When the King Wept
During Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, while some were rejoicing over Him, He wept over the city. When He rode into the city of Jerusalem, He understood that His hour of suffering had come. But He didn’t weep for Himself; He wept for His people.
After His disciples set Jesus on the donkey, we read: “And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:36-39).
In contrast to how a warrior King would enter a conquered city on a war horse, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. When Jesus returns, He will judge the nations and set up His kingdom on earth. But Jesus came first in humility to reconcile sinners to God through His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus’ triumph on behalf of sinners came not by receiving a crown of gold but by wearing a crown of thorns.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, there were those who recognized that He was the prophesied Messiah. Multitudes began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” These words of praise echo the praises found in Psalm 118:26, which is a messianic Psalm. We know from parallel passages that the crowd also shouted "Hosanna to the son of David" (Matthew 21:15) and "Hosanna in the highest" (Mark 11:10). The cry of "hosanna," which meant "save" or "save us," was a prophetic declaration that Jesus was their deliverer.
But there were others who were outraged. These outraged religious leaders insisted that Jesus rebuke His followers for their messianic declarations of praise to Jesus. But to what they viewed as sacrilege, Jesus replied: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:36-39). Jesus' suggestion that even inanimate stones could not help but to praise Him was a public affirmation that He Himself proclaimed to be the Messiah. This further infuriated the religious leaders.
Knowing that His entrance into Jerusalem as King would further provoke those who were plotting to kill Him, what moved Jesus to embrace the suffering that would come? Like a woman accepts the anguish of labor pains because of the joy of birth, Jesus journeyed toward suffering. His anguish, which was stirred by His love, moved Him to take calculated and costly action.
In Luke 19:41-44, we read: “And when he 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.”
As many in the crowd were rejoicing and praising their Messiah, Jesus saw past the crowd to the surrounding city and began to weep. The word "wept" in verse 41 means more than the shedding of tears. It means that Jesus sobbed and heaved. Jesus was not feeling sentimental. He was in agony.
Why was Jesus weeping in agony while others were rejoicing? Jesus’ tears resulted from two realities; the present blindness of the people and their future suffering. In verses 43-44, Jesus prophesied of the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, some 40 years after His entrance into Jerusalem.
In addition to the future destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus wept because of their present blindness. Jesus cried in verse 41: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41). They were looking for deliverance from Rome, but the peace that Jesus came to bring was peace with God through His sacrifice on the cross. They missed it, Jesus said, because it was hidden from their eyes. This speaks of their self-imposed blindness caused by their sin and selfish-ambitions. Jesus wept, as He explained in verse 44, "because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
In the bible, the word “visitation” speaks of God coming to His people in blessing or in judgment. According to the prophesy of Zechariah, Jesus came riding on a donkey, which means He came in humility to bring salvation to His people. But because He did not meet their expectations, His own people did not receive Him. They missed the time of their visitation.
But although they missed it, Jesus, moved by the agony in His heart, continued His journey to the cross. And because He did, the Apostle John recorded: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-12). Because of the joy of spiritual births that would come through His agony, Jesus endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
“It is strange how we can have a passion for our nation in other categories, but often fail to agonize over the spiritual condition of our land. We get excited about national sports, national news, national politics, and the national economy. Yet our great need is a sense of anguish over our spiritual condition as a nation. The greatest need in our nation is not better sports leagues, more political ideas, or even economic recovery. The great need is spiritual revival.” -Daniel Henderson
Do we have anguish in our hearts over the dire spiritual needs of those around which compels us to labor in prayer and in the work of the Lord? Unless there is soul travail we will not see spiritual births. (Galatians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 2:4)
Concerning Christ’s tears, Dr. Scott Pauley makes the following observation: “The only three times [it's recorded] that Jesus wept were near the cross. When He wept over Lazarus it was in the final weeks of His life. When He wept over Jerusalem it was in the final days of His life. When He wept in Gethsemane it was in the final hours of His life. The closer He got to the cross the more He wept. The more we die to ourselves and get a glimpse of eternity and what really matters, the more we will weep. The more we are captured by God’s heart, the more the love of Christ controls us. We weep for our minor inconveniences. We groan over things that don’t go our way. We fuss over things that a thousands years from now will not matter. But please tell me when was the last time we wept for lost souls.”
When we know the love of Christ in our hearts, we will be broken over the spiritual condition of those around us and beyond our borders. Although it’s important to confess our apathy to the Lord, our main focus should not be the lack of anguish in our hearts. Anguish is not something we can muster up ourselves. Anguish comes from the Spirit of God as we look away from ourselves to the love of Christ and His triumph on the cross over sin and death.
