Lament For Jerusalem
LAMENT FOR JERUSALEM
MATTHEW 23:29-39
How often had Jesus longed to enfold his city in his divine care.
For the argument of 23:29-32 we may compare Stephen’s charge in Acts 7:51f. The language of 23:33 is similar to the Baptist’s in 3:7; “hell” is “Gehenna” (as in 23:15; cf. 5:22-29f.). The question could be answered in one phrase, “By repentance”; but it is implied that no sign of repentance was forthcoming. In 23:34-36 Jesus speaks in the rôle of divine wisdom; the words might well be put within quotation-marks, as in Luke 11:49-51. In the traditional order of Hebrew Scripture (which ends with 1 and 2 Chronicles) Abel (Genesis 4:8) is the first martyr and Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) the last. In the course of transmission the son of Jehoiada has apparently been confused with the son of Berechiah (Zechariah 1:1). For the emphasis on “this generation” cf. 12:39,41f.,45. The horrors of the war of AD 66–70 were greater than the sins of one generation could have incurred as a penalty. In Luke 13:34f. the lament over Jerusalem (which in both Gospels implies previous unrecorded visits) follows the remark: “it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.”
The words “you will not see me again” (23:39) apply to the temple, which Jesus now leaves for the last time, rather than to the city in general. 23:38 may recall the gradual departure of God’s glory from the earlier temple before its destruction by the Babylonians (Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4,18f.; 11:23); the day foretold in 23:39 would then be linked with the return of the glory to the restored house (Ezekiel 43:1-5) and identified with the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:27,30f.).
Consider What can be gathered from these chapters about our Lord’s attitude to the temple? Can we discover emphases in Jesus’ Jerusalem ministry which distinguish it from his Galilean ministry? Does the severe language of chapter 23 justify us in expressing ourselves similarly about people whose religious beliefs or practices we consider to be wrong?