Matthew 23.37-39

We have now come to the conclusion of Jesus' sermon against the Pharisees. It starts off with Jesus setting the stage by revealing to his disciples the problem that the Pharisees are dealing with...pride. Then he tells seven "woes" or judgements that the Pharisees are guilty for, which is summed up in the last one, that they are internally dead. Finally, we will see in these three verses, two things: 1. What these kind of people do, and 2. What will happen to these kind of people.

Let's read the text:

³⁷ “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. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’"


Jesus is sad and upset about the fact that he has spent the last 36 verses ripping the Pharisees a new one. He isn't upset that he chewed them out, but he is upset that he even had to.


He loves them.


He love the Pharisees and wants them to repent and not reject Him. But he knows that if they don't, they will be judged. 


And this is also true of the entire people of God. 


If the nation of Israel as a whole does not repent of their lip service and hypocrisy and religiosity, Jesus knows that God is going to judge them as well.


That is why these three verses serve as a transition between Jesus' warnings against the Pharisees (Matthew 23) and his warnings against Jerusalem (Matthew 24). 


But the question we need to think about is this: Are we as broken about the lost and rebellious as Jesus is?


We tend to take one of two extremes when dealing with the lost. On one side of the spectrum is those whose focus is on Grace. 


There are those who will not speak truth or confront someone no matter what kind of lifestyle they are living, just so they don't come off unloving. Yet, when we allow people to live lives that hurt themselves and those around them and we don't say anything, that in and of itself is unloving. Grace does not mean not confronting sin, but it does mean forgiving when someone has sinned against you.


The other spectrum is that of truth. Some people see the error in being too "Gracious", and so they decide to be God's hammer to those who are lost. They are confronting everyone about their sin and they  are doing it in an "holier than thou" type of way. This is wrong as well. When we confront sin, that confrontation needs to be sprinkled with grace, but stern. 


There is a balance between Grace and Truth. 


And Jesus has it here. 


Jesus is confronting the Pharisees about their sin, but he does it with eyes filled with tears. He does it from the foundation that he loves them and wants what is best for them. There is no way to fake this, the only way to confront sin the way Jesus did is to have the same heart for the lost that Jesus has. 


Here is my challenge to you...make a list of people who are living sinful lifestyles or are doing things that hurting themselves or others, and pray over these people. Cry for them, get upset at them, but more importantly, love them. And the best way to love them, is to confront them....with tears.