The Greatest Tragedy

The Greatest Tragedy

As they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry. “I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you . . . because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.” –Luke 19:41-42, 44

“Tragedy” seems the only way to describe some of what we see around us, doesn’t it? When we read about floods or earthquakes where masses of people die, we can’t help but think of it as a tragedy. It’s how I felt when recently a friend lost her husband just as he prepared to retire. Their dreams of traveling and growing old together came to an abrupt end. It felt tragic. The American Heritage Dictionary defines tragedy as “a dramatic, disastrous event, especially one with moral significance.” But I wonder, What would God label as a tragedy?

As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, a crowd surrounded him shouting out, “Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38). You might think he would be happy as they spread out their coats for him and welcomed him. But he began to cry.

Jesus saw beyond that day to the time quickly coming when the shouts of the people would become “Crucify him!” He could see beyond their words and into their hearts. And what he saw was hardness toward God, superficiality in their words of welcome, rejection of God’s offer to replace their religiosity and ritual with a relationship that would be soul-satisfying and spirit-saving.

What is it that moves God to tears? It is not just physical death. It is eternal death. He looks over the people he created, and he weeps over their rejection of the opportunity to experience his love and to know him in a life-transforming, death-overcoming way. He weeps because it is not just a tragedy; it is the ultimate definition of tragedy. There is no tragedy in being ushered from this life to the next when that next life is spent in the presence of God. The only real tragedy is a life that ends without that hope. When a person rejects the free gift of eternal life God has offered through a relationship with his Son, that is a tragedy. That brings God to tears.

Weeping Father, while I often label losses in my life and in the lives of those around me and those around the world as tragic, help me to see the bigger picture—that the ultimate tragedy is a life that ends without hope in you.

DIGGING DEEPER