The Patience of God (Matthew 23:34-39)

If I were to ask you to list some of the characteristics of God, the attributes of God, what would you say. I suspect that most people might start the list with things like God is holy, or God is loving, or God is just, or God is merciful, and indeed all of those are correct and are in fact, they are direct quotes from scripture. But there are some other attributes that don’t get as much attention for example the scriptures also teaches that God of all things is patient. Who thought of that one, and what does that mean for us? Well today I want us to look at a passage that although it doesn’t mention the word patience it still illustrates the fact that God is indeed patient, immeasurably patient.

There are also some other things illustrated in this passage about God, more than just his patience, and all these things I believe we will discover are extremely important to us as individuals. As a matter of fact, some of the principles in this passage could affect that decisions that you make even today and certainly ought to affect decisions you make throughout your life in the future. So, with that in mind would you turn with me as I read to you Matthew 23: 34-39

Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, and upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”  (Matthew 23: 34-39)

The main subject of this passage of scripture is actually the judgment of God. In the opening verses it talks about the fact that God has been patient in performing that judgement but then the Lord talks about the reason for the judgment, and he concludes with talking about the time of the judgment.

In the opening verse, it’s important that you notice that he says you will kill he’s not talking about at this point messengers that were sent to Israel in the Old Testament he’s talking about the messengers God’s is going to send from this point forward. He says that he’s going to send prophets, wise men, and scribes but what they are going to do is they’re going to kill and crucify them, some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. What Jesus is predicting here was what many say was in part, fulfilled in the book of Acts, for there we see several were killed and martyred. In the book of acts and were given their stories, Stephen was the first to be martyred and others follow. Also, in the book of James, he also mentions persecution and certainly the Apostle Paul was persecuted as well as others with him.  It mentions that some will even be crucified just like the Lord himself, and in fact tradition tells us that Peter was among those who were crucified, and saying he was not worthy to be crucified like his Lord he requested to be crucified upside down. So, Jesus is saying, God is going to send messengers to you and you are going to persecute, scourge, kill and crucify them, then he adds this verse 35

“, and upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  (Matthew 23: 35)

What he’s pointing out that this type of behaviour has been part of the whole history of Israel, persecuting and killing the messengers that God sent to them. What Jesus is saying in this verse is that there’s been a whole history of this from the beginning to the very end of the Old Testament. This has been the history of Israel, to take God’s messengers and reject them, not listen to them, and worse yet shed their blood or even kill them.

Now as we look at what the Lord is saying in these verses the word patience is not mentioned but it seems to me that these two verses are a perfect illustration of God’s patience in judgment. For over a  thousands of years they killed his messengers and yet God says in these verses I’m going to send you more. However, remember the fact that God remained patient and we saw that right from the beginning when he said to Noah I will delay the flood for 120 years. 

He also told Abraham that he was going to give him the land but said that the cup of wrath for the ammonites would not be fulfilled for over 400 years.

Nahum the prophet told us, “The Lord is slow to anger”, and the Apostle Peter, said in the New Testament that “God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish”. So, I look at these verses and I say God has always been in the history of Israel incredibly, unbelievably patient. One after another had been sent by God, and one after another had been killed. It seems to me here that Jesus is reminding us that God has been patient, but there is a limit to God’s patience.

He is really reminding us that judgment is going to come, he may give us a few more opportunities to change our ways, but judgment is eventually going to come. God’s patience has a limit, God’s patience will run out so to speak and when that happens the judgment of God will fall. Like with Noah, God will delay the judgment but as he also told Noah “My spirit shall not always strive with man forever” in Genesis 6:3. God also told Abraham that he would give him the land but that the cup of the Canaanites was not yet full, but there would come a day when that cup would be full and when it did, when that happened, the judgment of God will fall.

Peter says, “The Lord is patient in his promises, but his long-suffering toward us is because he does not wish that any should perish but rather he wishes that we might all come to repent”. But then Peter adds this. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat”. In other words, many in the history of God salvation plan have said, God is patient, but have then made the assumption that there was no limit to God’s patience, but of course God patience will reach a limit and when it does the then the judgment of God will fall.

So, the first part of this passage is actually talking about judgement, but it emphasises the fact that God has been unbelievably patient in delaying that judgement. Sometime when we look around the world today I am sure we sometimes can’t help but ask, where is the judgment of God, well one answer to that is that God is incredibly patient. God is incredibly patient, giving people a lot of time to come to themselves, to come to their senses, to come to recognise their true fallen nature and the mistakes they have made in order that they might turn to him and thereby turn their lives around. Repenting, the bible calls it.

