Tears over Jerusalem, USA
This poignant story in the life of Jesus has implications for today. As Jesus concluded the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), He stopped at an area that overlooked the entire city of David, and began to weep.
Luke 19:41 (ESV): “And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 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. 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 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.’”
Jerusalem has always been a troubled city. For over 5,000 years, it never fulfilled the title “City of Peace.” (Psalm 122:6) In history, Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt too many times to count. From the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, to the Greeks, and then the Romans, Jerusalem knew its share of violence, hatred, and warfare.
Even as Christ gazed over the “City of God,” it was reeling under the crushing Roman boot. There was an unrelenting and constant spirit of turmoil and insurrection. Though the Romans had brought commerce, prosperity, and safe travel, they had also brought governmental corruption, public immorality, and smutty paganism.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem because its inhabitants were snubbing the incredible opportunity to find the peace they sought in Him. He came to bring peace, but He knew that they would crucify Him. Further, Jesus wept because He saw the coming judgment that would fall on Jerusalem due to their rebellious spirit.
Which begs the question: Could America be a modern-day Jerusalem? Born in a bloody revolution and involved in much warfare, we stand today as a nation of global commerce and immense prosperity. Yet, we are also dominated by governmental corruption, public immorality, and secular religion.
Could it be that Jesus is now weeping over the USA? Is it possible that Jesus mourns because He has been rejected by the very nation that He has blessed? Does Christ see that America is racing toward harsh judgment if we do not repent?
In the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Jesus is overseeing the churches. It is His intent to reach this dying world with the Gospel through the Church. I join my prayers with you and many others for the Church to be a revived and mighty witness for Christ in these last days.
As the old hymn states, “Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod; As foll'wers of the Son of Man, Rise up, O Church of God!” (Merrill).
Tomorrow is not promised. We have this day. Onward!