23:34-36
“Therefore I am sending you ...” The prophets, sages and teachers mentioned here would be the apostles and evangelists of the church. They would preach that Jesus is Lord and that we need to repent. However, the religious leaders would treat them in the same way that they treated the godly prophets of old, by persecuting them. In Acts we see these very things happening. The guilt that had been built up over many years would come upon this generation, and this is what happened in AD 66-70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
23:37-39
Jesus has spoken very severe and direct words of judgement, but He took no pleasure in doing so. He was simply telling them the truth of their situation and of who they were. Jesus would far rather have gathered them up as a hen gathers her chicks. He would far rather have protected them. As an aside, note that this implies the divinity of Jesus for otherwise it would have been ridiculous for Him to imagine He had the ability to do this. Why did this not happen? “You were not willing”. People love to blame God, we would be far better to look to ourselves. Jesus would soon be killed, and they would only see Him if they said “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. Worshipping Jesus is the only way to life.
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