Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 23:37 - 23:39
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_23:37-39
37"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
Mat_23:37-39 Jesus is obviously filled with emotion (cf. Luk_13:34-35). He and the Father both love the covenant people. He longed to restore them to fellowship, but they clung to their legalism (Isa_29:13). Only judgment could restart the need for covenant intimacy!
The question remains, when did Jesus speak these words? Was it just before His Triumphal Entry or does it refer to an eschatological entry? One thing is sure, the prophecy of Zec_12:10 will come to pass one day! The unification of God's people spoken of in Romans 9-11 will restore the fellowship of the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen_3:15).
Mat_23:37 "gather" This verb is also used of an end-time gathering of the elect in Mat_3:12; Mat_13:20; Mat_13:47; Mat_24:31.
▣ "the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings" YHWH and Jesus often used feminine metaphors to describe their work and attitudes (cf. Gen_1:2; Exo_19:5; Deu_32:11; Isa_49:15; Isa_66:9-13). Deity is neither male nor female, but spirit. He created the sexes and has the best qualities of both in Himself.
hyperlink
Mat_23:38 "your house is being left to you desolate" This appears to be an allusion to Jer_22:5. It could refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 or to other future events. God's unique covenant with Israel has been altered by their unbelief! There is a New Covenant (cf. Jer_31:31-34), which is not based on racial descent, but on faith and faithfulness in God and His Messiah.
Mat_23:39 "until you say" This is a reference to Psa_118:26-27, which was used in the Triumphal Entry (cf. Mat_21:9). This is similar to the wonderful Messianic prediction of Zec_12:10 that the Jews will one day turn to the one whom they pierced (cf. Romans 9-11)! All believers pray for this Jewish revival!
Copyright © 2013 hyperlink