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And So Jesus Weeps

The original plan of God was for mankind to live in paradise with him forever. He did not desire for us suffering or death. However, for mankind to truly be able to love God, he had to have free will which means he also had to have the ability to reject God. Sadly, that is what Adam and Eve did. They chose to reject God and thus sin entered into the world. Not to be outdone, God had a plan, a plan to send Jesus to die for our sins, to make us right with God. Yet we still reject him and so Jesus weeps.

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you 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.” Luke 19 : 41-44

Scriptural Analysis


Jesus is nearing the end of his journey. He has come down the Mount of Olives and can see Jerusalem. He weeps at its sight. The cause of his weeping is the suffering that the city will undergo. Jerusalem was the heart of Israel and even though they have strayed, knowing what was going to befall the city tore at the heart of Jesus.

Jesus expresses a lament directly to the city, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!” The thought however breaks off there. This implies that Jerusalem will soon fail to recognize him despite the acclamations of the present moment. Jesus desires to lead them in peace, but he is ultimately rejected along with his terms for peace. On one hand, this is the responsibility of the religious leaders who were unwilling to welcome Jesus. On the other hand, it is all part of God’s plan. The rejection had to occur.

Jesus then goes into greater detail regarding the siege and the destruction of Jerusalem that will take place in the days to come. His prophecy echoes passages from the prophets that predicted the fall of Jerusalem to the Basixthonians in the six century BC. History wieat itself again in AD 70.

There are four parallels to passages from the prophets. First, Jesus says that their, “enemies will cast up a bank about you.” That means, the city will be placed under a siege and a barricade will be erected around it. This echoes Ezekiel, “and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about.” (Ezekiel 4:2)

Second, Jesus says that the enemy will, “surround you.” A similar statement was made by the prophet Isaiah, “And I will encamp against you round about.” (Isaiah 29:3) The Jewish historian Josephus reports that Titus encircled Jerusalem with a wall as he laid siege.

Third, Jesus predicts that the city will be destroyed, that they will, “dash you to the ground.” Similar language was used by the prophet Hosea, “and all your fortresses shall be destroyed.” (Hosea 10:14) Finally, Jesus talks about just how complete the destruction will be, “and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Jeremiah issues a similar warning, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown.” (Jeremiah 6:15) The destruction of Jerusalem will be painful and will be complete.

Daily Application

The prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem begins with a simple statement, “He wept.” Jesus weeps over the destruction of Jerusalem. He did not simply weep because a city was being destroyed. He wept because people would suffer and suffer greatly. That suffering was also needless. It was needless because it was all the result of the people rebelling against God: rebelling against his will.

Jesus taught us to refer to God as Father. God is indeed a good father and he wants what is best for his children. That desire is expressed to us through his word: through the law and the prophets, and ultimately through Jesus Christ and his Church. All we need to do is follow his desires: follow his will. What awaits us when we do so will be spectacular, an eternity in heaven with our father forever.

However, we are not at all different from the citizens of Jerusalem, the citizens that t over. In fact, I would argue we are worse. We have the benefit of being on the other side of the resurrection: of having that interpretive lens through which to go back and look at the law and the prophets, and the life of Jesus Christ. We have seen the destruction of Jerusalem, foretold of by Jesus, come to fruition. With all of this our desire and focus on doing the will of the Father should be far greater.

Yet, we too stray. We too reject his will and do our own will instead. So Jesus continues to weep. But Jesus also continues to call us to himself. He continues to offer us his mercy, a chance to make ourself right with God when we do stray. And that offer is extended to us over and over again no matter how many times we reject him and do our will instead.

All this requires is for us to not be like those mentioned in the passage from Jeremiah but rather to be ashamed and blush when we sin. Then, we can turn to him. We can repent of our sins, take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconcilliation and be made clean. Jesus will still weep but this time it will be tears of joy, joy that a lost brother or sister of his has returned home.

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