But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. "How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation."  - Luke 19: 41-44 (NLT)

The palm branches had already been laid down. The shouts of hosanna; still ringing in the Jerusalem air. The Pharisees stewing in their hatred and plots for the demise of Jesus Christ. The triumphal entry has been accomplished as foretold by the Prophet Zechariah. 

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!   Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!   Behold, your King is coming to you;   He is just and having salvation,   Lowly and riding on a donkey,   A colt, the foal of a donkey.  - Zechariah 9:9 (NKJV)

The people knew of the prophecies. They were waiting for their Messiah. The Pharisees knew of the prophecies as well and the threat they posed to their power structure. You see, once the pomp and pageantry of the entry is over, Jesus surveys the city of Jerusalem. The City of David. God's city. He is not fooled by the warm welcome and shouts of adulation. He knows the cross still lies before Him. He knows that the shouts of hosanna will turn into shouts of "crucify Him!" He knows that those that shout the loudest are often the least sincere. 

He knows the reasons. He knows that many simply follow their religious leaders blindly - a bad habit that continues to this day. He understands that many are simply deceived by those who in the name of God advance their own carnal causes. He knows that others viewed their needs only in earthly terms. A deliverance from the oppression of Rome but not from their own sins. Even His own disciples would fall prey to this flawed thinking. To this day people who claim to follow Jesus and gleefully shout His name are in it for only worldly reasons. They too have missed the point. So Jesus weeps. He weeps because He loves Jerusalem. He loves the lost sheep of Israel. In the same manner He loves the church and the lost sheep in this world. He still weeps over us because He loves us. Not with some sappy, fleshly, emotional love but in the deepest way possible for God:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,   not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  - 2Peter 3: 9 (NKJV)

Beloved, God does not want anyone on this earth to perish. The very people Jesus is weeping over in the key verses are some of the very people who will demand He be crucified just one week later. Jesus does not have our prejudices and biases. He does not hold grudges and unforgiveness like we do. No one is beyond the redeeming power of Jesus Christ but they must understand that He is the way to peace, as verse 42 tells us. He is not "a" way to peace with God. He is the only way.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  - John 14: 6 (NKJV)

I understand the world views this as exclusionary but we do not get to question God. Jesus weeps here because He knows He is the only way and the very people shouting His name have rejected a relationship with Him as Lord and Savior. He came as their Messiah yet they accepted Him only as a Prophet; or not at all. The same is true today where people will rationalize or intellectualize who Jesus is and recreate God in their own image. A God who demands nothing from them. A God who wants to shower blessings down regardless of how we act or behave. A God who offers everything and requires nothing. 

He weeps because true peace is hidden from the eyes of those who refuse to see. Those who have decided in their own minds and hearts what peace looks like. To them, peace would be their deliverance from Roman oppression while Satan continues to bind them all to sin. It is the same peace the world sells us today that keeps us from Christ. Peace to many today is a god of their own choosing who is heavy on provision and light on sin. But these are ways to false peace. There is only one way to true peace with the Father and that is through Jesus Christ, who stands before us all today, weeping. 

The key verses provide us with a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem that awaits them just mere decades later. Because they did not accept their opportunity for salvation. Beloved our lives are headed for destruction as well if we refuse to accept our opportunity for salvation. This earth is temporary and passing away. This life we have been fooled into believing is long is but a whisper. 

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  - James 4: 13-14 (NKJV)

Jesus looks over the world today and He weeps. He does not need to hear the shouts of hosanna. He just want us to see that He is the only way to peace with God. He wants us to see that we are headed for sure and imminent destruction without Him. An eternity separated from God. Do not believe the sugar coated pablum that is being sold to you. There is a heaven and there is a hell. There are consequences for our choices. Behold He stands at the door of your heart and is knocking. Your opportunity for your salvation is at hand. Palm Sunday. One week before Calvary. One week before the crown of thorns. One week before the cross. One week before He willingly lays down His life for you. It has always been about you. God does not want anyone - including you - to perish. So yes, Jesus is weeping this Palm Sunday. He is weeping over you. 

Rev. Anthony.