LENTEN BIBLE STUDY #17

THE LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM & DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

 

3^RD Thursday of Lent

Read Matthew 23:37-24:2.

Why is Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem? 

Have you ever felt like Jesus does in this passage?  What caused these feelings in you?  How can your faith help you in this situation?

Notes on the text:

The woes are immediately followed by a lament over Jerusalem, the city who has rejected the prophets over and over.  “How many times” may refer to the multiple visits Jesus makes to the city in the Gospel of John.

23:38 and 24:1-2 refer to the utter destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 CE.

Verse 39 looks forward to the time Jesus will return in all his glory.

This passage transitions from the previous discourse into the last discourse before the passion.  Matthew 24-25 are known as the “eschatological discourse” because the entire section deals with the end of this age and the dawning of a new era in which the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness.