Jim Davis, a grocery store clerk who loves his job, prides himself on his good work. One of his pet peeves is out-of-control toddlers and parents who yell at their kids but do nothing to correct their children's obnoxious behavior. One evening, Jim was checking out a customer who had a shopping cart full of groceries. While ringing up the sale, a child behind him began screaming very loudly, and an angry man responded by shouting, "Get down!" "What a jerk," thought Jim, without even looking up, moving the groceries past the scanner. The kid behind him was still crying, and again he heard the man yell, "Get down!" "Sheesh. Talk about poor parenting," thought Jim. "This guy is a total jerk." He kept on checking groceries without looking up. Finally finishing the customer's cart, Jim looked up and said, "That'll be $89.95, ma'am." Seeing no one, he looked around and noticed that everyone, including his customer, was lying face down on the floor. He turned around just in time to see a gunman leave the store. The checker behind him, still lying on the floor, calmly said, "Jim, you know the second time you heard 'Get down,' his gun was pointed right at your head." We can get so accustomed to the noise of our culture and the distractions of the world that when we hear someone telling us something important, we blow it off as if it were of no significance. We hear warnings so often, but blow them off so easily. A few weeks back when the terrible windstorm damaged our area, I was awakened by the sound of the wind and then heard the ominous sirens. I had heard them before; nothing happened. I was used to it. One person in our congregation, who shall remain nameless, heard the sirens, got out of bed, shut the windows so as not to be bothered by the sirens and went back to sleep. But warnings should be heeded. They are meant for our protection, but very often when we hear the caution sounds, we assume it is meant for another. We go on with business as usual. We need to stop and listen to what God wants us to hear. It is too easy for us to ignore God’s warning. In our passage this morning we hear Jesus’s final plea to His people, a lament as He cries out to the city of Jerusalem, the city which in a few days will call for His death. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" WE ARE WARNED AGAINST REJECTING GOD’S MESSENGERS This final warning of Jesus to the Jewish people is directed primarily at the leadership. Last week we examined the seven woes in which Jesus detailed how the leadership was false in their preaching, false in their practice and false in their security. Since they had deceived themselves in what they believed, in what they did, they were able to convince themselves that their standing before God was not all that bad. In the final condemnation in verses 29-36 Jesus mocks their self-assured attitude, namely, that if the prophets were alive today, they would not have killed them like their ancestors had. But the truth is they are no different than their ancestors. In 48 hours they will execute their plot by executing the Messiah. So Jesus cries out to Jerusalem, who is represented by the leaders, as the city who kills its prophets, stones those sent to her. In the Old Testament the Law of Moses prescribed stoning for idolatry, sorcery, as well as false prophets. But since the people were no longer willing to discern truth from falsehood, they protected those who taught falsely and sought to kill those who communicate God’s Word. It is not uncommon for Satan to turn the artillery against the Church, the weapons which were originally designed for its defense. Church history is replete with examples of many true prophets who were branded as seducers, teachers of the truth called heretics and schismatics. Rather than just ignore God’s mercy, their hatred for God is so intense they kill the messengers. While proverbial wisdom reminds us that it is not uncommon to kill the messenger of bad news, the Old Testament prophets were often killed when they brought news of hope and mercy. The author of Hebrews reminds us of some of what they went through when he writes in Hebrews 11:35b-38. But Jesus is not just telling them what happened in the past. Jesus uses the present tense, describing their on going habit. “Jerusalem, you are killing the prophets.” Acts records some of this persecution. We see there as well as throughout the world that where the gospel is preached it is there persecuted. How would Jesus respond to such a people, to a people that hates God so much that they kill His messengers? Notice how Jesus responds: Rather than wiping them out then and there, He desires to gather them, to corral a murderous, immoral people. The response Jesus has to those who hate Him is similar to a report in the Miami Herald. David McAllister is 77 and blind, a nursing-home invalid in North Miami Beach, Florida. Each day Chris Carrier, 32, comes to visit with McAllister and read from the Bible. Their only previous relationship occurred during a few days in December 1974, when McAllister kidnapped young Carrier at a bus stop and left him for dead in the Everglades with cigarette burns on his body, icepick holes in one eye, as well as gunshot wounds. How he could stand to spend time with this evil man? Carrier said, "I don't stare at my . . . potential murderer. I stare at a man, very old, very alone and