Read: Matthew 23:32-39
How often I have longed to gather your children together . . . and you were not willing. (v. 37 NIV)
I have often wished the Bible had been inspired in audio, so we could hear a speaker’s tone of voice. Matthew 23 reads as if Jesus were unrelentingly harsh against the group of scribes and Pharisees he encountered in the temple. Most reenactments, from Passion plays to motion pictures, portray Jesus as fairly bellowing out his “woes.”
Verse 37, however, cannot be interpreted fairly in this fashion. This is the language of lament. Jesus sorrowfully, perhaps even tenderly, bemoans the fact that he had frequently desired to restore the rebellious leaders in Jerusalem and bring them to himself. He uses a metaphor of maternal comfort and protection (“as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”) to clarify his longing. Perhaps this is a shift in his tone of voice.
Or maybe more likely, the woes that punctuate Matthew 23 are all more an expression of grief than of anger. God takes no delight in punishing his people. His sovereignty never overrides human free will. The blame for these leaders’ lostness remains squarely on their shoulders. Even then, verse 39 hints at a future day when some will turn to God by recognizing Jesus as Messiah. Meanwhile, believers should only mourn and never gloat or add to the distress of those who reject him. Mercifully, one day many will say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
As you pray, lament with Jesus for leaders who have failed to follow God’s way, and pray for their salvation in Christ.
Craig L. Blomberg is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Denver Seminary. He has written or edited more than 30 books, including a recently revised and expanded commentary on Matthew. He teaches regularly in churches, including his home church of Centennial Covenant in Littleton, CO. He and his wife Fran have two daughters and three grandchildren.
