Jesus came as the Messiah of His people, but His own received Him not. A few individuals accepted Him, among them the Twelve and a little company of men and women. These were ardently devoted to Him. They believed in His Messiahship, although they did not understand what it meant. But His nation accepted Him not. The rulers never believed in Him. They opposed Him from the beginning, and their opposition grew in bitterness until at last they had Him on a cross. This was their return for His love.
Christ’s reproofs of His people for their rejection were very severe. Some of them were spoken in the temple, before He finally left it. Some were spoken to the disciples from the Mount of Olives. He laid bare the hearts of the teachers and rulers. They bound heavy burdens on the people, but they themselves did not touch them with one of their fingers. They devoured widows’ houses, and then made long prayers that men might think them holy. They paid tithes of the smallest things, but judgment, mercy and faith they omitted from their lives. They were careful to keep their dishes clean, but they paid no heed to their own inner lives.
It was with breaking heart that He told them of the doom that was impending. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
There are two marvels here. One is that the rulers could have rejected Jesus Christ. He came doing good, going about in a marvelous ministry of mercy. He came offering them all the blessing of eternal life. How could they despise and reject Him?
The other marvel is that Jesus kept love in His heart through all their rejection. On Palm Sunday, as He was riding into the city amid the acclaim and enthusiasm of the people, when He passed the crest of the Hill and the city came into His view, He broke into loud weeping and cried, “If thou hadst known, in this thy day, even thou, the things which belong to they peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.” The love of Christ failed not, though unrequited, though treated so unjustly, though the answer to it was a cross. His answer to the rejection was redemption.