#159 Lu. 19:41-44  JESUS WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM

Introduction:

    In our previous text Jesus was riding toward the city of
Jerusalem on a colt with a great multitude of people proclaiming
Him as King.  His route carried Him over a high peak on the Mt. of
Olives down into the city of Jerusalem.
    In our text today, Luke carries us back to that same peak on
the Mt. of Olives and records a tearful scene as Jesus weeps over
the city of Jerusalem.
    The time element is difficult for me to determine.  I am
pretty certain that the scene described here did not take place
during this triumphal entry.  It seems from Matthew's account that
it must have taken place later after several encounters in the
temple between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.  But regardless of
when it happened, Luke records it here and we are going to study
it here.
    Actually Luke recorded some of the words of Jesus that were
spoken on this occasion back in Luke chapter thirteen.  Later in
the message after we have examined the words of this text, we will
go back and take a quick look at the earlier record and also at
Matthew's account.

I.  Jesus overlooking the city

    But for now let us get to our text.  V. 41, "And when he was
come near, he beheld the city..."  From the Mt. of Olives Jesus
and His disciples could see virtually the whole city of Jerusalem.
The dome of the temple, which was made of pure gold, made an
impressive sight.  This was the leading city of all Israel.  The
beloved King David had sat upon his throne in this city.  The
magnificent King Solomon in all his splendor had reigned over all
Israel from this city.  It was a city with much glory in her
history.
    On the other hand, this was a city of much shame.  The blood
many of God's prophets had been shed in this city.  The blood of
the greatest prophet of all would soon be shed there.
    It was to the shame of the Jews that the Gentiles ruled over
them.  The Romans now ruled the nation of Israel.  However, the
Romans, who knew very little about the Jewish religion, did
allow the Jewish Sanhedrin Council to rule the nation in matters
pertaining to the Jewish religion.  Needless to say, the Jewish
leadership in the Sanhedrin Council had strayed far from the kind
of religion of which God approved.
    Jerusalem and the whole Jewish nation under their leadership
was in a pitiful mess in matters of religion.  The Pharisees were
overly self-righteous and placed far greater emphasis on the
traditions of the Jewish forefathers than they did on the inspired
word of God.  The Sadducees were rank liberals in  interpreting
God's word.  So Jerusalem and the whole Jewish nation was in an
unholy mess religiously.

II.  Jesus weeping over Jerusalem

    (V. 41), "...and wept over it."  As Jesus looked down at the
city of Jerusalem, His heart was filled with compassion for them
and for the whole Jewish nation and Luke says that He wept over
them.  Now Luke is not saying merely that His eyes were filled
with tears and tears ran down His cheeks.  The Greek word, which
here is translated "wept" in our King James translation, literally
means to weep loudly.  Jesus wept loudly!  He bawled!  He
boohooed!  So Jesus did more than just gaze down at the city and
have a few teardrops fall.  He was greatly sorrowful.  He was
deeply grieved.  He mourned for them.  His heart broke for them.
    V. 42, "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!  but now
they are hid from thine eyes."  If they had only known!  If they
had only known that Jesus of Nazareth is really the Christ!  If
they had only known that He is the Son of God!  If they had only
known that He is the Savior of men!  If they had only known that
He is their only hope of staying out of the fires of hell!  If
they had only known that He is their only hope of heaven!  If they
had only known how much He loves them and wants to save them!
    If they had only known they would not have crucified the
Christ.  If they had know, they would not have nailed Him to the
cross.  Then God would have had to find some other way to get Him
crucified, because He must be crucified.  If God would save any
man, woman, boy or girl, Jesus must be crucified.  There was no
other way under heaven whereby man could be saved.  Jesus must be
crucified.  So if the Jewish leaders had known who He is and had
failed to crucify Him then God would have found some other way for
Him to be crucified.  But God would found somebody to do it.  Of
that we can be sure.
    But they did not know.  Jesus said that these truths were
hidden from their eyes.  The truth was hidden from them that Jesus
is really the Christ.  The truth was hidden from them that He is
the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  The truth was hidden
from them that He is their only hope of staying out of hell and
going to heaven.
    Who hid the truth from them?  It was not Jesus.  Jesus wept
over them and longed for them to believe in Him.  In Matthew's
account Jesus said to this city, "How oft would I have gathered
your children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not!"
    It was not God the Father who hid the truth from them.  For
the life of me, I cannot imagine Jesus wanting them to know the
truth and God the Father deliberately withholding the truth from
them.
    Who hid the truth form them?  The Apostle Paul said that it is
the Devil who blinds the mind of men so that the light of the
gospel will not shine unto them.
    But even the Devil could not blind their minds if they had
been willing to receive the truth.  The Devil cannot prevent
anybody from knowing how to be saved if that person really wants
to know how to be saved.  The Devil cannot prevent one from
knowing that Jesus is the Christ and the Savior if that person
really wants to know the truth.
    So in the long run their eyes were blind to the truth because
they were not willing to receive the truth.  The Devil most
certainly had a hand in it, but in effect, they blinded their own
eyes by following the Devil's leadership and by closing their eyes
to the truth.  No man can see the truth of God until he first
wants to see the truth.

