What Made Jesus Weep?


Image result for jesus crying

 Luke 19 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

 Jesus was now coming to the end of his journey, as he headed up toward Jerusalem.  In this chapter, he continues to show and tell the people what the kingdom of God looks like.  He goes to Zacchaeus' house to show how he came for all people.  For those that thought his kingdom was coming immediately, he told them the parable of the minas, where servants were given money while a king was gone.  The one servant who assumed the king (Jesus) was not coming back and did nothing with the money, so the king took it from him and gave it to the faithful servant.  But the most poignant part of the story is when Jesus comes up sees the city and the passage says, "He wept over it".  

 The only other time we see Jesus weeping is when his friend Lazarus died, even though he knew he would raise him from the dead.  Since Jesus always reveals what God is like, it shows us how God weeps when people reject him.  Jesus came to bring the people of Jerusalem peace, but they would not accept him. He did not fit what they thought the Messiah should be like.  The Jews sought worldly peace and Jesus came to bring them peace with God.  And then Jesus prophecies that the day will come shortly when the temple will be destroyed.  The Roman army 40 years later would invade Jerusalem and destroy the temple and burn it to the ground.  

 Jesus did everything in His power to make known to the Jewish people God's kingdom, which would bring them true peace, but they rejected it.  They had better plans.  And it made Jesus weep.  What does this show us about Jesus and by inference God?  God's heart is to reach all people, both the Jews and Gentiles.  Zacchaeus was a Gentile, but he stood out in the crowd and genuinely sught Jesus. When Jesus came to his house, he give half of what he owned, and pay back four times all the people he had cheated.  Zacchaeus repented of his sinful lifestyle and turned to Jesus for true riches.  But those who judged Jesus for hanging out with such sinners, were the ones who refused to repent and rejected who Jesus was. It made Jesus weep. 

 Jesus still weeps today. He weeps over lost people that matter to him. I find in our church there are people like Zacchaeus, who have heard about Jesus and are open to giving their lives to him.  Do we weep for them?  Do we even care about them?  Are we so comfortable with our own salvation, that we don't seek the lost people who matter to god. May we be like Jesus who weeps over those far from God and reject His son. Pray that God might give you a heart like Jesus' so that you might be faithful with the greatest gift God has given you, the gift of salvation. 


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