Lament for Jerusalem

Hey everybody.

Today, I will wrap my exegesis of Luke 13.  This section of scripture begins as some Pharisees come to Jesus with a warning.  Herod Antipas wants to kill him.  It is not clear whether this is a friendly gesture from these Pharisees or simply a warning designed to get Jesus to go away. Here is my translation:

31 At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus, saying, “You need to leave. Get out of here, because Herod wants to kill you.” 32 Jesus responded, “You go tell that fox that today and tomorrow, I will cast out demons and heal people and on the third day I will finish my work.  33 Nevertheless, it is a necessary journey for me today, tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible for a prophet to die outside of Jerusalem.” 34  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the place that kills the prophets and throws stones at those who are sent to her, how often I have wanted to gather your children together, the way that a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you are not willing. 35 Pay attention, then, because your house will be deserted. But, I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the name of the one who comes in the name of the Lord’”

Jesus does not seem to be threatened at all by this warning in any way.  Jesus knows what awaits him, and knows that Herod will not be the one to kill him.  Instead, he sends a message to Herod. He starts by calling Herod a 'fox.'  I doubt that this was meant as a compliment.  (I also doubt that these Pharisees delivered this message.) Jesus, unmoved by the threat, simply responds by saying that he will continue his work of healing and casting out demons and continue his journey toward Jerusalem.  

Jesus then declares that his journey to Jerusalem was necessary for him and he would do this in his time.  He was not going to be rushed by the Pharisees or by Herod. 

In verse 33, Jesus makes the comment that no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem.  In his lament for Jerusalem, he calls the city the place that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent to them.  Jesus is going to Jerusalem to die.  Jesus clearly considers himself a prophet. Many others did too.  Luke 7:16, the crowd says that a great prophet had appeared among them.  Later, in the same chapter, Simon the Pharisee questions whether Jesus was a prophet, because he was allowing a ‘sinful’ woman to touch his feet. (7:39)  So the question is out there, “Is Jesus a prophet?” The answer is ‘yes.”  And prophets die in Jerusalem. 

Jesus is now ready to take on the role of suffering servant that we read about in Isaiah 51. He is determined to head to Jerusalem where he knows that he will suffer and be brutally killed. He will carry out the mission that God had sent him for.  

Jesus laments over Jerusalem.  Again, he has recognized its checkered history, calling it a place that kills the prophets.  But this is not what he wants.  He loves Jerusalem and wants to bring it together, and offer it protection and comfort. His comparison is to a mother hen and how it will gather its chicks to protect them.  This emphasis shows God’s heart.  He has an intense desire to care for and nurture his people. Sadly, for the most part, the people of Jerusalem and certainly its leadership, refused to listen to God’s message.  Just like their many ancestors who stoned the prophets sent to them, this generation of Jerusalemites would kill the greatest of the prophets, Jesus.

While God’s heart is to care for His people, it is clear that His people do not want Him to do so.  They have consistently rejected those God has sent. We have seen throughout Luke this idea of trusting God for protection and provision.  That is what the mother hen does. But they have rejected it. Because of their rejection of God’s protection and provision, Jerusalem ‘s house, the temple, will be left desolate.  Their unwillingness to listen to God would leave them desolate.  Jesus is a prophet, and his prophecy is a warning that their temple would eventually be destroyed.  

Let me add a thought to this:  The temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed, but God’s plan involves a different temple, our own bodies, a temple of the Holy Spirit.  No longer will you have to go to Jerusalem to be in God’s dwelling place, because we carry His dwelling place with us.  This is good for us, since the original dwelling place has now been destroyed.