There’s a moment in Luke 13 where Jesus pauses to lament over Jerusalem. He speaks with deep sorrow:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)
It’s a heart-wrenching image—Jesus longing to gather his people, shelter them, love them, and yet, they resist. They turn away, unwilling or unable to embrace what he offers.
And I wonder—how often do we do the same?
We may not be standing at the gates of Jerusalem, but we resist in other ways. Maybe we resist grace because we feel unworthy. Or because we’re too caught up in self-reliance to accept help. Sometimes, we resist because transformation is uncomfortable—it asks something of us.
Earlier in this passage, Jesus tells the parable of the barren fig tree. The landowner is ready to cut it down—it hasn’t borne fruit, so why let it take up space? But the gardener speaks up: “Let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.” (Luke 13:8) The gardener pleads for patience, for another chance, promising to tend and nourish the tree so that it might yet bear fruit.
What if we are like that fig tree—struggling to grow, slow to bear fruit? And what if, rather than giving up on us, Christ tends to us like that gardener, patiently working the soil of our hearts, feeding us with grace, urging us toward life?
What holds us back from fully embracing that amazing grace?
Is it fear of change? The weight of our past? The reluctance to trust that God’s love really is as deep as Jesus says it is?
Yet, even in our resistance, Jesus still longs to gather us in. His love remains. His grace is not taken away. The invitation stands. And like the gardener in the parable, Christ does not give up on us.
So this week, I invite you to sit with that question: Where am I resisting grace? And what might it look like to take one step closer to trust?
