Jerusalem has been destroyed twice—once by the Babylonians and once by the Romans—It has been besieged 23 times; attacked 52 times; captured and recaptured 44 times; and yet it still stands.  God hasn’t given up on Jerusalem.  For all the scars it bears, for all of the faults it has known, it is still a reminder that here God made his presence known in the midst of his people.

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The Gospel lesson for today begins with a plea from some Pharisees that Jesus look to his own safety.  “Herod wants to kill you,” they said.  This Herod was Herod Antipas who ruled Galilee and Perea. There were certainly some good Pharisees, some who eventually became followers of Jesus, but the passage reflects a question.  Were these Pharisees attempting to save Jesus’ life, or were they plotting to draw him from Galilee where he had a popular following to Judea and Jerusalem where they had enough power to secure his condemnation?  In spite of the warning, Jesus still had work to do, and in his own time he would make his way to Jerusalem.

Is there any city more significant than the city of Jerusalem?  It is sacred to three religions.  It was the site of the Temple of Solomon, and the later Temple that Herod built.  It is the place of the Dome of the Rock, the rock from which Muhammad is said to have ascended into heaven.  The crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord took place within its vicinity.  It is one of the most ancient, continuously settled cities in the world, tracing its history back over 4,000 years before the birth of Christ.  It has been a Jebusite city, the city of David, a Roman possession, the origin of the Christian church, tossed back and forth between crusaders and the people of Islam, and now a point of contention between Israel and the Palestinians.  It has a troubled past—destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times.  And it is still important today.

In the Gospel lesson Jesus spoke of it as the “city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.”  Matthew presents a more extended quotation of prophets, sages, and scribes, “some of whom you will kill and crucify, some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.”   The role of prophet was not an easy one and they are not pleasant people to be around.  The two genuine prophets that I’ve known have made me feel uneasy and guilty.  One, the pastor of a black congregation, during a period of social turmoil called attention to the pain and needs of the people of his congregation.  The other a pastor in Appalachia drew attention to the dire economic straits and the gross unfairness with which his people had to live every day.     It’s not surprising that a prophet, like the Biblical Jeremiah, was reluctant to take up the mantel.  There is even a cryptic note in the Gospel lesson that it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was the center of religious action in the Lord’s day.

Jerusalem helps us to understand the brokenness of the world in which we live.  Maybe it is time to turn off the politicians and political pundants. We are well aware of what is happening around us and well aware that everyone is bound and determined to make political capital out of it.  As the Kingston Trio pointed out “the whole world is festering with unhappy souls—the French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles, Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, and I don’t like anybody very much.  Yes, there is a great deal of brokenness in our world.

Is the history of a human being so different from the history of Jerusalem?  Both men and women have permitted me to see through the window of their souls as their marriage collapsed and the love that they shared, the hopes and dreams that they desired for themselves crumbled into dust.  How many times I’ve wanted to say, “don’t worry, everything is going to be all right,” and both they and I knew that it wasn’t going to be all right.  When someone we are close to is going through excruciating pain, we want to reach out to them—to gather them under our wings and make things right.  In those times when I saw the possibility of the my own career  threaten to collapse into ruins either through things over which I had no control, or which, more likely in the words of the old liturgy, were my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault, I was greatly appreciative of someone who understood and cared.  In the midst of the pain of the people who permitted me into their lives and in my own life the Lord never gave up.

In spite of the shadows hovering over his own future, the Lord reached out to the inhabitants of the city—“How often have I desired to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”  In spite of the fact that so many in positions of power opposed him and would eventually condemn him, he still cared for them.  It was into this world, this very real world—a world of politics and ambition, of power and greed, a world in which so much was outside the control of ordinary people—that God thrust His Son.  “For God so loved the world”  that he desired to reach out and enfold its inhabitants in his arms.  “For God so loved the world,” that his only begotten Son would suffer and die in order that the people of the world might be saved. Jerusalem would be the scene of the denouement—the grand finale of Jesus’ ministry.  Once again the arms of death would reach out to enfold a prophet, and this time one who was more than a prophet.  The followers of Jesus’ will cry out “Oh, no!”  God the Father will say “Oh, yes!” on Good Friday and Easter morning.

Jerusalem has been destroyed twice—once by the Babylonians and once by the Romans—It has been besieged 23 times; attacked 52 times; captured and recaptured 44 times; and yet it still stands.  God hasn’t given up on Jerusalem.  For all the scars it bears, for all of the faults it has known, it is still a reminder that here God made his presence known in the midst of his people.  It was here that the Lord was nailed to a cross.  And it was here that the tomb was empty, testimony to a risen Lord.  Jerusalem stands as a reminder to you and to me of God’s unceasing  pursuit of his broken, sinful children and his call to us to have compassion on those who need our care, both among our own people—family and congregation members—and in the community around us.  Jesus still desires to gather us and our children and the children of our world as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings that we might be safe and saved.