III.  What Jesus saw ahead for Jerusalem
    V. 43-44, "For the days shall come upon thee, that thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round,
and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the
ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in
thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of
thy visitation."  Jesus was deeply grieved for this city because
He knew what lay ahead for them.  Jesus knew that about thirty
years from that time that the city of Jerusalem would be
destroyed.  He knew that the Jews would rebel against the Romans
and would take the control of the city of Jerusalem away from the
Romans.  .  Jesus knew that Titus, the Roman general, would then
come against the city and wage war against it.  Jesus said that
the enemy would build a trench around it.  The Greek word which
here is rendered "trench" means a barricade.  Historians say that
Titus built a barricade around the whole city of Jerusalem in just
a matter of days.  One historian says that he built it in three
days.  Another says six days.
    Jesus knew that the destruction of this city would be great.
He said that they would level the city to the ground and would not
leave one stone of any building upon another.  Historians say that
this was literally what Titus did.  It was said that he even
plowed the ground where the great temple had stood.
    Jesus knew that this destruction was not very far away.  He
knew that it would come in 70 A. D.  That was only about thirty
years away.
    Jesus knew that this destruction could have been avoided.  It
could have been avoided if only the Jewish leaders had been open
to the truth of God about Jesus Christ the Son of God.  But
because the Jewish leadership listened more to Satan than they did
to God, they were headed for destruction.  Because they willingly
allowed their minds to be blinded by Satan, they were headed for
destruction.  Because they would not heed the truths of God, they
were headed for destruction.
    Let me read for you Matthew's account of this event as
recorded in Matthew 23:37-39:  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how oft would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is
left unto desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me
henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the
name of the Lord."
    I told you that Luke had recorded something about this event
earlier back in Luke chapter thirteen.  Let me read it for you as
recorded in Luke 13:34-35.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest
the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often
would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather
her brood under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house
is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not
see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord."

IV.  Others' eyes blinded

    But listen!  The people of Jerusalem were not the only ones
whose eyes were blinded.  Virtually the whole nation of Israel was
in the same terrible spiritual condition.  Most of the people of
the nation had closed their minds to the truth of God concerning
Jesus Christ.  Almost all of that whole nation were lost in sin
and still headed for the fires of hell.  Jesus and His disciples
had gone through this nation preaching the gospel, but very few
had believed them and been saved.
     Yet not only, Israel.  The Romans who ruled them were not any
better off.  If anything, they were worse off.  At least the Jews
did believe in the existence of the one true God.  The Romans
rejected the True God and worshipped idol gods.  They worshipped
gods that are made by the hands of men.  They worshipped that
which they thought to be gods, but in truth, were not gods at all.
And so did every other nation in the world.  In other words, the
rest of the people of the world were lost in sin and headed into
the fires of hell.
    I wonder how many today are any better off than those Jews who
rejected Christ.  I wonder just how many people in this world
today are lost in sin.  I wonder just how many people right here
in this good ole United States are lost and headed for hell.  I
wonder just how many right here in our area are lost.  I wonder
just how many right here in our services today are lost and headed
for everlasting fire.
    I will tell you that I do not know just who all are lost, but
I do know whose heart is grieved because of lost sinners headed
for hell.  I know whose heart is grieved because some people have
kept their mind closed to the gospel message and so far just would
not trust in Jesus and be saved.  I know that the heart of Jesus
is just as grieved today over every lost soul.  I know that He is
grieved over the lost soul of every man, woman, boy and girl as He
was that day at Jerusalem.  I do not know if He is weeping, but I
know that His heart is grieved for every lost soul.
    I know also that my own heart is grieved and I know that the
hearts of our people are grieved.  If you are lost, then I grieve
for you.  Jesus grieves for you and I grieve for you.  Our people
grieve for you.  I want you to know that there is somebody who
cares where you are going to spend eternity.

Conclusion:

    I am going to ask you to come today and put your faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.  We are going to have a hymn at
this time and I am going to ask you to come forward during this
hymn and put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.  Come while
we sing.
    There may also be someone here who is already saved who wishes
to come and present yourself for membership here in this church to
serve the Lord.  Come while we sing.