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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke
PART 5 - CHRIST'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM (Luke 19:28 - 21:38)
1. Christ's Approach to the Capital and His Reception with Rejoicing (Luke 19:28-44)
LUKE 19:41-44
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “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. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and 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.”
Jesus was not dazzled by the loud shouts and acclamations that surrounded him, but saw prophetically the end and the ruin of the city lying before him. His heart was broken, and he was bathed in tears. Yes, Jesus wept, for he knew that hard hearts were aroused against him, while he bore in himself the love of God, which sought night and day to bring back the lost to repentance but in vain, for their ears were deaf to the divine call, and their blind eyes could not perceive him who prevailed over death and Satan. Even today, the eyes of many children of Abraham are still covered with a veil. Though Jerusalem (Uru-shalim) means the “City of Peace”, the peace of the Highest did not dwell in it. Today, Jesus is still crying over this city, which God had chosen as a center of peace for the whole world.
The Lord saw beforehand how the Jews would reject him and deliver him to the hands of Gentiles to kill him. The Son of God let the children of his nation persecute him, and forgave all the offenses of those who opposed him. Yet he knew that if they did not accept the power of the Holy Spirit, they would fall into condemnation. The Lord wept when all about him were rejoicing, and he foretold their destruction.
The divine love saw with insight how the Romans would dig a trench, build an embankment around the city with its soil and stones to besiege it, ruin its high walls, and occupy the city quarter by quarter, making lawful all the plundering and impurities a spiteful furious conqueror could do. They even took the Jewish babies and beat them against the walls, breaking their heads in pieces, and burnt the Temple of God after they stole its golden and silver contents in 70 A.M. Then after the last unsuccessful revolution in 132 A.M. the Romans tore down the walls of the city, and proud Jerusalem became a wasteland.
Jesus saw in detail all that was coming on his adversaries. He wept in compassion and love for them, and did not say, rejoicing at their misfortune, “It is good to have the city attacked so fiercely. May God consume these people who have rejected me!” But the King of love wept for the unbelief, hardheartedness and blindness of the people. Does Jesus also weep over you and your hard heart? Does he foresee condemnation coming on your nation? Do you join with him weeping compassionately over sinful humans, or do you hate the wicked?