JESUS WEPT OVER JERUSALEM

Luke 19:41-48 / Keywords 19:41

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

 

19:41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Jesus at the Temple

45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[c]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”

47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Footnotes

c. Luke 19:46 Isaiah 56:7

d. Luke 19:46 Jer. 7:11

1. Jesus wept over Jerusalem as he made his entry into it. He came to bring peace to his people, but his people did not recognize the long-awaited Messiah and rejected him when he came to his own, and thus missed their opportunity for peace (Jn 1:11). If they had welcomed him, the king of peace, Jesus would have given them real peace. Jesus’ heart was broken, and he wept for them, for he foresaw the impending judgment of God falling on them in the near future because they would reject God’s love to the end (43-44).

 

2. When Jesus entered the temple courts, he saw the money changers and those selling animals. Out of spiritual anger, he drove them out and rebuked the religious leaders who did not pray, but used the temple as a marketplace, “My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” Then he taught the word of God every day at the temple to restore the temple as a place of true worship, place of prayer for all nations, and Bible teaching. The religious leaders did not repent, but tried to kill him, thinking that Jesus was a threat to their authority.

 

Prayer Lord, make my heart a place where you are always welcome. Give me a repentant heart and eyes to recognize you when you come to me.

One Word Jesus weeps over the lost