Jesus

I was fairly distracted reading Luke today. I can't say I paid much attention most of the time. I was mostly thinking that the Gospels are not very suited for reading all at once, because they jump around so often from episode to episode that it's hard to catch any kind of flow in the story. however, this makes them ideal as material for Bible studies and sermons, because they are naturally divided into chunks. How thoughtful of the writers to make them that way. Anyway, what I did do is finally underline a couple verses that I've been caught by every time I read this book:

At that very time Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight." (10:21)

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!" (13:34)

I love these verses, because they are places where Jesus expresses emotion. And in the poetry of the language, you can see the depth of his human and divine feeling for, in the first verse, the glory and mystery of God's ways and, in the second, the helpless situation of the human race. These are like intimate glimpses into Jesus' mind, and what could be more beautiful?