Jesus moves in this passage from stating the fact that one day there will indeed be a judgement to explaining the reason for the judgment. He tells us these things will come upon this generation because he says you were not willing recognised that you are the ones who continue to kill God’s prophets. You’re in the family line of those that stoned those who were sent in God’s name when all God wanted to do was gather his children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But that generation didn’t even want that, they are not willing to even do that?

When Jesus says I’ve often he was talking about the scribes of the Pharisees when he kept saying woe to you scribes and Pharisee’s,  woe to you hypocrites, seven times he came and gave them an opportunity to respond and change their ways. But he’s talking not just to the leaders but to the general people of Jerusalem.

When he cries out Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem, it means he is coming before the whole nation, and he’s not even just talking about the city of Jerusalem either, he’s talking about all of Israel and what he says is this. How often like a hen I wanted to gather you in as little chicks and put you under the protection of my wing. But the critical statement is then he says, “but you were not willing to let me do that”. You did not hear me; you did not believe me, and you were not willing to come to me, and that is the reason that judgment is now coming.

In the earlier passage he warned that eventually judgment would come. I’ve been patient God says, but my patience has been exhausted and now judgment is coming. Adding in verses 36 and verse 37 that judgment is coming soon but only because you were still not been willing to hear and heed what I have said. The ultimate reason the judgment of God will one day falls is because at the end of the day people are just not willing to listen, even though God has been immeasurably patient. We abuse God’s patience when we continue to ignore him and by repeatedly sinning. We sometimes even use the patience of God to allow ourselves to sin all the more. To explore greater degrees of sin and by doing so we abuse the patience of God. He is slow to anger but when  the judgement finally falls, he will be swift to execute his justice. The teaching is here  for those who choose to listen, or for those who choose to see it. God was patient with Israel, and he will be patient with our nation(s) and he will be patient with everyone one else as individuals. Just as he was patient with us even when we never knew or cared about him. Because he does not wish for any of us to be lost to him. Behind the patience of God is a sober reminder that one day his judgment against sin will fall.

He then concludes this passage talking about that future time of judgement by saying. “See your house is left desolate”. Many see this as an obvious reference to the temple, he’s addressing the people of Jerusalem on that day, and he’s saying part of the judgment is that you’re going to be left desolate. By that he means that at some point you’re going to be left to the consequences of your actions, left to your  own devises, so to speak  by God, and you won’t see him again until you see all the nations say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. 

This is an incredible statement, he first says your house is going to be desolated, you’re going to be deserted by God and then he turns around and says you will not see me again, until the day you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That is a reference to Psalm 118: 26, it was sung earlier when he entered Jerusalem and now, he leaves Jerusalem quoting that same song back to them. So, he’s saying on the one hand the time of this judgment is now and on the other hand I’m going to come back and when I do you will say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. In other words, verse, 38, is talking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and verse 39 it’s talking about the 2nd coming of the Lord in which time all Israel will recognize that he is/was the Messiah. Again this is a demonstration of God’s patience and faithfulness because he promised Israel that he would not forsake them eternally, and so even in the midst of his declaration of judgment, he reminds them that he is coming back on day.

There is a reminder that this situation is temporary and not eternal. I’m reminded of Habakkuk’s statement when he cried out to the Lord. “In your wrath, remember mercy. God in pronouncing he forthcoming judgment still remembers his promise to Israel and says I will be back  to fulfil that promise.

I think this is picked up by the apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 11 where he talks about the fact that all Israel will be saved when the Lord comes back. So, the Lord is going to judge at that time, for that generation, yet in the middle of that he says he will be faithful to his promise and not forsake Israel forever. For that generation living during the lifetime of Jesus Christ it is fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. So, this clearly applies to the generation of Israelites that lived in the 1st century primarily in Jerusalem, but yet many people of Jewish heritage will come into the kingdom of God, particularly in the later days. However, I do think this passage also contains some fundamental principles that apply to everyone today. In my opinion, it is first and foremost saying that God is patient and God is faithful, but he will ultimately judge those who are unwilling to come to him.

God is patient, God is compassionate, and God is faithful but there will come a time when God will judge the sins in our lives. We can learn a lot of things about the Lord and his character from this passage. We can learn that God is just, and that even in his judgement we can learn that God is patient and that he is compassionate.  He would have protected Israel if they had only listened to him, so we can see he is always faithful to his promises.

