Matthew 23: Warnings and Woes (6)

Pray Psalm 142.5, 6.
I cried out to You, O LORD:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.

Sing Psalm 142.5, 6.
(Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
Hear my cry, Lord, I am low! They are strong who seek my soul.
Jesus frees from every foe; He will keep and make me whole!
Refrain
Lord, You are my Refuge strong!
O receive my plaintive song.

Read Matthew 23.1-39; meditate on verses 37-39.

Prepare.
1. Why did “Jerusalem” not take refuge in Jesus?

2. What terms of deliverance from desolation did Jesus offer?

Meditate.
Jerusalem here stands as a symbol for the Jewish people. Chosen by God and delivered from captivity in Egypt, Israel’s history with God was checkered, brief seasons of covenant faithfulness interspersing a more general and steady decline from the Lord. As Jesus had already explained, the extent of Israel’s rebellion could be seen in the way they treated the messengers God sent to them: mocking and imprisoning some, stoning others, rejecting most of them.

Notice how Jesus assumed the first-person here: “I wanted to gather your children together…” (v. 37). He was the Word in the mouths of those prophets, as well as the One Who sent them. Throughout the course of His earthly sojourn, Jesus worked to help the people of Israel see that He is the Promised One of Whom all the prophets had spoken; but “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (Jn. 1.11).

The problem was not that the people of Israel were sufficiently comfortable and happy in the present state of oppression under the Romans. The problem was not that Jesus did not make it clear that He was the Promised One. The problem was not that He didn’t provide enough evidence to convince people that He was the long-awaited Messiah. The problem was that the people to whom Jesus came “were not willing” to receive Him. The result would be that they would be consigned to desolation (v. 38) – a barren, unfruitful desert (Greek: ἔρημος, eremos, desert).

This is the case for anyone who refuses to take refuge in Jesus. Every human being is endowed with rich potential to be a fruitful source of love, help, righteousness, and blessing to the world. But apart from Jesus, human life is a desert. And even those who profess to know and believe in Jesus will not bear the fruit He expects unless they abide in Him, instead of lingering in the fruitless wastes of our secular and narcissistic age (Jn. 15.1-5).

The remedy for barrenness is to come to Jesus and bless Him as Lord and Savior (v. 39) – to give your will over to Him in every facet and aspect of your life. He can make you willing to follow Him, so that you bear much fruit, and your fruit remains.

Reflect.
1. How can we become more willing to follow Jesus?

2. What kinds of things keep us from being willing to follow Jesus?

3. In what ways are you willing to follow Jesus today?

He indicates himself to be the very one expected by the prophets. This is why he uses the same words as did the prophets. In this way he intimated both his resurrection and his second coming. He made all this plain even to the utterly unbelieving but even more surely to all who would worship him. John Chrysostom (34-407), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 74.3

Make me willing to follow You today, Lord, so that I…

Pray Psalm 142.1-4, 7.
Call on the Lord to strengthen your spirit, so that you are willing follow and serve Him throughout this day.

Sing Psalm 142.1-4, 7.
Psalm 142.1-4, 7 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
With my voice, O Lord, I cry – hear my plea for mercy, Lord!
My complaint mounts up on high, bringing You my troubled word:
Refrain vv. 5, 6
            Lord, You are my Refuge strong!
            O receive my plaintive song!

When my spirit faints away, You my falt’ring pathway know.
Where I take my journey they traps have hidden to my woe.
Refrain

Lord, look to my right and see: None takes notice of my plight.
Is there refuge left for me? Is my soul out of Your sight?
Refrain

Out of prison lead me, Lord; thanks and praise to You shall be.
Righteous men armed with Your Word Will Your grace bestow on me.
Refrain

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).