Sermon: The King’s Great Lamentation Matthew 23:37-39
Truth Taught- Jesus has spoken His last words to Jerusalem and leaves them to go their own way
Introduction
Our passage today, must be connected to the previous text and also connected to the text that follows if we are to understand it correctly. Context is vital when we seek to interpret the Bible and here is a very good example. If we pull these verses out of their setting, we won’t understand what Jesus is saying here.
If you remember from the last few weeks, our Lord has been exposing the Scribes and Pharisees as very dangerous false teachers. He’s been doing this directly since the beginning of Chapter 21. As our Lord entered His City as Messiah, they had been very strongly opposing Him. They did not like the imagery of Jesus riding the young colt into the city which was a direct fulfillment of…
Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
One very important piece of this event is what some of the people who had been following Jesus were saying as He entered…
Matthew 21:6–9 (ESV)
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
In shouting these words, they were ascribing Messiahship to Jesus, declaring that He is the One coming in the name of the Lord.
The Pharisees hated this. They hated that Jesus came in this way and that the people were slowly seeing the truth. They hated it when the children began to shout…
Matthew 21:14–16 (ESV)
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
Then our Lord entered into the temple with great authority. They asked Jesus by what authority did He do the things He was doing. Who gave You the right to cleanse this Temple? Because they refused to answer His question then He refused to answer theirs.
Jesus then tells three parables which depict the Jewish leadership as unfaithful teachers of Israel. The first they were the son who said he would go work in the vineyard to work for his father but did not go. Second, they are the tenants of the vineyard which is Israel. The Owner sent His people which are the prophets to collect the fruit of the vineyard and the tenants kill them. Then the Owner sends His own Son and they kill Him also. The third parable Jesus tells them has the King’s Son ready for His wedding feat and the Jewish leadership refused to attend.
Next, the Pharisees asked Jesus a series of three questions to seek to trap Him in His Words.
Should we pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus responded yes, pay taxes but do not give Caesar your worship. Second, they asked Jesus a trick question about the resurrection. A woman has had seven husbands and each died whose wife will she be in the resurrection. Remember, Jesus then asked them, have you not read? There is no marriage in heaven. Third, they try to trap Jesus with their question about which is the greatest commandment? Jesus answers their question and then some…two commandments that encapsulate the Law of God, namely, Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Then, love others, He says love your neighbor as yourself.
Then Jesus asks the Pharisees a question and all the leadership in the Temple collectively could not answer. What do you think of the Messiah, whose Son is He? And they could not answer.
That brings us to Chapter 23 where Jesus proclaims the seven woes of God’s judgement upon them because they are the false teachers who are closing the door to God’s Kingdom. They refuse to enter and shut the door so no one else could either.
I want to now connect the last woe with our passage for today…
Matthew 23:29–36 (ESV)
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Our Lord declares that this generation will reap the wrath of God. The cup of God’s wrath will be filled as they had murdered John the Baptist and are about to murder God’s Son Jesus Christ. They will receive God’s full judgement as the tenants who murdered the Owner’s Son.
Pray
Matthew 23:37–39 (ESV)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
1. The Messiah’s Affection for His City
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Jerusalem, the City of Shalom, the City of Peace. Jerusalem, the City of God. Jerusalem, the City of the Messiah. In reality, the city was none of the above. Its name meant peace. It had been called the City of God, but here in Jesus’ final words to the people, He calls it the city murder. The city that kills those sent to it.
These are Jesus’ last words addressed to the crowds in Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord’s great lament shows His affection for this city.
The wording here of our Lord is meant to be taken like this…Jerusalem had killed her prophets in the past and continues to do the same thing today. That’s why Jesus pointed out their great hypocrisy in the last of His woe judgements…
Matthew 23:29–36 (ESV)
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
The present participles are most interesting, who are killing the prophets. They were about to kill Him, and He was the supreme Prophet. Who are stoning those who were sent to you, they would also very soon after they killed him, kill Stephen, and they would stone him to death. They weren’t through doing it. They were still doing it.
If we would have lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have killed the men sent by God like they did. Jesus tells them that they were murderers in the past and they are murderers now and they will murder in the future.
This was their continual defining mark…God sent them prophets, apostles, and the Savior and they killed many of them.
John the Baptist…beheaded, Jesus…crucified, Steven…stoned to death, The Apostles…Martyred, Paul…beheaded. Christians relentlessly persecuted by the Jews.
This is who Jerusalem was. Rather than embracing their Messiah/Savior and turning to God in faith and repentance they would rather remain in their sin, kill their Savior and go on pretending that they are religious. Jesus had offered them salvation and protection and they crucified Him.
