fled soon after, even though she had children with Hosea. She returned to her ways. God said to Hosea. Go and buy her back!! For “the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods. . ..” So, Hosea goes and buys Gomer back. He redeems her again from prostitution. Yet, she cannot be faithful. She does not know how. This is how Israel treated the prophets. God send them to warn, yet they killed some, rejected others.
God made us to love him. He desires to have fellowship with us. The irony of it is when I chose my own way that I not only grieve the heart of
God, but I hurt myself. God doesn’t desire for us to live outside of His love. So, he sent people to write his words and to receive it and to preserve it,
because he wants you to know that He loves you. You can chose to reject him, but that doesn’t mean He rejects you.
I heard a story about a family whose twenty year old son had become rebellious. He spent his nights wasting away with drinking and parties, and
he constantly spurred his parents love. One night in a drunken stupor he appeared at his parent’s home, stumbled through the door and passed out on
their floor. As the father was about to wake him and kick him out, the mother gently knelt down beside him, place his head in her lap and caressed his hair.
When the father began to speak, she said, “Shhh! This is the only time I get to hold him. He’s still my son. I want to hold him.”
If you remember the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15:11-31. The Father never stops loving the son just because he has gone away with his inheritance. The son has been unfaithful. The son has treated the father with contempt. But, the father looks for and longs after the son.
Jesus said he longed to gather their children just as a hen gathers her chicks. I think this demonstrates to us that the Lord loves us and desire
cherish, protect and provide for his children. If we only allow Him to.
Obeying the words of God carries with it it’s own reward. It shows wisdom and can keep us from many pains to walk in God’s counsel. It serves
as a guide to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. God desires to bless his people. Then through his people to bless the rest of the world. Yet, he doesn’t grab us by the throat and force us to follow Him. He gives us a choice. In Deut 30:15-20 the Lord spoke through Moses to the people.
Moses encouraged the people to love God that it would go well with them. He said, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering in to possess.” God gave them a choice and He gives us a choice. Life and prosperity, death and destruction. The choice is ours. Moses went on to say, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses agains tyou that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life. . . .” Many people are looking for a more abundant, prosperous life today. In Christ, abundant life begins. Will you respond to his love today?
