34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Luke 13:34-35 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Our Lord concludes this chapter with a compassionate lamentation over Jerusalem, the place where he was to suffer. His ingemination, or doubling of the word, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, shows the vehemency of his affection towards them, and the sincerity of his desires for their salvation.
Observe, 1. The kindness and compassion of Christ to the Jews in general, and Jerusalem in particular, set forth by a lively metaphor and similitude, namely, that of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings. As the hen does tenderly cherish, and carefully hide and cover her young from the eye of the destroyer; so would Christ have shrouded and sheltered this people from all those birds of prey, and particularly from the Roman eagle, by whose talons they were at last destroyed.
Again, as the hen continues her call to her young ones from morning to night, and holds out her wings for shelter to them all day long, so did Christ wait for this people’s repentance and conversion; for it was more than forty years after they had killed his prophets, and murdered himself, before they met with a final overthrow.
Observe, 2. The amazing obstinacy and willfulness of this people in rejecting the grace and favor, the kindness and condescension, of the Lord Jesus Christ: I would have gathered you, but ye would not.
Observe, 3. The fatal issue of this obstinacy: Behold your house is left unto you desolate; is left, that is, certainly and suddenly will be left desolate (the present tense being put for the paulo post futurum), which denotes the certainty and proximity of this people’s ruin.
Learn, 1. That the ruin and destruction of sinners is wholly chargeable upon themselves, that is, on their own willfulness and impenitency, on their own obstinacy and obduracy. I would have gathered you, says Christ, but ye would not.
Learn, 2. How deplorably and inexcusably they will perish, who perish by their own willfulness and obduracy under the gospel.
Learn, 3. That there is no desire like unto God’s desire of a people’s repentance, no longing like unto God’s longing for a people’s salvation: O Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee! When shall it once be?
BURKITT | Luke 13:1-3 | Luke 13:4-5 | Luke 13:6-7 | Luke 13:8-9 | Luke 13:10-17 | Luke 13:18-21 | Luke 13:22-24 | Luke 13:25-30 | Luke 13:31-33 | Luke 13:34-35 |