The Lord said to the Jews who had come to him, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and 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.'
The Lord is always going to tell the truth and in this passage He doesn't hesitate to call it like it is.The truth is that people who claim to be religious, who are the spiritually elite and who relish being looked up to as big-wigs in the Synagogue, are, in fact, children of hell. For they oppose the Kingdom of God and every time a true prophet of God comes along, they kill them for their message is against them.
Yet, the Lord longs to gather all who reject Him and wishes to care for them as a hen cares for its chicks, under her wings. So great is the compassion of the Lord and yet these chicks will not be gathered but instead will meet their own destruction.
O Lord, let my heart always be soft and may I always look to You who gathers those who will be gathered. Let me not be among those who oppose You for they will have no peace. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.
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