The Bible is a book that show us how God deals with his people then, and how he deals with his people today. It’s showing us how he deals with you and me, today.  When we approach and read the Bible today, we shouldn’t just be looking to find out something about God, but we should be trying to  see what you can find out about ourselves, and this is a perfect example of a passage that enables us to do that. With this passage here are the kinds of things that it tells us about God. He is just, He is patient, and that God is always faithful to his promises.  But it seems to me also contained within this passage is another deeply profound and fundamental truth that’s intensely practical and it is simply this.

The reason for the judgment is because they were unwilling to listen to him, like many today. People today still are unwilling to listen to God. This passage is teaching that God’s judgment not only comes on nations that are unwilling to listen but upon individuals also, because God holds us as individuals responsible for our choices. If this passage teaches anything, it teaches that we are responsible for ourselves before God. But that has a wider application in our lives at the most practical of things. 

I think this passage is also talking about personal responsibility and accountability. In preparation of this study, I believe God prompted me to write down all the ordinary things of life that I am responsible for.

The things I wrote were. I am responsible for controlling my die. I am responsible for controlling what exercise I take. I am responsible for my attitudes, my emotions, and my speech. I am responsible along with my wife for the financial stewardship of the money I have. I am responsible for how I spend my time. 

It all comes down to I am responsible for me, I can control me,  by God’s grace, and I am responsible for everything that makes me, me. However, in this passage these people weren’t willing to be responsible, and that’s why there is judgement coming. What really struck me about this passage is that is this message is given by Jesus just after he has stated thee seven woes that he placed on the Pharisees, and that is because they had been given responsibly not just to obey God in their own lives but to lead other people, and they had neglected that responsibility. 

Jesus comes to the end of that discussion and here in essence he says to them, you are responsible for what you have done because you Pharisees also rejected your responsibility as are leaders. Notice he closed the passage by saying, ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you were the one who kills the prophets, I wanted to gather your like chicks under my wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left desolate”. What also strikes me about this passage is the uncomfortable truth that the sins of the leaders are no excuse for our individual sins. You can’t say stand before God and say I had a bad start in life. You can’t even say, but my parents taught me wrong. You are responsible for making the right decisions, or the wrong decisions.

These leaders taught the people that Jesus was not the Messiah, these leaders also taught them to put all of the emphasis on the externals things and just look good, you don’t have to be good. Yet Jesus says, no matter what the leaders taught you, you are still responsible before God for your own live and the decisions you make, because my truth has always been placed at the door of your heart.

Jesus said in the gospel of John chapter seven that “He that is willing to do his will, he shall know his doctrine”. If you're willing and come to the scripture with an open mind and an open-heart God, the Holy Spirit will teach you what decisions to make. Regardless of how you have been brought up, or what you have been taught, you are personally responsible to make the decision to believe what this book says is true. To believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that by believing in him you will have life in his name, regardless of what you have been told in the past. 

If the Bible teaches us anything, it teaches that we are responsible before God for ourselves, and that I by his grace, we need to exercise self-control in our lives. The greatness of this chapter is in that it shows both side of the coin. It reminds us that no other person has the power or ability to lead you beyond the forgiveness and mercy of God. But it also tells that God is patients and has no desire for you to experience his judgement, but we need to respond to that personally.

I want to close by telling you a true story, the names have been omitted to protect the guilty. Some years ago, there was a mother who had a teenage son. And during that time the younger driver was driving on what were called learner plates, so he had to have an adult in the car and that adult on this occasion was his mother. While waiting at a junction, waiting and waiting, for a gap to appear his mother noticing a small break in the traffic shouted, GO!. Being the obedient son, I/he pulled into the road right into the way of a coming police car. The police car stopped in time and the policeman came up to the car, and said you pulled out too late, you didn’t allow enough time for the oncoming traffic. “I was just doing what my mother said”, I said, and the officer said  I don’t care who told you to go, but when you chose to go, you were responsible for what happened next. That is the law of the land. She said go, but it my responsibility, it was my choice. By the way, the policeman said, mother, just leave him to make his own decisions, he is in the driving seat and whatever mistake he will make will be his mistake, not yours. 

We are all friend responsible before God for the choice we make but thank God he is patient and loving and does not wish any of us to come to harm.