Luke 13:31-35 NRSVue
31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
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Reflection on Luke 13:31-35
Inspiration from 2025-10-30 Daily Prayer
Jesus shows great tenderness and compassion in his use of the image of the brooding hen gathering her chicks under her wing. I am reminded of a line in one of G. M. Hopkins’s poems, ‘God’s Grandeur’ – ‘Because the Holy Ghost over the bent /world broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.’ Our God still longs to gather each of us to himself with great mercy and tenderness.
Further reflection
The heart of Jesus finds its voice here: a voice of courage, facing down Herod the king as a fox, symbol of destructive cunning; and a voice of grief: he weeps over Jerusalem, mother city of his people. It is clear from these words that Jesus had preached in Jerusalem, but in vain: /You were not willing./ Jesus longs for us, but will not force us.
Jesus wants to gather the people in Jerusalem into his love and protection - ‘under his wing'. It is they who refuse, not God who changes his mind when the city is destroyed! It looks as if God is a failure when God's children turn away, like parents feel when their children in some way get lost in their way through the world. But God never gives up on us - God will return and be praised.
Jesus' heart goes out to the people of his beloved city, Jerusalem. His heart goes out today in every city, for he lives among us everywhere. We pray that our hearts become like his and we look on the needs of people and hear the cries of people like he does.