JESUS' SORROW FOR JERUSALEM

Passage: Luke 13:31~35  

Key verse: 34

1. In any case I must keep on going (31-33)

As Jesus drew nearer to Jerusalem, he received a message that Herod wanted to kill him. Some Pharisees advised him to escape. The threat of death did not change Jesus' plans. He considered his messianic mission more important than his physical life. He would continue healing people and casting out demons. He did not fear Herod, for he knew that life and death are in God's hands--not in the hands of the Herods of the world. He knew that he would die at the time and in the place of God's choosing.

2. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! (34-35)

Jesus loved the people of Israel even though, time after time, they had rejected God's love and God's saving grace. He loved them with the shepherd heart of God, with the heart of the father who loved his prodigal son. He could not force them to accept God's love; he could only keep on loving them with a broken heart. (34) He wept over them because it was Jerusalem, not Jesus, who was in imminent danger (35). Jesus knew his life-giving sacrifice would end in glory.



Prayer: Lord, help me to trust you and not fear people. Teach me your shepherd heart and life-giving spirit.

One Word: Jesus longs to gather his rebellious children