The Savior’s Lament
Matthew 23:37-39
In our study through the Gospel of Matthew, we have been examining the events that took place during the last few days before Jesus was crucified. After the initial excitement that came with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11) and His cleansing of the temple the following day (Matt. 21:12-17), Jesus spent much of His time teaching in the temple (Matt. 21:23). But the religious leaders relentlessly challenged Jesus and tried to discredit Him so that they might eventually destroy Him (Matt. 21:23-27; 22:15-40). Their schemes utterly failed, and instead, at every effort Jesus discredited them, exposing their wicked hearts and distorted understanding of the Scriptures.
Having silenced all His critics (Matt. 22:46), in Matthew 23, Jesus went on the offensive against the scribes and Pharisees. First, He warned His disciples and the people about the danger of their hypocrisy (Matt. 23:1-12). Then, He pronounced a series woes upon them directly, calling them hypocrites, sons of hell, blind guides, serpents, and a brood of vipers. He condemned their hypocritical religion because by it they deterred people from the kingdom of God (Matt. 23:13-15), distorted the word of God (Matt. 23:16-24), disguised unclean hearts (Matt. 23:25-28), and doomed themselves and others to hell (Matt. 23:29-36).
So, we have seen Jesus’ warning about their hypocrisy, His woes pronounced against them, and finally at the end of Matthew 23, we see Jesus’ weeping over them. These are Jesus’ last words spoken to the Jewish crowds and their religious leaders in the temple. After this, Jesus leaves the temple for good (Matt. 24:1). His final words are a lament, an honest and painful prayer of sorrow. Jesus concludes His harsh rebuke with a tone of compassion and a longing for their repentance. Though it doesn’t tell us so, you can be sure He spoke these words with tears in His eyes and deep passion in His voice. Jesus was not a cold-hearted judge executing punishment upon these people. Jesus was a compassionate Savior, expressing His sorrowful love to those who refused it.
First, we see…
1. The Passion of the Savior (Matt. 23:37)
You can hear the depth of Jesus’ emotions as He repeats the words “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was the capital of God’s people, Israel. The name means, “foundation of peace.” Jerusalem was the city of David where God dwelt with His people in the temple. It was prophesied to be the center of the Messiah’s glorious kingdom. The anointed Son of David would reign from Jerusalem with righteous judgment. All the nations were to stream to Jerusalem to worship the LORD. But instead of embracing this happy destiny, Jerusalem had spurned God again. It became a city not of peace but of violence against God’s prophets and the people that truly followed Him.
Jesus described the city as “the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” (Matt. 23:37). This had been her legacy in the past. God sent prophets like Jeremiah to warn Jerusalem to turn and repent in order to avoid the Babylonian invasion, but they rejected them (Jeremiah 38:1-4). The two verbs here, “kills” (ἀποκτείνουσα) and “stones” (λιθοβολοῦσα) are both present active participles. Literally, they are continually killing and stoning them. Even now, the leaders in Jerusalem are rejecting Jesus, the greatest prophet (Deuteronomy 18:17-18), the Son of God and Messiah. In just hours from when Jesus spoke these words, they will arrest Him at prayer, falsely accuse Him, mock Him, beat Him, and hand Him over to be crucified.
They will continue to reject God’s messengers in the future, Jesus has just said in Matthew 23:34, “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.” Jerusalem is representative of the whole nation of Israel and especially her leaders. By rejecting those whom God sends, they are condemning Jerusalem to destruction once again.
A. The Lord’s Desire
Jesus’ desire for Jerusalem is seen in the second half of Matthew 23:37, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Notice the word “often” it means “many times”. A hen gathering her chicks under her wings is a picture of loving care and protection. David understood this about God and wrote in Psalm 36:7, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.” Jesus said it has always been His desire to gather the children of Israel together as His own precious brood; to care for them, to protect them, and to save them. He had wanted their experience of Him to be the same as the psalmist described in Psalm 91,
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday (Psalm 91:1-6).
His spirit groaned for Jerusalem to come to its senses and embrace Him as the Messiah the way a tender parent longs to gather their children into their arms, to embrace and protect them. Jesus extended His grace and compassion many times to the people of Israel and their leaders. They heard Him teach upon the mountain side (Matthew 5-7). They heard Him preach in their synagogues (Luke 4:16-30). They heard Him speak in the fields (Matt. 12:1-8), in Paran (Matt. 19:1-12), in Chorazin (Matt. 11:21), in Bethsaida (Matt. 11:21), in Capernaum (Matt. 11:23), in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-20), in Jerusalem (Matt. 22), and in the temple (Matt. 21:12-17). He sent His disciples to preach the kingdom in all of the cities of Israel and Judah (Matt. 10:5-6). People came to hear Him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan (Matt. 4:25).
His ministry to the people of Israel was repeated and recurring. If anyone ever had an opportunity to hear the good news of the gospel, it was the people of Israel and Judea. If anyone ever had an opportunity to see the proof that Jesus was the long expected one, it was the people of Israel and Judea. For three long years, Jesus ministered to the people of Israel. Time after time after time after time, Jesus demonstrated His great compassion and kindness. His message was one of compassion and mercy and grace and kindness. He called people to repent and believe the good news of the kingdom. Jesus said that He was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). In Matthew 18:11 He told why He was sent, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
That’s what Jesus desired to do for Jerusalem. Jesus did everything necessary for that gift of eternal life to be freely offered. Redemption was offered even to these hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. Why didn’t it happen for most of them? There was one major problem–their unwillingness to answer God’s call.
B. The People’s Denial
Jesus said, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37). He was willing; but they were not.
They demonstrated their unwillingness by persecuting and killing those whom God sent to call them to repentance. They not only rejected what Jesus taught them, they rejected Him completely. They rejected Jesus’ love. They rejected Jesus’ protection. They rejected Jesus’ Messiahship. They didn’t want Him! He was not the Messiah that they expected or wanted. It wouldn’t be too long afterwards that Pilate would offer to release Him; only to hear them shout that they wanted the murderer Barabbas instead (Matthew 27:21). It wouldn’t be too long that Pilate would stand Him before the crowds and say, “Shall I crucify your King?“; only to hear the chief priests—in words almost too horrible to repeat!—answer, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
They refused to repent. They blinded their eyes to the light of Truth concerning Christ and the fact that He alone could bring them peace. It broke His holy heart. He was leaving and their house would be left desolate. This is what must happen as a result …
2. The Penalty of Their Sin (Matt. 23:38).
Jesus says, “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). “House”, as Jesus uses it here, may mean the city of Jerusalem or specifically the temple. After all, the next thing we find in Matthew 24 is the disciples admiring the buildings of the temple, and Jesus then shocking them by telling them that “not one stone will be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). But it also probably refers to the nation, the “house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6; 15:24). The city and the temple would be torn down. Within a generation, in 70 AD the Roman General Titus would level the city and the temple and the Jews would be either slaughtered or scattered among the nations. The people of Israel lost their temple, their chief city, and their status as a nation. They didn’t want their King, and so they lost the kingdom. As Jesus said, “See! Your house is left to you desolate.”
But even in the midst of prophesying this judgment upon the city and nation, Jesus indicates an even greater …
3. The Plan of the Sovereign (Matt. 23:39).
While He spoke of the certainty of God’s judgment, He also spoke of the certainty of a hope for the future. “… for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” (Mat. 23:39). The judgment in this verse is that they would not see Jesus again as they had been seeing Him. They would no longer debate with Him, hear Him teach, or see Him perform miracles. Jesus’ public ministry is at an end. Matthew 24:1 states that Jesus “departed from the temple.” He would never enter there again. He had a few more things to teach His disciples privately, and then He would go to the cross.
But notice the word “till” or “until”. It is a word of hope and certainty. It is something that will absolutely happen and it will not be dependent on man, it will occur by God’s sovereignty. If it was conditioned on their response it would have said, “unless.” But praise God! There is a “till” in God’s plan.
They will not see Jesus again like they had seen Him until what? Till they say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” The people of Jerusalem had already said these words about Jesus as He first rode into the city (Matt. 21:9). The phrase comes from Psalm 118:26 and refers to the coming of Messiah, the Stone that he builders rejected who becomes the chief cornerstone. He brings salvation to Israel and establishes His kingdom among them. They had shouted this verse on Sunday thinking that Jesus would break the bondage of Rome. But on Friday when it is clear Jesus would not do that, they shouted instead, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22).
Yet, there is a coming day when the nation of Israel will recognize their Messiah. There is a day when, as Paul puts it in Romans 11:26, “all Israel shall be saved.” The prophet Zechariah puts it this way, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10). Zechariah 13 goes on to prophesy,
1 “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. 2 “It shall be in that day,” says the LORD of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. … 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ “ (Zech. 13:1-2, 9).
And Zechariah 14 goes on to describe the Lord descending upon the Mount of Olives, the nations in rebellion being put down, and the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord in Jerusalem.
The Lord’s promises are true. They can be trusted. Every single one of them will come to pass. To those who are unwilling to accept the salvation offered in Jesus Christ, there will be judgment, but to those who will come to Him for the forgiveness of their sins and place their trust in Him, there will be the glorious kingdom of heaven and eternal life.
Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem shows that despite all the woes for sin, God still longs to save us. However, judgment is coming, so we must respond now. It is clear that Jesus spoke all these warnings with great sorrow in his heart. If you have not yet repented to believe in Jesus Christ, then today is the day to do so. Take heed to the Lord’s invitation, “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He is willing to save you, are you willing to repent, believe and be saved?
