The Tenth Sunday after Trinity
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As the time drew nigh that God would make His consummate wrath to come upon Jerusalem and the Jewish people, as the prophets and the Lord Christ Himself had threatened and forshowed them… When the Jews had consigned the righteous and innocent Christ to death as a murderer and traitor, corruption increased throughout the kingdom of Judaea in every city… But Caesar Nero, learning of this, sent Flavius Vespasian with his son Titus into Syria… After this, then, Vespasian, at Caesar’s bidding, entered Galilee, which was a populous land, laid waste and devastated every part of it, and there was no end of murder, rapine, and fire. In that time many thousands of Jews were slain, on one occasion as many as 50,000 armed men, not counting women, children, commoners, and peasants. The soldiers spared neither old nor young, nor those with child, no infants in the cradle…
Now therefore, when Vespasian was returned unto Caesarea, and made him ready with all his host to march straightway to Jerusalem, it was reported to him that Nero was dead. Arising then in haste, he took all the cities of the Jews and Idumeans apart from several strongholds wherein were some number of foreign soldiers, and in every place set garrisons in the cities that he might the more easily enter into and take Jerusalem (which alone was left whole). After the soldiers, then, having taken counsel among themselves, declared Vespasian emperor; he went to Egypt, from whence he designed to enter Italy, for the meantime committing to Titus the conduct of the war against the Jews…
The city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, on such parts as were not encompassed with unpassable valleys. And about these three walls the Roman forces endeavored with all their might to storm the city; and after great labor two walls were conquered and taken. At the same time a countless number of people were dying of famine, as Josephus writeth: the dearest friends fell a-fighting one with another for food, snatching from each other the most miserable crumb of bread. Children snatched the food from the mouth of their parents, their father and mother. Then neither brother nor sister had mercy on the other…
When the Romans, then, had entered into the castle, the trumpeter sounded a signal with his trumpet, and the Jews which were inside the castle were all beaten back, some being thrown from the walls, others falling to death of their own accord, and still others escaping quickly from the city by night. Next the soldiers vehemently turned toward those who had possession of the temple. It is said that Titus was willing to spare the temple, but it was for naught. By the providence of God was nothing spared, for when the fighting and labouring was long and the Jews could not be moved either with threats or exhortations to give up their fortified position, the soldiers perceived that they would not be able to take that quarter except by famine (which would require time) or fire. And thus it befell that certain of the infantry cast fire into the temple so that it was kindled, and in this way the most admirable of all the works that we have seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the glorious reputation that it had for its holiness, was burned to ashes that hour…
At last the city of Jerusalem was conquered, neither young nor old being spared; but Caesar gave orders that his soldiers should kill none but those that were in arms, and opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm. In this way all Jerusalem was plundered, set afire, and burnt by the enemy with great terror, the greater part of it being destroyed and laid waste…
Dear friends in Christ, this lengthy quotation is but a brief summary of the account of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 at the hand of the Roman general Titus, as recorded in the 17th century breviary of the cathedral in Magdeburg. I have omitted the most disturbing and gruesome details from the account of this horrific event. But the details included here provide enough of the picture to see how complete and terrible the judgement of God was upon Jerusalem, as predicted by our Lord in today’s Gospel text. As our Lord foretold it, so it came to pass that the Romans besieged the great city. And if the starvation and the ravenous behavior which resulted was not enough, the Romans eventually destroyed the city, leaving no stone upon another, and killing most of the inhabitants. The destruction was total, and the judgement executed by the Romans was complete.
But this destruction of Jerusalem was but a type and foreshadowing of the final judgment over sin which is coming. For as terrible and gruesome as the first century destruction of Jerusalem was, God’s final judgement of sin on the Last Day will be even worse. There will be no escape for sinners under His condemnation. Like a besieging army which surrounds a city to prevent anyone from escaping, so will God’s judgement of mankind on the Last Day be all encompassing. There will be no escape. For His anger over sin is real. And sinners cannot stand in His presence. And so, when the Lord returns in judgement on the Last Day, the destruction will be even more complete than was the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. And sinners will suffer more greatly than did the Jews. And their suffering, unlike the Jew’s earthly suffering at the hands of the Romans, their suffering will have no end. For this is the condemnation of hell—it is an eternal, unending condemnation to suffering and death.
As our Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on that fateful Palm Sunday, He foresaw all of this. He foresaw it and wept. For Christ does not desire sinners to perish. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Christ does not desire judgement to come upon humanity. And so it is that Jesus wept. But He did not weep out of hopelessness. For there is a way of escape from this judgement. There was a way for the Jews to be spared this destruction. And there is a way for sinners to be spared the final judgement on the Last Day. In fact, this is why our Lord was riding into Jerusalem. He was riding there to die, so that His blood might be shed, so that He might suffer the full wrath and judgment of God in place of sinful humanity. And so it is that all who turn to Christ in repentant faith will be spared the final judgement. Faith in Christ would have spared the Jews the horrific destruction of their beloved city. And faith in Christ will spare sinful humanity from the final judgement. But Christ weeps when He sees the city. He weeps not in hopelessness. He weeps not in self-pity. He weeps because far too many will despise His gracious sacrifice. He weeps because far too many will reject His free offer of escape from judgement.
And so, in His grace and mercy, God judges human sin here in time. He does so because we are by nature proud, sinful beings. Our thoughts and desires are so soiled with selfishness and sin that we cannot on our own strength humble ourselves and turn to Christ in repentant faith. And so, in His goodness and mercy, God judges human sin here in time. The brutal and horrific destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a good and gracious gift of God. For it was not only a judgment, it was also a warning of what will happen to the one who refuses to repent and turn to Christ in faith.
In the same way, it is God’s grace and love which causes Him to expose and judge your sins. When the law reveals our sin, we are quick to lash out in anger. A friend speaks a word of rebuke which hits too close to home, so we cut them out of our lives. The pastor preaches about something we don’t like, and so we stop coming to church until a new pastor arrives. A family member shares how we have hurt them, and we respond in self-defense by casting the blame back on them. God’s law confronts our sin in many different ways. And we will go to great lengths to avoid this judgement. But in the end, an avoidance of judgment in time will cause us to be subjected to God’s judgment eternally.
Instead, we must learn to see the goodness of God’s judgement of sin here in time. He exposes your sin because He loves you. He does not want to see you suffer eternal judgement and damnation. So, He seeks to humble you here in time. He seeks to drive you to the foot of the cross, which is the only answer for human sin. And so it is that: Judgement here in time is a good and gracious gift of God. Without it, we are no better than the Jews who rejected their Savior and so died at the hands of the Romans.
And so, dear friends in Christ, let us learn to appreciate God’s judgement of our sins here in time. Sure, it is uncomfortable, but because of the death of our Savior, it is the only judgement we must face. If we face God’s judgement of our sins here in time, and if we allow that judgment to turn us to Him in repentant faith each time that we fall into sin, then we will be spared the final judgement. For when the final judgement day comes, those of us who have faith in Christ will be covered by His blood, which will shield us from God’s wrath and bring us from this veil of tears into the joys of life eternal.
God grant it.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
