September 29, 2004

THE SOLICITOUS SAVIOUR

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that murders the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let me" (Matthew 23:37, NEB).

Those of us who have grown up on a farm have no difficulty in capturing the message contained in Christ's vivid imagery of a hen securely gathering her chicks under her wings when danger threatens.

Our solicitous Saviour poignantly expressed His tender solicitude in His yearning lament over Jerusalem. Sensing the awesomeness of the impending destruction threatening the city and the nation, Jesus engages in an agonizing lament over the fate of the lost city that had repeatedly spurned His offer of salvation.

In a larger sense, Christ's solicitude for Jerusalem, symbolizes His tender yearning for all sinners. As the solicitous Saviour, Christ weeps for the doomed and the dying of all nations who continue to spurn His gracious offer. The pathos of this tender appeal reflects His deep concern for our salvation. The sinner can be lost only as he or she deliberately rejects Christ's offer of salvation. Heaven's generous provision for salvation is, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). Jesus longs for all to come to repentance.

The solicitous Saviour is patiently waiting for us to accept His gracious invitation. He yearns to gather us under His redemptive protection as a hen gathers her chicks for safety. "How terrible it was for Christ, whose heart overflowed with love for those whom he had purchased with human agony, to see Jerusalem fast filling up the figures of the reckoning that is kept with nations and individuals."--Review and Herald, December 7, 1897.

My Prayer Today: Lord, because You are my solicitous Saviour, I respond to Your call today. Amen.