How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

 

 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  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.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  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!  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!'"

 

- Luke 13:31-35 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."  And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart Me, all you workers of iniquity.'  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."   

 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  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.'"   As Herod Antipas is the ruler (tetrarch) of Galilee, this tells us that Jesus, although He has begun to journey toward Jerusalem, is still in Galilee.  It is also quite interesting that there are Pharisees who seek to protect Jesus from the one who rules for Rome.  Jesus' reply is bold; although He speaks in what is no doubt a riddle both to these Pharisees and to Herod when He refers to the third day.   He nevertheless asserts His power against the adversary, the evil one, and that He will complete His mission perfected.

"Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  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!  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!'"  My study bible comments that this passage shows first that Christ is voluntarily going to His Passion, and second it shows His great love for Jerusalem despite its continual state of rebellion.  Finally, on display here is also Christ's foreknowledge that He will be received on the first Palm Sunday with the words "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" (see 19:37-38).

Jesus speaks of His love for Jerusalem.  In today's reading we're given this extremely interesting, feminine image of Christ as a mother hen, who "gathers her brood under her wings."  This speaks of a tremendous love, a maternal protective love.  It is interesting to understand this image in these words as given to us by Jesus, and also to consider that throughout Christian history the image of the Virgin Mary as protector of the faithful, especially in times of war, has remained strong in both East and West.  For Byzantium, Mary, in a famous hymn, is called "Champion General."  This hymn was composed fter a famous incident in the tenth century, in which enemy armies, encamped and prepared to attack outside the gates of Constantinople, mysteriously changed their minds and simply left.   The city was unprotected at the time, as its army was fighting far away, so the people and religious leaders made supplications for intercession by Mary -- in the midst of which occurred a vision of her at fervent prayer for the Christian city.  In the Battle of Lepanto (which took place in what is now called Nafpaktos/Ναύπακτος in modern Greece) an alliance of Catholic states defended the West successfully against  Ottoman Armies, turning back the tide of Ottoman aggression.  This victory was credited to the Virgin Mary, to whom the Pope had ordered the people to pray for intercession through the use of the Rosary.  There are many other such instances in which the protection of a people has been ascribed to the protection of Mary as intercessor, as one who prays for the people to her Son Jesus.  Noteworthy indeed are the feminine images of protection for defensive victory in battle against a hostile aggressor, that perhaps begin here with Christ's image of Himself as mother hen who would so often have protected the brood of Jerusalem as her baby chicks, but they were not willing.  With hearts far away from Him, Jesus says, "Your house is left to you desolate," an image of emptiness and abandonment.  It suggests to me that, as full or empty as our hearts are with love of God, this is the fullness (or desolation) of our house.  At this stage, Christ has come in a long line of succession of prophets, to call the people back to God.  As Jesus says, Jerusalem is the city where the prophets were killed, and that stones the ones sent to her.  But He is the Son, and another will not be sent after Him.   The desolation to which He refers will manifest in the Siege of Jerusalem, which will take place in 70 AD, about a generation after Christ's crucifixion.  In the modern world, we do not often run across feminine images for protection against an enemy army.  But the whole history of Christianity has given us a different perspective in terms of God's protective and loving nature, starting with the image of the mother hen that Christ gives us here, and continuing until today as Churches East and West still call upon Mary for supplication during times of extreme peril, especially military in nature.  Let us be assured that our strength is in our faith, and the way of desolation is when we abandon that faith, and our hearts are no longer full of love for Christ and the grace and mercy that is His way.  Let us consider in times of trouble where our hearts must be full, so that our home is full and healthy with the promise of life and renewal.