Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem

Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem
Luke 13.31-35

The house I live in was built after the Second World War. It replaced the much older one that stood here before, which was burnt to ashes one night in 1941, after a fire-bomb, dropped by an enemy aircraft, landed right on it. The people who lived in the house were helping to save another building nearby, and by the time they got water-pumps to this house, and the one next door, it was too late.

In the ancient world fire was an ever-present danger. It was of course necessary for many aspects of life, but without modern precautions and fire-fighting equipment it could easily get out of control. Roman writers of the New Testament period speak graphically about fires in Rome’s crowded streets and tenements; the summer of AD 64 saw a fire in Rome that lasted a week and destroyed half the city. Though the word ‘fire’ does not occur in this passage, the powerful image Jesus uses here has it in mind. It isn’t, however, in a city, but in a farmyard...

Taken from Luke for Everyone – by Tom Wright