O Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Jesus grieves over the state of "religion" in Jerusalem. He sees irony in the fact that the central place of God's worship and atonement is actually a place where men of God, like prophets, find death. And yet the Pharisees are warning Jesus of the threat of Herod, whereas Jesus sees the Pharisees and the religious order as the real threat. Jesus knows exactly what work he must do while on earth and nothing will stop that. He also suggests again that some Jews will be saved but not all will. This again acts as a warning to those who continue to live in disregard for their sin but still call themselves children of God. Jesus grieves over this state and is saddened by it. This warning could perhaps be echoed to the church today to remind us that sin is the enemy and Christ is the hero. We must preach the gospel to ourselves constantly.