Under His Wings
January 28, 2009
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me,” Jesus plaintively grieves over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 just prior to going to the cross. This passage of Scripture has always haunted me through the years as I have pondered the “why” of seeing people all around me refuse the call of Jesus on their lives in various ways…even as I have not let Him protect me under His wings in various ways myself.
My grandfather had chickens on his Nebraska dairy farm. It was amazing to watch the hens “round up” their chicks and hold their wings over them, hiding them from the ever-watchful eyes of the circling birds of prey above. As I have meditated on this passage, I have remembered these natural protective instincts of these hens. It comes to me that as the hen covers the young with her wings, the chicks are pressed against her body, sheltered by the wings, but also supported and warmed by the mother’s body.
What does this metaphor mean for us on a deeper level? Can you see how Jesus protects us under His wings by pressing us into His body, the Church? We were never meant to go through life on our own, with a stiff upper lip, isolating ourselves when things get tough at home, on the job, or at school. We have the body of Christ to lean against, gathering stability, warmth and support.
Scripture tells us that we are to bear one another’s burdens, thereby fulfilling the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). We can’t share each other’s burdens if we have no idea what we are each carrying individually. I encourage you to find a group of believers and allow the Lord Jesus to shelter you under His wings, pressing you up against HIS body, the Church. Maybe you’re already in a church, but not really connected with anyone there…let Jesus press you against His body by opening up your life to others. You will begin to experience a new dimension to being “protected beneath His wings.”
