NOTES for Luk 13:34
Addressing Jerusalem, the Savior at the same time addresses the history of this city. Since David's time it had been not only the capital of the Jewish state, but also the capital of Yahwism. And it remained the capital up to the Gospel era, apart from a short break by historical standards during the Babylonian exile.
And in every age the same tragedy was played out again and again in this city. The tragedy of refusing those who spoke on God's behalf. None of the great prophets of antiquity became a victor during his lifetime. Even Isaiah of Jerusalem, who had influence on King Hezekiah, in the end, if judged by earthly measures, lost: his influence proved insufficient to determine the policy of Hezekiah, who had appeared to favor the prophet. And although stories of this prophet's martyrdom during Manasseh's reign appear much later, it is possible that a real story stands behind them: under Manasseh there truly were persecutions of the followers of the prophets.
Others were less fortunate: at best they were regarded as bothersome eccentrics, and at worst as enemies of their country and their people (as happened, for example, with Jeremiah). Of course, afterward, already after the Babylonian exile, Jews began to look at the prophets as great people, and their legacy was studied and systematized (this is how the collections of the books of the former and latter prophets appeared). But something remained the same, and this very something kept many of Jesus' contemporaries from seeing in Him the Messiah promised by God. The issue is distrust, or insufficient trust, toward living revelation.
Jesus' contemporaries believed the prophets not so much because their life and spiritual experience allowed them to see the depth of prophetic revelation, but because by that time the prophets were already considered absolute spiritual authorities and the prophetic books had entered the canon of Holy Scripture. They believed not the Spirit, but tradition. And everything that did not fit into tradition was no less suspect for these people than the words of the ancient prophets had been for their contemporaries.
There were, of course, exceptions, but they were few. The old tragedy was repeated again. But now the issue was not a prophet, but the Messiah. The One for whose sake God raised up His people and gave them historical life. And therefore the rejection of the Messiah inevitably had to become a historical catastrophe for them. The Savior, of course, wants a different destiny for Jerusalem. But even He cannot change the choice made by His countrymen. For everyone chooses his own path. Whether an individual person or an entire people.