Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: Exodus 30:11–31:18 Matthew 26:47-68 Proverbs 8:27-32

“Under Christ’s Wings”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”
[Matthew 23:37]

See how the mother hen acts. Hardly any other animal takes such great interest in her young. She changes her natural voice, and adopts a different voice. She looks, she scratches the ground, and calls her chicks. When she finds something, she does not eat it, but leave it for her chicks. With all earnestness she battles and cries against the hawk, and willingly spreads out her wings and lets her chicks crawl under and on her, not matter what she suffers. This is indeed a delightful picture. So also, Christ has adopted a different voice, has preached repentance to us, and from His whole heart pointed out to everyone our sin and misery. He scratches in the Scriptures and calls us to them and lets us devour and be sustained by them. He spreads His wings over us with all righteousness, merit, and grace, and takes us lovingly under Him, warms us in His love, and fights for us against the devil.