Luke 19:41-44
41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will put up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,
44 and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Jesus Wept for Jerusalem
Jesus’ tears
When Jesus saw Jerusalem, He wept. The word translated as “wept” can also mean “wept loudly.” Why did Jesus grieve so deeply? (1) The first reason is that Jewish people beginning with the civilians of Jerusalem, missed the wonderful opportunity that God had offered them. Jesus expressed this by saying, “Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation” (v 44). In Jesus, the Messiah, God visited the people of Israel and brought the kingdom of God. However, they rejected Jesus, the Messiah. (2) The second reason is that, as a result of rejecting the Messiah, they would reap the consequences of their sin. In verses 43 and 44, there is a prophecy of the Roman army’s conquest of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Through the expression, “And they will not leave in you one stone upon another” (v 44), we understand that Jerusalem would be completely destroyed. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd rejoiced, while the Pharisees and the scribes expressed their displeasure. However, Jesus, seeing beyond all human thoughts, wept bitterly as He foresaw the future. Are you the type who is easily swayed by the common sense of the world? Or can you see things from God’s perspective?
The time of God’s visitation
About 2,000 years have passed since the people of Israel missed “the time of their visitation.” And now once again, God is granting them “a time of visitation.” The establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 is one of the greatest events of the twentieth century. The Jewish people have restored their nation, and many of them have begun returning to their homeland from all over the world. As of 1999, Israel had become a nation with a population of 6 million. From among them, Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah (Messianic Jews) have begun to emerge, and now, in Israel, the Messianic Jewish movement has become a force that can no longer be ignored. Let us offer intercessory prayers so that the Jewish people will not miss this “time of visitation” again. And let us, as Gentile Christians, also remember that now is our “time of visitation,” and follow Jesus. Is Jesus rejoicing as He looks at you, or is He weeping?
Today's prayer
O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please guide Your people Israel so that they will not again miss “the time of their visitation.” And may I also become one who recognizes “the time of visitation” and follows You. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.