O Jerusalem - Matt 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35

I’m not sure if Jesus and his disciples stayed at the temple for a while or left, but after blasting the Jewish leaders for their corruption of God’s law, Jesus begins his “Lament of Jerusalem.” He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killed the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee.” Jerusalem was supposed to be the capitol city of the Jews, the covenant people of Israel, and the place of the only temple to the True and Living God. It was to shine forth as an example of God’s love and commitments to his people, but instead it was a sinkhole of iniquity. It was the only place wicked enough to murder their God. It was the exact opposite of what they were supposed to be. Jesus continues, “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Again, I’ve mentioned because just how interesting it is that Jesus, the holder of all universal power so often compares his role as our Savior to that of a female animal. He doesn’t say “I’ll protect you with the viciousness of a lion,” or “I’m a smart as a snake ad just as dangerous,” he says, “I will save you in the same way that a female animal cares for her young.” It’s just an interesting commentary on Jesus’ view of himself and what he considers to be manhood.

A mother hen protects her chicks, and that’s what Jesus has wanted to do for his people, which are represented by the name “Jerusalem.” Jesus wants to protect them from foreign enemies, from natural disasters, and from themselves. But here’s something that always has bugged me, and that’s how we view God’s intervention and punishment. If we were to accept our role as God’s people, we would go to where he is, under his wing, and we would stay there. But in the case of Jerusalem, they declined his protection by not going to where the protection is. Because they would not go where the protection is, they were exposed to all the dangers of their own choices. So many times we look at destruction or hardship as “punishment” from God, but let’s look at the way Jesus phrased it. He says that he wanted to protect those who gathered under his wing, but for those that would not be gathered, who wanted to stay outside in the elements, a mother hen could not protect them.
When Jesus says, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” he is not saying that he will punish them for not being obedient, if that we the case he would say something like “I’d gather you like a mother hen under her wings, but if you didn’t come when called, then I would destroy you like a mother hen pecking her disobedient chicks to death.” When we put it like that, it’s pretty ridiculous. Under the wings = protection, outside of the wigs = destruction, it makes sense that way. Anything that befalls the chicks who wouldn’t come is not the punishment of the mother hen, but natural consequences for the choices made by the chicks. So many people become fixated on the concept of “God’s punishment” that we miss out on the fact that God does not punish, he simply allows us to experiences the consequences of our actions when we reject him. He won’t interfere where he isn’t wanted.
The IM says, “As the Savior approached the end of His ministry, He lamented over Jerusalem. The Joseph Smith Translation includes this touching introduction to the Savior’s lament: ‘And in this very hour he began to weep over Jerusalem.’ Why would Jesus weep over Jerusalem? Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared: ‘Jerusalem- the holy city! Jerusalem- city of depravity, ‘which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt!’ Jerusalem- doomed spiritually and soon to be desolate temporally. Jerusalem- site of the temple; home of the prophets; city of our Lord’s ministry. Jerusalem- city where the Son of God was crucified, crucified by ‘the more wicked part of the world,’ for ‘there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.’ Jerusalem- future world capital and center from which ‘the word of the Lord’ shall go unto all people. Truly Jerusalem’s history is like that of no other place; and truly Jesus with cause, wept because of the rebellion of her children.’”
I think that most of us have been in situations like this, where we see something that can be so good for someone if only they would make the choice to embrace it. We can see it in relationships where someone cheats and ruins a marriage, or between parents and children if one of the party would only get their head out of their butt and try to have a relationship. We can see it in our children making poor choices, or a friend who just won’t do anything to help themselves even though their life is a mess. I feel like we can all relate to Jesus at this point because we’ve all been willing to do anything for someone if only they would choose to accept our help. To know that you could change the life of someone we love for the better, and then have that person say “thanks but no thanks” is incredibly painful. We cry over people like that, we cry because we know the consequences that are coming, we cry because of what we know they will suffer and we cry for the time they wasted where they could have been happy. When Jesus wept over the fate of Jerusalem’s choices, we’ve all been there.