A View of the City

Background to passage: the conclusion to Jesus’s confrontation with the Pharisees. A seemingly complete turnaround. The parallel is the rejection of the Pharisees and the rejection of Israel

Matthew 23:37–39 ESV

“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! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Opening illustration: Playing the 3 Circles Example. Going over Buford Dam last week on the way to Cumming during our break time.

Main thought: Jesus’s love and desire for people to come to him, but his judgment when they reject him.

1) The Love of Jesus (v. 37)

Matthew 23:37 ESV

“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!

1) The Love of Jesus (v. 37)

Explanation: Two interesting points this immediately follows the harshest words spoken to people, and secondly, as previously mentioned, this was the city, the people, that kills the prophets. Jesus hurts over his people. He speaks about how he wanted to gather them up in his arms and protect them, but they didn’t want that. They rejected the prophets, the Son, and the Father, and it broke Jesus’s heart.

Psalm 36:7 ESV

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Illustration: the story of the prodigal from Luke 15, and dozens of other personal prodigals from our congregation.

Application: Far too often we think of God’s emotional status as stoic or angry at sin. We talk about his love in very general terms related to sending Jesus to die for us so we can go to heaven. However, this shows us a brokenhearted God. Our God hurts when we reject him. The emotional complexity of God includes pain over people in rebellion.

Ezekiel 18:32 ESV

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Practically speaking we usually feel shame or fear when we sin and worry about God’s punishment and judgment, when we need to know that God’s pain is evoked when we choose other things over him. That is the core of sin, 2. rejection of God even if it not overt, it is your choice to love something else. Let the goodness and love of God keep you from desiring to sin. Let the hurt it causes the One who had done so much, and is so worthy of all to drive us to holiness.

God wants all people to come to know him in a saving way. He has provided a path to forgiveness and a joyous personal relationship with him. 3. Choose him. You must choose Christ. You must bow the knee and repent and believe. Plead for people to be saved.

As a church we must feel God’s pain for the unbelieving, the rebellious, the ignorant, and the hardened. We must know that God went to great lengths to make disciples, Jesus went to great lengths to make disciples, and therefore we must go to great lengths to make disciples. 4. Is this our true north? Is this our true mission and vision. Are we truly out to Share the HOPE of Jesus with All People? God loves people, do we? How do we know? Is there anything that you wouldn’t do to make disciples?

2) The Justice of Jesus (v. 38-39)

Matthew 23:38–39 ESV

See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

2) The Justice of Jesus (v. 38-39)

Explanation: God’s patience does have it’s boundaries, self-appointed ones, just ones, but just as much a part of God’s person and character is wrath as love. Jesus declares that he would abandon the people of Israel upon this rejection. Their house, was not His house anymore. He was leaving the building empty, similar to what he did in Ezekiel’s day. Jesus said they wouldn’t see him again until he comes again.

2 Chronicles 36:15–16 ESV

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Revelation 19:11–16 ESV

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Illustration: In a mountain valley stood a massive dam, holding back millions of gallons of water. For years it stood strong, and people built homes and farms just downstream. Life went on as usual — no one thought much about the dam anymore.

Then one day, engineers noticed a thin crack running along its face. They warned the people below that if the crack widened, the dam would fail. But the people shrugged. “It’s held for generations,” they said. “It’ll hold a little longer.”

Days turned into weeks, and the crack slowly deepened. Behind that concrete wall, an unimaginable pressure was building — silent but unstoppable. And then, in a single moment, the dam burst. The water that had been restrained for so long roared through the valley, sweeping away everything in its path.

That’s what God’s judgment is like. For now, His mercy holds it back. The world grows comfortable beneath the shadow of His patience. But Scripture tells us there’s coming a day when that patience will end — when the righteous Judge, Jesus Christ, will no longer hold back His wrath against sin.

Application: 1. All rebellion will be punished eventually. All justice will be rendered one day on the earth or in hell. The Lord never abandons his people completely. There will always be a remnant. This predicted long ago rejection would bring about salvation for the world, however 2. predicted doesn’t mean that there was no personal accountability. People would be held responsible.

3. The day will come when Jesus splits the sky to return on a white horse with a white robe dipped in blood, with eyes like fire and wearing many crowns, he will descend with the armies of heaven to strike with the sword of his mouth and rule the nations with a rod of iron treading the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.

4. There will be those with him and those that will be trampled by him. Which one will you be? We are in an age of grace, but it will not extend forever. Christ is coming and it could be anytime. The joy we find in him and in the gospel is astronomical, but great will be the suffering for those that reject this grace.

Closing illustration: Jimmy was the youngest of six siblings, born and raised in rural Georgia. His childhood was turbulent: many family members struggled with alcoholism.  

When he was 12, a cousin was killed by a drunk driver. Two years later, one of his brothers died the same way. Jimmy carried the grief, trauma, and anger of these losses.  

As a teenager, he began using drugs. He went in and out of destructive relationships. He got married, then divorced. He lost his children because of his addiction. Jail, rehab—they became part of his life.  

Finally, after many years, he reached a point where he felt he had no one left to turn to. In desperation, in 2022, he came to The Potter’s House (part of Atlanta Mission). There, with counseling, accountability, processing his grief (including forgiving the man who killed his brother), he began to change.  

But the healing is not complete. Family members are still in their addictions. Some relationships are still broken. The consequences remain. The past isn’t erasable. Jimmy’s story is ongoing

I want you to think of Jimmy. A boy growing up in rural Georgia, surrounded by addiction, grief, loss. A boy who longed for safety, for protection, for family, but watched those he loved slip away into choices and tragedies.

God was longing to gather Jimmy. Through family, through community, through people who loved him. But Jimmy was at many turns not willing—or couldn’t be willing—because the pain was too close, the addiction too strong, the losses too many.

Jimmy eventually made a move. In his desperation, he went to a place of refuge. Forgave when forgiveness felt impossible. Let others in. But notice: he didn’t get everything back. Some relationships are still broken. Some losses are permanent. Some parts of his heart remain scarred. That’s the reality of living in brokenness.

Jesus doesn’t promise in Matthew 23 that everything broken will instantly be made perfect in this life. He promises He to longs to gather. He is willing to cover us with His wings. But we have to let Him. There’s human will. There are consequences that don’t just evaporate. There is often a lifetime of healing, a mountain of regret, wounds that take years to tend.

So here is where you and I come in. Maybe you’re here today, emotionally where Jimmy was for many years—feeling abandoned, stuck in grief, addicted, bound by what someone else’s choices have done. Maybe you’re resisting God’s wings—because trust is gone, because life has taught you pain. But Jesus is still here. He still desires to gather you.

Or maybe you are someone who loves a “Jimmy”—someone whose life has been destroyed by choices, addiction, or broken relationships. You feel helpless. You carry grief. Jesus feels your grief. He wants to gather your loved one under His wings. And you—you have a role: to keep being present, to hold out love, to pray, to believe. Sometimes the only thing you can do is to keep the door open, even when you can’t force anything else.

This is the tension of Jesus’ heart: He longs, He weeps, He calls, even when there is resistance, even when the story is not fully healed yet. This is the power of His compassion—even into the broken parts, even when endings are messy and incomplete.

So as we close: will you let Him gather you? Will you allow His wings over the shattered things in your life? His longing is real, His arms are open. Not to erase every scar today, but to walk with you through them. To cover you. To comfort you. To offer hope that your life—even now—matters, and that His longing is stronger than any broken past.

Recap