“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34)
God is love. He wants to be loved by us. The greatest commandment is that we should love Him with our whole heart, mind, and soul. But He is Love, not because of His desire to be loved, but because of His great desire to love, a love that loves us even when we don’t love Him.
Jerusalem is unloved by choice. She doesn’t want the love that God wants to give her. She rejects His gift. And so, the pain of God is expressed through the eyes of His beloved Son: “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it …” (Luke 19:41)
The suffering of a loving Father’s heart; the pain of a rejected spouse, is crystallized in this one moment when Jesus welled up and wept at the sight of city that spurned both Him and His Father. And even in the face of such coldness and cruelty, He laid down His life, He continued to love.
To truly love you must be willing to love more than you are being loved. You must even love in the face of hate. What an incredible lover our God is! His love never fails.