Musick-al note # 310
There appears at least two reasons why Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. The first appears in Matthew 23:37-39 where He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; “for I say to you, you shall see me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”
Jesus came to save His people from their sins but Jerusalem rejected Him. He could have kept them from eternal misery of being lost in eternity but they refused to come to Him that He might heal them. The second reason for Jesus weeping over Jerusalem is found both here and in Luke 19:41. Jesus knew that the days were coming when the Roman armies would sack the city and destroy all that the Jews held as sacred. The temple would be destroyed and never rebuilt. The nation would be scattered over the earth never to return to their former glory. Knowing the things that were to come, Jesus wept because of the terror, turmoil and heartache that the Jews were going to experience.
Jesus continues to save every individual when they obey from the heart the pattern of the doctrine taught by Jesus and his disciples for by obeying, one is made free of sin and become servants of God (Romans 6:17-18). Each person will determine for themselves to accept or reject the message from God. Will Jesus weep over you or rejoice with your response to His message?
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 