31: The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 32: And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 33: Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35: Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Jesus had been journeying to Jerusalem and now He was there. The Pharisees told Him to depart from Jerusalem because Herod was going to kill Him. Jesus called Herod a fox and a fox represents a false prophet. – Ezekiel 13:3-4: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Then Jesus said He would be perfected on the third day and talks about prophets perishing and how it is Jerusalem that kills them. Finally Jesus says to the Pharisees that your house is left unto you desolate . . .
When we look at these verses as a whole we see that the main subject is about prophets being killed by Jerusalem or Israel. Jesus, a true prophet contrasted himself with Herod a false prophet (fox) who wanted to kill him. Then Jesus said he would be perfected on the third day. This is clearly a reference that Jesus is making to His death and resurrection on the third day. Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Jesus wanted Jerusalem or Israel to accept Him, so that He could gather them together like a hen gathers her brood but instead they killed the prophets, including Jesus himself. Finally Jesus tells them that the result of killing him will be a desolate house or a synagogue without the presence of God. Applying what Jesus has illustrated with His life and the nation of Israel to the Church today, we can expect to be treated by the Church of today, just like Jesus was treated by Israel. We can expect to be persecuted and even lose our life or be put to death.
Matthew 10:24-25, 28 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25: It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? . . . And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.