Tenth Sunday after Trinity

As Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he looks out upon that great city of the nation of Israel, the first-born son of God whom He led out of Egypt with signs and wonders, the nation that grumbled and backslid in the wilderness, the wayward children that stoned the prophets of God and turned again and again to idolatry, the people that will soon cry for the death of their own Messiah, saying, “Crucify Him!”—Jesus looks out upon this holy city, and what does He do? He weeps! O Jerusalem, 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 (Lk 19:42).

Every parent or grandparent here knows what it is like to weep for your children. When they are little, you can bodily pick them up and prevent them from walking into harm and danger. But when they have grown, physical restraint is no longer possible. You can offer wise counsel, you can warn against folly, but should they refuse to listen, what can a loving parent do? You can pray. You can and will continue to love them. But sometimes there is nothing left to do but weep.

And so, Jesus, the God and Creator of all things, weeps with the heart of a Father for His lost children. Heedlessly rushing toward destruction, murderously intent on carrying out their sinful desires, they will crucify him that same Friday and then continue in stubborn unrepentance to their doom. And what could our Lord do to turn them from their self-chosen path? Heal the sick? He had done that. Give sight to the blind? Feed them with bread from heaven? Speak with words such as never a man had spoken? Raise the dead? Jesus had done all this and more, and still they plotted against him.

And now, as surely as Jesus knew what awaited Him on Good Friday, He also knew the judgment that was about to descend upon the apostate city of God. You can read of the fulfilment of this doom in the account of the historian Josephus, which is included in your bulletin. Destruction and distress, Jesus said, “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be again”(Mt 24:21).

In Matthew 24 Jesus gives instructions to any Christians who would happen to be living in Jerusalem when God’s judgment upon the holy city came to pass in 70 AD. Jesus said, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes” (Mt 24:16–18). When you see the judgment of God coming upon this earth, don’t go back to grab a few things. Don’t even glance back, like Lot’s wife did, at the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and was turned into a pillar of salt. “Run,” Jesus says, “flee! Run to the appointed place of refuge!”

Those who trifle with the grace of God thinking, “Love is love, and God is love, and Jesus loves me even when I continue on in sin,” would do well to consider that the God of love who weeps at the coming judgment is the very same God who sends it. Jesus, who wept as He rode the donkey into Jerusalem, is the Judge who will say to the damned on the Last Day, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I never knew you” (Mt 7:23; 25:41). And if God would deal thus with his first-born son, the nation of Israel, how much should we, the adopted sons of God, have reason to fear? “When you see the day of judgment approaching,” Jesus says, “do not stop to grab your things. Instead, flee without delay. Run, to the appointed place of refuge!”

Look around at our crazy, devilish world. Clearly the day of judgment is closer than ever before. We should heed our Lord’s words and flee, but to where? Where is the appointed place of refuge? The Collect for the day answers this question beautifully. “O God, who declarest Thy almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity, give unto us abundantly Thy grace, that we, running to Thy promises, may be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There is only one refuge from destruction, one safe haven in the coming storm. We run to the promises of our Lord.

In the days of old, God directed Moses to set aside six cities of refuge in the Promised Land. If even a man accidently killed his neighbor, he was to run without delay and find safety within the city of refuge. Can you picture a man running for his life, with the avenger of blood hot on his heels. And as he crests the final hill he sees the open gate of the city of refuge, where, once within its walls his life will be saved.

Even so we as guilty sinners go running to the promises of Christ, with Satan the accuser close behind. We have rightly earned the wrath of God. We deserve his temporal and eternal punishment, and yet we run to Jesus and His promises, trusting that He will never turn a sinner away. And where do we find these promises of mercy and forgiveness? How will we know the time and place of our visitation? In the face of the coming destruction, where will we find the peace of the Lord?”

Jesus said to the natural-born children of Jerusalem, “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.” Unbelief will blind people to what is right in front of their eyes, hidden in plain sight. But for those whose ears have been opened to hear the words of Jesus, for you, the adopted children of God, the things that make for peace have been clearly revealed. “The peace of the Lord be with you always.”

How Jesus yearns to reveal the things that make for peace to all people. And how He rejoices that the Holy Spirit has revealed them to you. And which things are these? Which things make peace between God and man? You know the answer. The body of Christ broken for you. The blood of Christ poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. In these things, according to the unbreakable promise of Jesus, we can find shelter from the doom that hangs over the whole world. The wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness, the Day of Judgment is coming—more terrible than anything that has ever been or ever shall be—and so we run. We flee without delay to the promises of Jesus. Satan is always hard on our heels, but within the walls of our city of refuge he cannot harm us. Look today upon the things that make for peace, the Body and Blood of Christ by which He made and purchased that peace. Here at His altar, and nowhere else is life, forgiveness, and salvation. Amen.