Luke 19:41-44 Poor Jerusalem

Luke 19:41-44 Poor Jerusalem

As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

As Jesus enters Jerusalem amid all the Hosannas, knowing what fate awaits him, he weeps not for himself but for Jerusalem. "If this day you only knew what makes for peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.” he says. He goes on to predict a devastating future for the city. What does this “if only” mean? Could this fate have been avoided? The cynic in me says “no”. I have been reading a book recently called “Journey to the Common Good" by Walter Brueggeman. One of the Bible stories examined in the book is the Exodus, the story of the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh. God has heard the cries of his people longing for freedom from oppression. First, through Moses God tries to reason with Pharaoh. When that doesn’t work he acts in a big way, breaking the Israelites out of slavery through the utter destruction of the Pharaoh’s vaunted army in dramatic fashion. (the parting of the Red Sea). They rejoice in their freedom, but all too soon begin to fall back into their old ways, doubting God and disobeying his commandments. My guess is that this is where Jerusalem is today – full of doubts and disobedience. (Maybe we could say it is where we are today as well.) Human nature, then and now is remarkable consistent. As I think about this scripture a little more, something else occurs to me. Not only are people consistent in their willfulness and lack of faith, but amazingly God is also consistent in his mercy. He once again is ready to act in a big way – by sending his only Son to die for our salvation. For three years Jesus has been preaching repentance, gathering followers, challenging the status quo and making enemies. Jesus, in doing his Father’s will, in laying down his life in trust, is about to do something really big, something that will have tremendous consequences for all of us and the entire world. Maybe instead of focusing on the stubborn willfulness of us I should be focusing on the tremendous mercy of God. Changing our ways remains necessary, and hopefully with God’s help, remains possible.