Chapel Matters

Did you know Jesus described himself as a mother hen?! Last week in chapel we looked at feminine images of God from the Hebrew Scriptures, so this week we looked at this extraordinary and yet very natural way that Jesus describes himself.

After Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and gets into conflict with the religious leaders, he laments for the people, saying, “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!” (Luke 13.34).

At a basic level, it is just wonderful to see a man use a feminine image to describe how he is feeling – gender has little to do with it! It is a matter of finding the most appropriate image! I also love the idea that Jesus must have seen plenty of hens and chicks around to draw on this image so spontaneously! In case you haven’t seen anything like that before, or recently, here is a wee video of a hen with her chicks – I wonder how many she has tucked away under her wings?!

What a lovely image, of us the people, as chicks, sheltering and being comforted and cuddled, under the safe and loving wings of Jesus. I encourage you to draw on this image of Jesus when you need a God who is like a mother hen!