Jesus’s Public Goodbye
Matthew 23:37-39, CEB - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You
who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you. How often I wanted
to gather your people together, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings. But you didn’t want that. Look,
your house is left to you deserted. I
tell you, you won’t see me until you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the
Lord’s name.”
Jesus
completes His address in the Temple with a lament. This is the last time He will be in the
Temple and the last time He will formally address the public. He is aware that, in only a couple of days,
he will be betrayed by one of His closest friends, arrested, tried multiple
times, beaten and crucified on a Roman cross.
As he looks over those gathered, from Passover pilgrims to Pharisees,
you can hear the growing sadness and foreboding as He wishes things could be
different. I invite you to read the
above passage again aware of Jesus’s heart breaking as He speaks.
Jesus’s
words sound like a mother who has done all that she knows to do to bring her
wayward children under her protection, but her children’s apathy and/or
rebellion rebuffs the offer. Accepting
that things cannot be different, Jesus publicly says “goodbye.” He informs those who hear Him that He will
not return again anytime soon. What Jesus
knows is that the Temple itself will be reduced to rubble before He returns and
this surely adds to His sadness.
Too
often, God’s demeanor towards rebellion is portrayed as angry and
vengeful. To be fair, some of those portrayals
stem from Old Testament texts. Without
disregarding those scriptures, Jesus adds more insight into the heart of God
when people ignore and rebel. God is
sorrowful toward those who will not heed spiritual guidance and wisdom. God’s heart is to protect them, not smite
them. That is Jesus’s final public
word.
I find
comfort in this because I have been among the apathetic and rebellious at
times. That apathy and rebellion led to
my own pain in some cases, something God would have helped me avoid if I had been
more responsive. Fortunately, those
times of struggle have been instructive and serve as a constant reminder that I
am prone to wander. I’m reminded of the
great hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” particularly words from the
final verse:
Oh, to grace how
great a debtor
Daily I'm
constrained to be
Let Thy goodness
like a fetter
Bind my wandering
heart to Thee
Prone to wander,
Lord I feel it
Prone to leave
the God I love
Here's my heart,
oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy
courts above
May this hymn be our prayer today
as we hear Jesus’s heart for those of us who are “prone to leave the God [we]
love.”
Question: Are you aware of any apathy or even rebellion
towards God in your heart this day?
Prayer: God forgive us for own insensitivity to Your
Spirit’s call. Take our heart and seal it in Your mercy and love. Quash any rebellion in us. Help us accept your guidance this day and
every day. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia
today as war begins within Ukraine’s borders.
Song: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Chris
Rice
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