Luke 19:41-44  As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.” (CSB)

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Jesus spoke hard truths when necessary. Here, it was necessary. 

God in the flesh (John 1:1-3, 14), God with Us (Matthew 1:23), came to town and with nails and timbers was put down. 

“Whatever you do, there will be results,” the professor said.

Actions have consequences. 

Worldviews produce results.

Bad ideas produce bad results.

Dangerous ideas produce dangerous results. 

Politicians who promise to fight for us soon encounter those who are just as determined to fight back. I wonder if they will ever learn to stop fighting and start working together. Common Ground and the Common Good can be found much more often than we imagine.

Jesus was despised and rejected. War was in the hearts of those he came to bring peace. They wanted to fight. They wanted to be like the Maccabees, who pushed out the occupying rulers and their armies. Peace was not in their plans.

So, they killed the Messiah. So, they continued making plans for rebellion and retribution. So, they ended up trampled and humiliated. Their rejection of God and his purpose, their drive to have it their way, led them into the worst kind of destructive evil.

It didn’t have to be this way. Their hard hearts and stiff necks moved them right into the line of fire. 

Jesus saw what was coming. Not only was he going to die, but so would so many others because of their rebellious hearts set on war. 

“Jesus wept,” John 11:35 tells us. 

Jesus wept over Jerusalem, Luke 19:41 tells us. 

What makes Jesus weep? Rebellion against God our Father that leads us into ever-greater destruction. 

What makes Jesus weep? People who do not see him for who he is or trust him for what he wants to do.

It grieves the heart of God when we insist on doing things our way when our way is what got us into this mess, keeps us in this mess, and makes a mess out of everything for those who will come behind us.

God has a better way for us to live. His way is full of peace and love, and not the 1960s imitation full of flowers and drugs and death. Why does it seem that what we call love and peace leads to so much hate and aggression? This also makes Jesus weep. 

See Jesus for who he is. Embrace what he does to bring peace and purpose. Live in full alignment with his will and ways. Live in full atonement with his heart.

A better world is still possible. It begins with us becoming better people shaped by God’s grace and truth. 

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I will ask God to reshape my life by his grace and truth.

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