Weeping over the city

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 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. 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.” (Luke 19:41-44)

We are beginning Holy Week – the time when Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the final hours before His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. There is SO MUCH contained within the events of this week that it’s hard to settle onto one item, but today we see Jesus riding into the city on a donkey colt. As Jerusalem comes into His view, His heart breaks for the condition of the city.

Jerusalem, at this time, is under the control of the Romans. They still have their individual customs and beliefs, yet they are forced to submit to the rule and laws of their captors. They can still honor God in their hearts, yet outwardly they are pressured to acknowledge the Roman Emperor as a god. They can still conduct their business as usual, with the exception that there are additional taxes placed upon them by the respective governors in their region. Sounds quite familiar to us in our present-day world – government restrictions, restrictive laws, heavy governmental interference in our daily lives, taxes and duties we must pay for the right to have the government micromanage our lives. We can still pray to God and follow His Word – as long as we don’t say anything the government deems “hate speech” or non-inclusive. We are back to just about the same conditions Jesus observed when He entered Jerusalem in our passage.

Jesus wept over the city because they had become so oppressed, so despondent, so hedonistic that they turned away from God to give their allegiance to others. Interestingly enough, it harkens back to the days of Noah. The Bible tells us that people were going about their lives, eating, drinking, partying, acting as though there is no God. Much like them, we read that destruction will come upon the our world suddenly. Jesus had come to the world to expose us to the heart of the Father, to reveal to us the true message of God’s redemption plan, to give Himself in exchange for us – that we could, once again, live in the Presence of God. He came to unburden us from our sins, to release into us the godliness, holiness, and life that God so richly wants to share with us. Yet they, as we often do, refused. He came into the world, but the world rejected Him and His message.

Perhaps the message of God had become so convoluted, so twisted, so watered down, and misrepresented that the true, unadultered, full-strength word brought by Jesus was too much. The world was, spiritually-speaking, eating Tic Tacs and Christ came with Altoids. The gospel of Christ is shockingly pure, life-changingly powerful, and laser-quality clear. Yet, because of their sins, the people of Jerusalem – even those in the Temple – were blinded to it and refused to accept it. We, like them, have so clouded up the message of God with religion and Christianese that we have injected poison into the minds and hearts of our listeners and readers. We take the Word of God, mix it with the altered message of religious dogma, and water it down with long, flowing speeches and theatrics of worship performance to the point that it is no longer relevant or meaningful. The messages we preach now-a-days are impotent. They might sound good, but in the end, they accomplish nothing. We read in scripture that the Word of God is powerful and discerning. We read that His Word goes forth and accomplishes that for which it was sent. We read that the world was created by the Word of God and with His Word it continues to exist. We watched as Jesus healed with just a Word. The Word of the Lord doesn’t need our interpretation or explanation. It needs to be presented and spoken – released as a force into the world. Force against (lesser) force.

Jesus wept because of the blindness of the people. I wonder of He weeps over the world today? If He came to your town, would He stop at the edge of the city and weep, or would He be welcomed as the Messiah, the King of Kings? Would the believers in your city come together as one to honor Him, or would they remain split by the party lines of denomination and try to outdo each other to gain His affection? Or would we even recognize Him? Worse yet, would we reject Him and His message because of its potency and clarity, choosing to publicly ridicule, mock, and murder Him to shut Him up? While that sounds outrageous to some, just consider for a moment those pastors who filter their sermons through denominational sieves to ensure it lines up with their doctrine. How many of our churches worship at the altar of formality, of the church bulletin/schedule, of keeping our services short to please the crowd? What if, like on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down in your service? How would your pastor and elders handle this unplanned and unwelcome interruption?

As I said earlier, we are back to the position in which Jerusalem found themselves as Christ came into the city as their King. Our world is in turmoil, countries are seeking to conquer or seize smaller countries in order to build up their arsenals and political reach, our churches have become polluted by the ways of the world around us, and we go about mindlessly following the crowd. Meanwhile, we have the promise that Christ is coming back for a Bride – one Who is pure and spotless. It all starts with you and me. We must, as individual believers, get our hearts set right, get our minds renewed by the mind of Christ, have the Holy Spirit living within and directing our steps, and be looking for His imminent return. Only then can the Church arise from the ashes and become what it was designed to be – a lighthouse set on a hill, an emergency room for those who are damaged and hurting, and a fighting force against the schemes of the enemy of our souls.

Today, my friend, I encourage you to stop sometime during your day to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your heart. Yield yourself to Him. Study and meditate upon His Word. Allow God to speak to you about what He would have you do today. It doesn’t take long to do these things, but the eternal reward is invaluable. Give Jesus a welcome place to abide in your heart. He is returning soon.

Be blessed.