Jesus Sees and Weeps over Jerusalem

Introduction

As a pastor, I sit with families in a variety of grief. Loss of life, difficult medical diagnoses, broken relationships, and horrible decisions are many of the things I deal with very often.

One of the hardest things I deal with is a child’s rejection of their parents. When a good parent, one who has loved and nurtured their child and loved them - not perfectly, not to the best of their ability - has been shunned by their children. There is a deep abiding pain, because you are grieving for someone who is still alive, and you see the potential that is there, but because of the way that individual feels, the relationship is not there.

When I see this story today and the bitter and broken weeping of Jesus before Jerusalem, this is a similar pain he is feeling. He sees Israel, Israel’s faults, what Israel could be, and what Israel could avoid, and He weeps.

Read Luke 19:41-44

Luke 19:41–44 ESV

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

In this passage, we see four verbs. Four actions of Jesus towards the people of Jerusalem. (1) Jesus drew near. (2) Jesus saw Jerusalem. (3) Jesus wept over Jerusalem. (4) Jesus spoke to Jerusalem.

Explanation

Luke 19:41 “41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,”

The first three we see in one verse:

Jesus drew near to Jerusalem.

God is distant.

We are prone to believe that God is distant and uncaring about what happens to us. This passage should remedy that thought in us forever. It is never that Jesus hasn’t moved towards us or fixed the problems we face. It is always that we are far from Him.

The drawing near of Jesus helps us to realize that no matter our wretchedness, he moves toward us not away from us. 

Gavin Ortlund // The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.

What do you do when you hear your child choking? Do you say, “Well, they knew better” or “You know, they will figure it out.” NO. That would be evil. You drop WHATEVER you are doing and you run towards them. When your child is in distress, you run towards them. Christ has that same impulse for you. 

This shatters our presuppositions about God, because it’s not what we have experienced from other people. Some of you have family members and friend who withdraw from you when you displease them. Some of you withdraw in a punitive manner towards your spouse and children when you are angry instead of dealing with the situation. And you believe that God feels and acts that way about you too. Instead, he moves towards you - not away. 

We don’t really want Jesus that close.

Closeness to Jesus challenges us, because we know that if he gets close, we have to change. But… if he is far away, we are dry, dusty, and destitute spiritually. 

Spiritual personal space

We have a concept of personal space. This is primarily a physical concept, and it is by and large a physical concept. You can stand by me, just not that close.

We also have a relational and spiritual concept of personal space. Our spiritual personal space means… “I can’t let Jesus this close to me without my life changing.”

Some of you know that if you get more of Jesus - if he gets closer, your life will have to change. And your reluctance places you in a similar place of Jerusalem over whom Jesus now weeps.

Jesus saw the city.

What did Jesus see?

It wasn’t the beauty of the temple or Herod’s palace. It wasn’t the marketplaces bustling with people or activity. He saw the spiritual state of that city.

He sees that they want a physical liberation, so they will spurn a spiritual one.

Jesus is aware of your relationship with Him or lack thereof. He is aware of the sins that plague you. He is aware of the false ideas you have about Him and His word. He is aware of the ways your faith is a little jaded. He is aware of the places that you struggle. He is aware of what keeps you from Him.

And he draws near anyway.

Jesus knew all of who you were when he saved you. Jesus knows all of who you are today, and He would still make the same decision.

That is grace - being given what we do not deserve. So many of us want to be impressive, because we have not really been truly known and loved. So we become loved for what we do. And Jesus, is not impressed with you, but he knows and loves you.

He wept, or “wailed.”

BB Warfield makes a distinction - he wailed. Weeping can be socially contained. Wailing cannot. It is a loud, uncontrollable crying.

What is he weeping over? He is weeping over the spiritual blindness of Israel.

I want you to realize that the deep, frustrating, gut-wrenching sorrow that Jesus feels over Jerusalem’s stubbornness, pride, and sin is the way he feels about yours.

“Every time I deliberately disobey a command of God, it is because I am in that moment doubtful as to God’s true intentions in giving me that command. Does He really have my best interests at heart?” Milton Vincent

When I read this passage, I know He does. For the God of the universe wept over my lostness, and he weeps over the ways that sin steals my joy and vitality even today.

When we note the marks of humanity in Jesus Christ, we are observing his fitness to serve our needs. He became us… we needed such a one. // BB Warfield

Luke 19:42 “42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

Finally, we see the fourth of Jesus actions towards Jerusalem. He speaks to them. And his words are a lament of his intense sorrow over the lostness of Jerusalem.

He says, “If only you knew, really knew, the peace that I could bring, this would be different.”

David Garland // It is empirically obvious that the world does not know what makes for peace.

Luke 19:43–44 “43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””

Don’t let the moment to give your life to Jesus pass you by.

There are two choices. Jesus or Destruction. Those are the only two options. And to not make a choice is to make a choice.

The world will ALWAYS try to give you more options… Or add a thing or two to Jesus or Destruction. But there are always only two simple options. Jesus or Ruin. Jesus or Destruction. Jesus or Hell.

Now you may think this callous- but let me remind you of Jesus weeping. Jesus took no pleasure in the death of the wicked but sobbed over their impending deaths.

And more than that, Jesus continued to Jerusalem, where he would be strung upon the cross and that all who call upon Him would forever have Him instead of destruction.

Invitation

I want to invite you to closeness with Jesus. To embrace His drawing near and prepare your heart for Him.

My little boy is rather cautious. He climbs and jumps and runs, but he tends to be very careful.

The only time he is not this way is when he is holding my hand. He runs up the wall, he jumps off the stairs. If I am holding his hand, he will attempt anything. He will jump from anything, fall off anything, and try anything.

Because, when I don’t have dad, I am only in my power, but when I am holding dad’s hand, I have his strength too.

For far too long, some of you have been jockeying to be impressive before the Father instead of simply holding His hand and letting him lead you.