SolLuna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

12/10
Matthew 23:27-39 NRSV

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers!"

"How can you escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar."

"Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Jesus is predicting his own rejection and tying it to a history of rejection.

It is not just Jews who have rejected the prophets, but that is Jesus' context. He is born to and among a favored people who possess the law and seek to keep it. But, like in all human history, there is a legacy of rebellion and injustice.

This grieves Jesus' heart.

He focuses his lament upon the leadership who have confused earthly, temporal power with spiritual authority.

Again, this is very consistent with most cultures and, all too frequently, religions. It is evident in Christian history as well. There are power grabs and there is rejection of the messenger who brings fresh and old truth to a new generation.

I wanted to gather you!

That is his message.

I am a mother hen!

It grieves me that you do not hear me.

That is the heart of Jesus who also observes that for things to continue on their present course, at that time, disaster and destruction would come.

And it did in 70 AD under the tyranny and brutality of the Romans.

But he ends in a hopeful note. You will not hear from me for a while, but I will show up again:

"… you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

That will be the great day of welcome after the hard times,

Hope will prevail, but for now, like a mother hen with scattered chicks, he grieves. 

The heart of Jesus is to gather his people.