They were definitely the sons of their fathers in terms of where we see earlier in the chapter, verse 29 to 31, they deny that they would kill the prophets and yet they’re doing it. They think they’re better than their fathers who did that, but they’re not. You remember their fathers had wanted Jeremiah dead. They hated Jeremiah because he spoke the truth. They wanted to get rid of him. Justin Martyr in Dialogue with Trypho says they sawed Isaiah in half with a wooden sword, the prophet of God. Apparently, they murdered Zechariah, the prophet, between the temple and the altar.
They killed the prophets rather than hear their message, and so they are characterized as a city of murderers and indeed they were because they were about to murder the Son of God. Earlier in a parable back in chapter 21, the Lord had said, You’re like a group of tenant farmers who’ve come into a vineyard that someone else owns, and when the owner sends back his servants to give you a message, you kill the servants. And finally, after you’ve killed all the servants, the owner sends the son, you kill him, too.” That’s the kind of people they were. They were killers of those who spoke the truth and represented God. Unbelievable. Murderers of the righteous.
2. The Temple is Left Desolate
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
This event marks the end of the Temple and the City itself. In 70 AD the Romans would utterly destroy Jerusalem and the Temple.
God no longer dwells with them. The Temple is no longer the House of Prayer. It has become just a stone structure because when Jesus exits the Temple God’s presence has departed. It is no longer God’s house but their house. In a few years it will be completely destroyed.
Matthew 24:1–2 (ESV)
24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Jesus is leaving them. He has nothing left to say to the City or to its corrupt leaders. He is on His way to the cross. Jesus will be crucified. He will rise from the dead and then ascend to the Father. His mission will be accomplished. But not for them. All these corrupt sinful unrepentant people will die in their Jewish pride and wake up in hell. They reject their Messiah and God’s presence has exited the Temple.
Nothing remained for the King but to pronounce the solemn sentence of death upon those who would not come to Him in order that they would have life.—Spurgeon
Their rejection of Jesus also means God’s protection also left. The City will be destroyed. This has been the story of the Jew for the last 2,000 years. Time and time again they would be persecuted ruthlessly. God’s protection has left them open to attacks.
After Jesus’ resurrection He would appear multiple times to His disciples but never to these Jews. Their fate has been sealed.
The call for us today is to not resist Jesus’ callings to come to Him, to believe on Him and to trust in Him. He graciously stands calling us to Him…
This passage in many ways makes us think of an earlier text from Matthew…
Matthew 11:25–30 (ESV)
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In this passage as with our text today we see the divine tension between God’s eternal call to salvation and the doctrine of election. Jesus teaches here that He chooses to reveal the Father to some…
and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
God is in charge of all things including man’s salvation. Jesus chooses to reveal the Father to some. Then in the very next verse we see Jesus making the universal call to all.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
With this call, all people are responsible to obey. Come to Me, Jesus says. Then comes human deadness and hardheartedness and rebellion. Most don’t come. This is the dynamic in our current text. All of Jerusalem had the responsibility to embrace the Messiah and believe and most refused to do so. Their eyes still darkened by their sin; they could not see their Messiah. They wanted what they wanted not what God wanted.
3. Every Knee Shall Bow to the King
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Here is the solemn promise of Jesus. He tells them they will not see Him again. He will not trouble them with His pleads for repentance and faith any longer. When He leaves the Temple His ministry to them has concluded. They will reap the whirlwind of God’s wrath.
What is especially concerning is what Jesus then promises…
He tells them that one day, they will recognize Him as the Messiah. One day, with the rest of lost humanity they will see Him in all His glory. They will declare the Messianic title and even Messianic blessing but for them it will be too late.
Revelation 1:7 (ESV)
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
This statement that we looked to briefly already back in 21:9, will be on the lips of every person ever created but for most it will be too late for them.
Matthew 21:9 (ESV)
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Those who trusted Christ and repented before they died will then at the the Lord’s glorious appearing proclaim Jesus’ glory and Messiahship with great and intense joy. However, the lost and unrepentant sinners will too honor the King and pay homage to Him. However for them it will be too late.
Isaiah 45:23 (ESV)
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
Romans 14:11 (ESV)
11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
Where do you stand today? Have you trusted Christ as Lord and Savior? Have you acknowledged and believed all Jesus has said and done as truth? Is Jesus your Messiah/King? If so, at His return you will be completely overpowered with His glory and declare Welcome King Jesus. If you have not repented and trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord then you too will acknowledge the King when He comes because He is worthy but it will be a very sad day because you will see Him and judgement will come.
To these Jews, Jesus has already declared…
Matthew 8:11–12 (ESV)
11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Today, He has not left the Temple, if you will. Today, by God’s longsuffering and grace He has given you another opportunity to answer His call…
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Resources Used:
The Last Words of Jesus to Israel Part 2 by John Macarthur
Matthew by Hendriksen
Matthew by Carson
Matthew by Doriani
Matthew by R T France
Matthew by Leon Morris
Exegetical Commentary on Matthew by Quarles
