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Today we will read Matthew 23:37 - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing.”

What is God like? God is like Jesus. And here we see that Jesus is sad and therefore God is sad. What has Jesus so moved?

It’s the children. Jerusalem had a collective resistance. But resistance to what? To Jesus being…motherly. Jesus equates His affection to a nurturing hen gathering, protecting, loving… and this breaks His heart. The result of this resistance is a broken Jesus, and a broken Jerusalem. The resistance has real consequences.

Jesus could have expressed rage over their stubbornness. Threatened action against their ingratitude. But no. He’s like a hurt mom wishing her children would simply receive the love she offers and all the protection and benefits that accompany it. This is not a happy part of the story. But it is revealing of the heart of God.

Will you receive God this way? It may be very different than how you typically think of Him. But we’re not attempting to reinforce our view of God but to receive Him as He is.

“God, I can’t imagine the depth of feeling You have for Your children. I am Your child. I know that I too have resisted. And if I’m honest it’s because in some way I distrust You - even without realizing it. But I want to trust. I don’t want to resist. I want to know Your heart.”