A New Jerusalem

“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 brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:34, 35)


These words were spoken by our Lord shortly before He entered Jerusalem, just a few days before He would lay down His life on a cross in that city (“It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem”—v. 33). He knew these things:

• Jerusalem had a history of killing the very ones God had sent to rescue them.
• He loved Jerusalem and had come to save her—but she was unwilling.
• Jerusalem would be destroyed for her lack of trust in her Messiah.
• Jerusalem would welcome Him as her Messiah—but then quickly reject Him and even call for His execution before the week was over.

 It is through this deplorable tragedy, this greatest injustice in the history of the world, that Jesus Christ established a New Jerusalem, a new City of God, a new center for the Temple of God and His worship.

In this New Jerusalem, the citizens are willing. They receive Christ as their Savior, as their Messiah, as their Lord. For the inhabitants of this New Jerusalem, the death of Jesus of Nazareth is their beginning, not their end—their source of eternal life, not their own death sentence. Their house is not left desolate but is filled to the full with those of every tongue and every tribe, overflowing with all things, with all the riches that are found in the glory of Christ Jesus.

These children are indeed gathered under His wings, delivered from their enemies, sin and death, protected from the wrath of God—they have found and receive forgiveness for their own sins. And they also cry, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” But in this New Jerusalem, Jesus is the resurrected and reigning King—there is no rejection of Him as her Lord—they are willing subjects of His glorious kingdom, serving Him gladly and gratefully, giving thanks continually for the salvation of their fair city through the blood of their Savior.

“Great God and Glorious Father, we give You thanks indeed for our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. Thank You for establishing the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God, the Church of the Living God, and for including us in the number of her inhabitants. You are our King—we would have no other—and we are Your willing subjects. Teach us Your will that we might walk in it; protect us from our enemies; fill us with the rich produce of Your Holy Spirit. And may God’s peace be upon the Israel of God! Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”