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!

 

 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 taught, "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 from 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.'  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!'"  The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) comments that this passage shows Christ voluntarily going to His Passion.  Additionally, His lament over Jerusalem expresses His great love for the Holy City, despite its continual state of rebellion.  Finally, Jesus expresses His foreknowledge of how He will be received on the first Palm Sunday, the time of His Triumphal Entry into the City. 

 

 It's very difficult to lose people we love.  But to lose those we love because they do not return that love, or do not appreciate the gifts we offer to them, is probably far more painful.  Indeed, it is a pain in the soul.  And one must consider that if we, as "mere" mortals, can feel such pain in the soul for those whom we love, just imagine what Jesus, who is both Son of Man and Son of God, feels for Jerusalem and His own people.  He has come to offer salvation, and it is rejected.  He is rejected.  As reflected in our commentary of a few days ago (at this link), rejection is a repeated theme of Christ's ministry in this world.  Indeed, in St. Luke's Gospel, He began this public ministry in His hometown of Nazareth, and was firmly and categorically rejected there; see Luke 4:16-30.  We know, of course, that His Passion and suffering and death will occur because of His rejection by the whole of the nation.  It seems impossible that we could consider the depth of pain such rejection would have caused the One who is, indeed, our Creator.  Certainly He knew He would suffer, and His mother also was given this prophecy that she would also suffer with Him (Luke 2:34-35).  In the modern times in which we live, we make a great deal of rejection and suffering, and the impact of such hardships upon ourselves psychologically.  Depression is widespread.  Suffering long-term effects of trauma (such as parental rejection, or bullying in any context) is the stuff of common publications and media programs.  This is especially borne out in the gigantic economics of the pharmaceutical industry, with varied and continually evolving new formulations of chemical medicines meant to help "correct" that problem -- or perhaps at least cope with it.  To lose those whom we love through natural death or other kind of tragedy is painful enough, as we all know.  Consider then, for the purpose of today's reading and commentary, the pain and suffering involved in the kind of rejection which Christ will go through in the Holy City He loves.  As Son of God, He has a long history with Jerusalem, as noted in His language.   There are multiple things He mourns here, in advance of what He knows is coming.  He says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!"  Jerusalem is the beloved city which nevertheless "kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!"  He, the Lord, is the One who has sent those prophets repeatedly.  So, there is already a history which He mourns.  Listen to the rest of His history with Jerusalem, when He then states, "How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"  This is a unique occurrence in the Gospels, for He gives a feminine, motherly image of Himself here, when He compares Himself to a hen who gathers her brood under her wings.  We can imagine the pain of rejection in a loving mother rejected by her children, one who wants only to protect, nurture, and love (as imaged by the protective wings He names).  Finally, there is the sadness of the tremendous loss that results from that rejection:  "See!  Your house is left to you desolate."  There will be no more prophets, no more chances, and soon, not even the temple will be left standing in Jerusalem.  But that is not the extent of the desolation of which Christ speaks.  For this desolation is spiritual; it is a pronouncement of woe regarding the spiritual life of the people and the Holy City nurtured by the Lord from the times of the patriarchs.  The Bridegroom is mourning His bride, Jerusalem, and the Lord is losing His people through their rejection of Him and what He brings to them.  An endless amount of commentary can and has been written regarding the suffering in our Christian heritage, and the role that suffering plays even in the cosmic sense of salvation and the faithful.  But quite possibly we won't thoroughly understand the role it plays for us until we deeply consider Christ's lament over Jerusalem, and what it means for Him first.  For when we go through any suffering of our own, our rejection by those whom we love, and the loss of those whom we care about, we do not do so alone.  We need to recall that He has been there with us, and suffered more greatly than any one of us before we have.  Let us call upon the Savior who is there with us in our suffering, and be grateful that through Him this, too, is turned to salvation for the purposes of saving creation.