"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." — Mat 23:37 (NIV)
Reflecting on the short passage where our LORD Jesus pronounces 4 woes on the Scribes and Pharisees, called them hypocrites, and openly called out their sins, and His lament over the city of Jerusalem. It brings me back to Genesis 3, after God's greatest creation, Adam & Eve (who were made in His image), had listened to the lies of the evil one, and ate the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and knowingly hid themselves from the LORD GOD, deeply ashamed of their own nakedness. Until the LORD GOD, called them out in the Garden, and pronounced the deadly cost of the Original Sin, which led to death.
All of us who are descended from Adam's race, have inherited that indelible stain of sin since the Fall, and it pained the LORD GOD, that mankind had lost the intimacy with Him, our merciful and loving Creator. It reminded me also of the numerous times I had hidden from God the Father, as I tried to cover up for my own sinful heart, by putting on a mask of Christian piety. Yet He knew I needed the Holy Spirit's help to perform Divine surgery on my sinful human heart, and recognise that apart from the grace through Jesus Christ, God's only Begotten Son, I would be hopelessly lost in my sinful ways.
It's only because of grace that I could approach His Throne of grace to seek His mercy and find the grace to navigate through the storms of my life. As the writer of Hebrews wrote for us in Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
I will close with this beautiful hymn penned by John Newton (a former slave trader who too had encountered the Spirit of God and became a fervent slavery abolitionist). Truly God's grace is amazing beyond what our finite human minds can conceive, nor comprehend.
Verse 1
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Verse 2
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
Verse 3
The Lord hath promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Verse 4
When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.
Source -YouTube: https://youtu.be/u4qbmPpfG6s
Singer: Darlene Zschech
Reflection on Matthew 23:23-39 by Chris Tan
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