scared." WE ARE WARNED AGAINST REJECTING GOD’S MESSAGE Jesus desires to gather those that are His. Not just once, but again and again it has been Jesus’s desire to bring together His people. "How often..." This was done by those prophets, the sent-ones to Israel. The process of gathering did not occur just once or on rare occasion; rather every time God’s Word is present Jesus Christ condescends to us so that we would respond to Him. God’s arms are opened wide for you every time you hear the Word read and preached. Don’t ever allow your hearts to become so hard that you refuse to hear it, refuse to respond. Jesus likens His affection toward such horrible people as a mother hen gathering her chicks. For all our obstinacy, Jesus still seeks to protect us. His concern for us is to shelter us from danger. This image of protection is seen in Deuteronomy 32:10-11 as well as in Psalm 91:4. What a great figure of protection, rest, warmth for those who are defenseless, dependent creatures, as they creep under and feel themselves overshadowed by the wing of the mother bird. That is a place of safety where storm will not crush, where predator will not devour. We may not relate to the agrarian picture of the hen and chicks. But most of us have been to Chuck E. Cheeses, trying to round up squirrely five year olds. While the job may be tiresome, we all leave with our own kids; while they may want to stay, none are left. We gather them into the van and drive off. What an encouragement to us in our long-continued rebellion. Do you need any greater illustration of the Father’s forgiving love for you? If He sends His own Son to be crucified, who speaks to those who will kill Him not with words of condemnation, but of maternal love, how much more is the Father desirous to bring you close to His own breast, to lavish His love on you, cover you with kisses as the Prodigal’s father covered his wayward son? How could you ever doubt that the Father cares for you, desires to give you good gifts? If you ever question God’s care for you, let this image be burned into your mind. If you are tempted to ask what your worth is to God, remember this. A while ago the personal possessions of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were auctioned off to the general public. You may remember that the Duke of Windsor is the royal title for the former King Edward, who abdicated his throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Among the auctioned items was a piece of their wedding cake. The winning bid for this item was placed by Benjamin Vim. He paid $29,900 for the 50-year-old piece of cake. (Of course, this is more than he would have paid for dessert at Denny's, but it wouldn't have been as fresh.) It's amazing that a plain piece of cake (it wasn't even chocolate) could be worth so much. However, this is not that unusual. Ordinary things frequently become valuable when they are owned by a celebrity. Last year at the Kennedy auction many mundane items yielded millions of dollars on the auction block. A small stool that Sotheby's estimated to be worth $150 actually sold for $33,500. JFK's golf clubs went for $750,000. His humidor (worth $800) went for $575,000. A simple tape measure sold for $48,000. What made these items worth so much? One thing: they belonged to someone famous. Even the most ordinary possession becomes valuable when it is owned by a celebrity. You may be ordinary, but you are valuable, not because of who you are, but because to whom you belong. In Isaiah, God said, "I have summoned you by name. You are mine." (Isaiah 43:1) Paul also reminds us, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) And what a price it was. God gave His son in exchange for you. Jesus died so you could live. When you calculate your own worth, remember your worth is determined by God. You are valuable, not because of who you are, but because of whose you are. God sees something in you that you may not always see in yourself. You are worth saving, even though you cost Him a great deal. What's more, He considers you worth the price He paid: the life of His Son. For this reason our Savior does not cheer on their ruin, but calls them to repentance. But people are unwilling to come. As great as God’s grace so great is our obstinacy: “I would... but you would not.” If this is Jesus’s desire, then what is the problem? Their wills were diametrically opposed to the desire of the Savior; they did not like the terms of Jesus’s gathering them; it was too demeaning, they loved their sins, they trusted in their own righteousness; they refused to submit to the grace of Christ and His laws. If anyone ever wants to believe that human free will is sufficient on its own to turn to God, that God votes for us and we must cast the final, deciding vote for salvation, then this passage will set us straight. The human will, apart from God, does not desire God. We have only ourselves to blame. What a horribly pathetic picture: Jesus desires the city to come to Him, that people find protection in His care, but they refuse to do so, they will not. Here is the frightening picture of the person who feels the touch of God, but flinches and runs, who hears the words, but covers the ears, who sees His mercy, but shuts his eyes. The human will only condemns and damns. The free will of man moves against the love of God in spite of the most merciful appeals: “I would... but you would not.” But still, this verse presents a lurking problem as God’s will being thwarted by human choice, as though we are stronger than the Creator. To get a better view we must look at Matthew as a whole. Matthew 11:25-27: God hid His meaning from certain wise ones in Israel, revealed it to those chosen. Matthew 13:11: Knowledge was given and concealed. Matthew 15:13: "Every plant that my Father has not planted will be rooted up." Matthew 16:17: He says God reveals to Peter the true meaning of Christ. Matthew 22:14: "Many are called but few are chosen." If this is the case, then why does Jesus not do something about it? If God is God, the Creator who governs us, who foreordains whatsoever shall come to pass, then why cry about gathering people who will not come? Part of the problem is in our careless reading of the passage. Who does He want to gather and who does not want this gathering? To whom is He speaking? Jerusalem is a broad term, but He is just coming off denouncing the leaders of Jerusalem. Also in the context here Jesus blames the killing of the prophets on the present leaders, the teachers of the Law and Pharisees. Then in verse 37 it is Jerusalem who kills and stones. Who is to be gathered? He wants to gather “your children.” Whose kids? Jerusalem’s: that is, the children of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. Who is not willing? The pronoun points back to Jerusalem, to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. This goes back to what was said in verse 13: the leaders make of their converts twice the sons of Hell because what they teach removes the God of grace from the equation. The leaders are not willing that the people whom they have discipled be gathered in by Christ. The gathering was prevented by the refusal of the leaders whom Jesus has just denounced. Their false teaching becomes a road-block for the people against responding. So this does not teach that God’s desire is finally thwarted, but that judgment will come to anyone who stands in God’s way as He seeks to gather those who are His. All one need do is read on in Acts to see that Jesus is extremely successful in gathering those who are His. WE ARE WARNED AGAINST A MISERABLE END There is misery without Christ. For those who are not gathered by His mercy, the only other option is His wrath. But that wrath is first demonstrated in His absence which leaves the city, the temple, their lives desolate. The temple was often referred to as the House and as we see in 24:1, Christ leaves the temple for the last time, never to return. It is not even called God’s house, but “your" house. While the activity of the temple continues for another forty years, it is empty, for God’s presence is gone. The desolation of the temple was made more concrete when in 70 AD the Roman General Titus finally breached the walls of Jerusalem and proceeded to remove the great Herodian temple stone by stone. But that same warning should be remembered by us as well. Whenever a house of God does not center itself on Christ, they too are desolate places. Christ’s absence makes the best-furnished sanctuary a wilderness. Though it is filled with would-be worshippers and brightly decorated, it is dark and lonely. There is hope in a final offer of grace. Jesus’s warning does not end with the promise of desolation. His final words to Jerusalem are a warning tinged with hope. There is a promise as well as a curse. “You will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” This verse comes from Psalm 118:26, which was used as worshippers went up toward the temple. The people and priests would greet each other with this verse. It was used in Matthew 21:9 as Jesus rode the donkey up toward the temple just a few days before. But the verse does not refer to the Palm Sunday celebration, but at the end of the ages when He returns again. But His return will be for those who are gathered by Him, for those who know Him as the Savior who gathers those that are His; they will celebrate His return. Those that are gathered by Christ into the Church will have reason to praise His return. For while they may not believe at that time, God’s grace will continual to call and they will be made willing. But as for those who have rejected His call, whose will remained bent toward themselves and away from God, they will offer homage in the form of a groaning announcement as they are forced to bend the knee, when every tongue, tribe and nation give Christ His honor. God, speaking through Isaiah says in Isaiah 45:22-25: "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, `In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.'" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult. You and I hear the warning. There is a call, not of a crazed robber with a gun in a grocery store, but now the gentle call of a Savior who calls us to come to Him if we are weighed down by life, when we recognize that we are not in control, we are not as good as we thought. This Savior calls to sinners like you and me, calling us to worship, to honor Him, to trust Him for all our needs. But if you want to wait, ignore the call to get down now and worship Him, beware! There is coming a day when that Savior will not approach as a mother hen seeking to envelope you under her wings, but as the Judge and the only verdict which will be heard is "Guilty." |
