Today’s culture sadly either wants to ignore consequences or claim that they don’t exist. Two of the great lies that the devil promulgated throughout the general populace are: 1. What I do only affects me, and 2. It isn’t SO bad. When it comes to right and wrong, people sadly see a lot of gray areas due to our fallen condition, but morality is clearly delineated in the mind of a moral God. Likewise, the consequences for morality or immorality affect the “world” of the person who lives in such a state. Other people are blessed for honorable behavior and sadly, cursed for dishonorable behavior. In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces a litany of woes against groups like the Pharisees and scribes not just for what they did but also for the consequences on others that they affected. Finally, He concludes the thought in verse 37 with an illustration of what He would have done for this situation only to be met with refusal. Like a mother hen, His wings would have extended protective and providential covering, but due to the laundry list of iniquities, transgressions, and refusals, that condition would not be found until someone would bless the Lord and His Christ.
To Whom: When Matthew 23:37 is quoted at, many people misquote the group of consequence. It doesn’t say, “how often would I have gathered thee…” as is oftentimes referenced. It says, “how often would I have gathered thy children…” The implication is inescapably clear. Their behavior didn’t just deprive them of God’s providential care. It deprived their children of it. While there are some sins of the father that are not paid for by the children (such as a bad family name depriving someone of church membership), there are many, many sins of the fathers that children pay for. Debts on an estate, a ruined family name, and transmitted diseases just to name a few. When it comes to our works and the consequences of them, a good companion verse to Matthew 23:37 is Revelation 14:13. It gives the inverse by showing that our good works follow us after we are dead and gone. At my father’s funeral many years ago, one of the ministers that spoke told my siblings and I something after the service that I hope sticks with me forever, “The steps and life of a just man are most clearly reflected in the lives of his children.” Unfortunately, the life of Jerusalem at the time that Christ spoke our study verse was clearly seen in the lives of her children when she was destroyed and they lost the identity of God’s blessed and favored nation.
The Opposite: Jerusalem is cursed by Christ for her prolonged refusal of God and His moral commandments. However, this verse could be seen in the inverse by the work and life of Christ, “O people of God, how often have I gathered my children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings because HE would.” By the will, work, and continued faithfulness of our Elder Brother, we will never lose our everlasting protection and care from our Father in heaven. We are preserved in Christ and perpetually held in His hand. (John 10:28-30) We are prone to waywardness in our own lives, but thanks be to Him that He ever sticks with us. Though we can expect the rod of correction from our Father, His faithfulness will not fail because of Christ, in spite of our own transgressions. (Psalm 89:30-33) The generation then present in Jerusalem had not much to look forward to in the future because of Christ’s words about them and their children. However, with Christ’s work, we have much to look forward to in heaven and immortal glory.
Avoiding and Cleaving: So, how do we avoid being like Jerusalem then and cleave more to Christ now? Jerusalem thought she was special (and for many years had been). Because of this condition, she was lifted up in pride, as seen by the Pharisees’ conversations with Christ: they continued to claim Abrahamic heritage and Mosaical lineage. As Paul lays out in Galatians 3, they missed the whole point about what the promises to Abraham were all about. They were a figure of the bigger picture and full story (Verses 16, 25). For the church today, she is a special place. However, her special situation only continues when she adheres and cleaves to her Husband. As the churches of Asia were told in Revelation 2-3, blessedness comes when we who have been given ears to hear actually listen to what He says. Cleaving to our Lord and Saviour is the only place where we can find those blessings. How does this translate to our children? While we cannot make our children love the church or see the kingdom for what she is, we can show them how much we love it and what she means to us. In so doing, we “leave” them a place after we’re gone. We know from Scripture that the church is never going to be truly lost in this world. However, I want to leave them the place where I’ve labored. I want them to keep finding home where home has been for me. If we bless the name of the Lord in our worship and in our lives, our children will find this place intact long after we’re gone from the scene.
While our home in heaven is guaranteed and the church’s existence is perpetual in this world, the local situation is not a guarantee. Actions today both good and bad have implications for the future. That future is inhabited for a time by us, but in a longer sense, it is occupied by our children. My desire in this life is to leave them a good name, reputation, but most of all, the place that I love so dearly. May our home be their home for all their days as long as the Lord is pleased for this earth to stand. On a personal note, I have been a member of 5 local churches over the course of my life. Sadly, the place I joined and was baptized is no longer in existence. Thankfully, the other 4 are all still intact and functioning. May they continue to be so until His return.