As we daily draw near to the heart of God and focus on the needs of others, His love will be manifested in our hearts. When we are filled with His love, our hearts will break for what breaks God’s heart. O may His love move us to action—move us to be weeping witnesses for Christ to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco
After His disciples set Jesus on the donkey, we read: “And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:36-39).
In contrast to how a warrior King would enter a conquered city on a war horse, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. When Jesus returns, He will judge the nations and set up His kingdom on earth. But Jesus came first in humility to reconcile sinners to God through His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus’ triumph on behalf of sinners came not by receiving a crown of gold but by wearing a crown of thorns.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, there were those who recognized that He was the prophesied Messiah. Multitudes began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” These words of praise echo the praises found in Psalm 118:26, which is a messianic Psalm. We know from parallel passages that the crowd also shouted "Hosanna to the son of David" (Matthew 21:15) and "Hosanna in the highest" (Mark 11:10). The cry of "hosanna," which meant "save" or "save us," was a prophetic declaration that Jesus was their deliverer.
But there were others who were outraged. These outraged religious leaders insisted that Jesus rebuke His followers for their messianic declarations of praise to Jesus. But to what they viewed as sacrilege, Jesus replied: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:36-39). Jesus' suggestion that even inanimate stones could not help but to praise Him was a public affirmation that He Himself proclaimed to be the Messiah. This further infuriated the religious leaders.
Knowing that His entrance into Jerusalem as King would further provoke those who were plotting to kill Him, what moved Jesus to embrace the suffering that would come? Like a woman accepts the anguish of labor pains because of the joy of birth, Jesus journeyed toward suffering. His anguish, which was stirred by His love, moved Him to take calculated and costly action.
In Luke 19:41-44, we read: “And when he 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.”
As many in the crowd were rejoicing and praising their Messiah, Jesus saw past the crowd to the surrounding city and began to weep. The word "wept" in verse 41 means more than the shedding of tears. It means that Jesus sobbed and heaved. Jesus was not feeling sentimental. He was in agony.
Why was Jesus weeping in agony while others were rejoicing? Jesus’ tears resulted from two realities; the present blindness of the people and their future suffering. In verses 43-44, Jesus prophesied of the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, some 40 years after His entrance into Jerusalem.
In addition to the future destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus wept because of their present blindness. Jesus cried in verse 41: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41). They were looking for deliverance from Rome, but the peace that Jesus came to bring was peace with God through His sacrifice on the cross. They missed it, Jesus said, because it was hidden from their eyes. This speaks of their self-imposed blindness caused by their sin and selfish-ambitions. Jesus wept, as He explained in verse 44, "because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
In the bible, the word “visitation” speaks of God coming to His people in blessing or in judgment. According to the prophesy of Zechariah, Jesus came riding on a donkey, which means He came in humility to bring salvation to His people. But because He did not meet their expectations, His own people did not receive Him. They missed the time of their visitation.
But although they missed it, Jesus, moved by the agony in His heart, continued His journey to the cross. And because He did, the Apostle John recorded: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-12). Because of the joy of spiritual births that would come through His agony, Jesus endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
“It is strange how we can have a passion for our nation in other categories, but often fail to agonize over the spiritual condition of our land. We get excited about national sports, national news, national politics, and the national economy. Yet our great need is a sense of anguish over our spiritual condition as a nation. The greatest need in our nation is not better sports leagues, more political ideas, or even economic recovery. The great need is spiritual revival.” -Daniel Henderson
Do we have anguish in our hearts over the dire spiritual needs of those around which compels us to labor in prayer and in the work of the Lord? Unless there is soul travail we will not see spiritual births. (Galatians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 2:4)
Concerning Christ’s tears, Dr. Scott Pauley makes the following observation: “The only three times [it's recorded] that Jesus wept were near the cross. When He wept over Lazarus it was in the final weeks of His life. When He wept over Jerusalem it was in the final days of His life. When He wept in Gethsemane it was in the final hours of His life. The closer He got to the cross the more He wept. The more we die to ourselves and get a glimpse of eternity and what really matters, the more we will weep. The more we are captured by God’s heart, the more the love of Christ controls us. We weep for our minor inconveniences. We groan over things that don’t go our way. We fuss over things that a thousands years from now will not matter. But please tell me when was the last time we wept for lost souls.”
When we know the love of Christ in our hearts, we will be broken over the spiritual condition of those around us and beyond our borders. Although it’s important to confess our apathy to the Lord, our main focus should not be the lack of anguish in our hearts. Anguish is not something we can muster up ourselves. Anguish comes from the Spirit of God as we look away from ourselves to the love of Christ and His triumph on the cross over sin and death.
As we daily draw near to the heart of God and focus on the needs of others, His love will be manifested in our hearts. When we are filled with His love, our hearts will break for what breaks God’s heart. O may His love move us to action—move us to be weeping witnesses for Christ to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco