31 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.” 32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. 34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
In verses 31-35, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and addressed the city directly. Jerusalem had been the center of Israel’s religious life, but Jesus said the city was obstinate toward Him. He grieved over the city’s lack of response to His message.
13:31
On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
Amazingly, some Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod wanted to kill Him. Jesus was in Galilee and Perea, where Herod Antipas had jurisdiction. They may have wanted Jesus to leave their territory.
13:32
And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’
Jesus called Herod a “fox,” indicating he was a cunning schemer. The third day of Jesus’ perfection was His death by crucifixion and glorification. He kept to His mission; He would finish the course God set before Him. He would not cower to intimidation. God allotted Jesus’ time and place for His ministry. He operated under a divine urgency. His death and resurrection lay in the immediate future.
13:33
Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus would present Himself to the nation in Jerusalem because that was where God designed Him to die. Jesus here considered Himself to be a prophet.
13:34
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!
Jesus now mourned over Jerusalem. His mourning was marked with the city’s rejection of prophetic messages and its refusal to respond to the Messiah. The city was the place God chose to bless the nation of Israel through His message delivered by the prophets, but the city as a whole rejected that message.
The city of Jerusalem, as the faith center of Judaism, reflected a rejection of God’s messengers and message. God’s heart was to care for the nation as a hen cares for her chicks. However, the nation of Israel rejected God’s care for her.
13:35
See! Your house is left to you desolate [abandoned]; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus asserted that He would not come to Jerusalem until people proclaimed Him to be the Messiah (Ps 118:26; Luke 19:38). If they rejected Him, He would leave it abandoned.
PRINCIPLE:
No one could hinder Jesus from fulfilling His purpose of dying for the sins of the world.
APPLICATION:
Many today try to thwart God’s truth. No one could thwart Jesus’ purpose; His determination to go to Jerusalem and pay the price for sin was undaunted. Nothing intimidated Him toward that end. Although Israel rejected the prophets and Jesus Himself, He would die for them in any case.
