Jerusalem In Sight

Jerusalem in Sight

Luke 19:41-44, NKJV

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Setting the Scene

It seems that, as the time of his sacrifice approached, Jesus’ emotions were close to the surface. As he reached the crest of the Mount of Olives, the city came into view and Jesus began weeping.

Jesus’ words help us understand his tears. Others might cry tears of joy and wonder over the sight of Jerusalem; Jesus looked at the city with eyes that saw her fate. He saw how he would be received, with a welcome that served as a prelude to crucifixion. His tears were not for himself but for the city that represented his objective. He came to save her, whether she knew it or not.

Where others saw a proud and impregnable city, Jesus saw broken walls and broken people. The one who could bring them peace was arriving in Jerusalem that day, but Jesus knew he was “hidden” from their eyes. God’s purposes would be worked out in his death and they would also be worked out in the tragic unfolding of events for Jerusalem. Jesus’ tearful prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Romans utterly destroyed the city.

The picture of Jesus weeping over people, over us, has a powerfully sobering effect. How could we not conclude that the one who would die for us would also cry for us? He cries over us because we are lost like Jerusalem or because we have been saved from certain death.

Getting Personal

What do you take from the real tenderness of Jesus’ emotions at this point, on the brink of his crucifixion?

When have you felt sorrow for the lost people God loves?

Most of the heresies regarding the person of Jesus in church history have had to do with his humanity (see Arianism, Appolinarianism, Gnosticism). Confining Jesus in some form of godhood is easier than dealing with him as also fully human. Moments like these in Jesus’ life are the evidence to back up Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (NKJV).

Talking to God

Remind yourself, as you come to God in prayer, that the Lord is not cold and distant or mechanical in his responses to you. Remember his tears for those he came to save, and praise him for his ability to empathize with the full range of human emotion.