Read Luke 19:41-48…
Setting the stage:
v.41-48 detail the conclusion of Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem toward the destined sacrifice He was sent here to make for the sins of the world.
For many days Jesus had been on a resolute journey toward the city of Jerusalem. He had predicted this event and destination on many occasions with His disciples:
See Matt 17:12-23, 20:17-19; Mark 9:30-32, 10:32-34; Luke 9:43-45, 18:31-33
Jesus had on many occasions mentioned what was NOW happening… but the Disciples had NOT understood what He had been talking about. Now to be fair to the disciples, they were NOT spiritually enlightened at this point! That happens in the upper room when the Holy Spirit comes and overwhelms and indwells them…
Up to this point, they had been situationally inspired by God, at times such as when Peter made his profession of Christ as the Son of God! But overall their view of Jesus was one of Messiah as taught in Jewish teachings of the day… He had come to deliver them from the hands of Rome and was going to set up an earthly kingdom…
So when Jesus would mention this to them… it was a hard saying and confusing to them! How could Jesus be Messiah, if what He was saying was true… how can a crucified man become king? This is where their mind was while they were about to enter into Jerusalem!
Now Jesus on the other hand was very clear in why He was coming to Jerusalem, He fully understood and was moved by the emotion and power of the moment as He approached the city…
Now from the direction Jesus was traveling… from Jericho and Bethsaida, He would have had three choices of gates in which to enter the city!
The Sheep’s Gate which in the time of Jesus was the gate just north of the Temple complex.
The Susa gate which was directly EAST of the Temple complex, and
The Water gate which would be far SOUTH of the Temple complex…
Now I don’t know by which gate Jesus entered into the city, but the implication here is striking… I would say that Jesus entered by way of the Susa gate just east of the Temple Complex… and I say this for 2 reasons
First and foremost, Jesus was resolved and on a mission… He did not wish to delay or go to the right or to the left, but He had a mission to complete so I believe Jesus would have taken the most direct route into the city…
To go to the Sheep’s gate Jesus would have had to pass the Susa gate and to the north side of the city, which would have taken more time…
To enter thru the Water gate Jesus would have had to pass the Susa gate and pass far to the south of the city, which was really out of the way…
Second, when we read Jesus’ words as He is approaching Jerusalem it sounds like a man with a grand vision of the city… and approaching from the East, Jerusalem would have been a wondrous and mighty sight to see… perched high and protected by the small mountainous region, Jerusalem stood majestic above the road from Jericho.
This grand vision brought forth a sense of pride for the average Jew, as it was the city of peace… the dwelling place of the Temple… the dwelling place of God! This city was considered holy! Jerusalem was long held high in esteem by all… but Jesus saw Jerusalem for what it was… a city filled with those who were lost and confused about God.
I believe the KJV illustrates this attitude and situation very well as here is what the KJV says in 19:41
“…and when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it…”
The original Greek text puts it like this…
“…and as He drew near, seeing the city He wept over it…”
Either view paints the picture that Jesus saw the spiritual darkness that overshadowed this city! He understood that God had presented Himself to them and they had NOT recognized God…they had NOT recognized the peace that God was offering… they were rejecting Jesus, or WOULD reject Jesus because their desire was the earthly version of Messiah…
And as grand as the city of Jerusalem was in the eyes of the Jewish people and even the rest of the world, Jesus did not see it in such high esteem, but saw it for what it was… a city filled with those who did not know God!
We know that the religious leaders had just come to Jesus and demanded that He silence His disciples and those who followed Him! He was being ushered in as royalty and they took affront to this treatment of Jesus…
To them this was blasphemy… to them this was going against the teaching of Messiah; because Jesus could not possibly the Messiah they had learned about and had taught about for so many years.
The blindness of the people is staggering… it tugs at the heart of Jesus and He weeps! So as we paint the picture… we can see why Jesus reacts as He does! He is simply overwhelmed by the sight and the situation and He wept over the city.
And as He wept over the city He said… [read v.42] Jesus speaks to the city, but the city represents its inhabitants. Jesus was speaking to those who were going to reject Him.
“…would that you [Jerusalem… Jewish people], even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!...”
Peace with God is NOT possible for those who reject Jesus as Messiah, and Jesus is heart broken by this… He enters into the city by the Susa gate a heart broken man… accepted and obeyed by some, tolerated by others, and rejected totally by others. The nation is divided over this man named Jesus and just WHO He is…
Jesus weeps for the people that are missing out on the peace of God, but He does not stop simply with a weeping, but adds what this rejection will bring upon the nation… He adds that the consequences of their rejection would be severe!
Even tho’ Jesus had been preaching and teaching for over 3 years… and with all these people had seen, they are still blind to the truth… This is because their heart’s reject Jesus, they are blinded to the truth of Christ… both who He is and what His purpose is…
These people were looking but they were NOT able to see because in their hearts they refused to see who and what Jesus was… they refused to even consider it and held fast to their beliefs and teachings, even though scripture itself pointed toward Jesus and the truth of His message… the TRUTH was hidden from their eyes, not by God but by their choice to NOT see what was put before them!
Jesus lays out the consequences of this spiritual blindness… the 1st implication of any consequence is found in the predictions made by Jesus… They were going to be those who put the Son of God to death! A fact that will haunt them throughout time itself…
However there was another consequence just on the horizon of history… that is the destruction of Jerusalem [which actually occurs in 70AD). Jesus lays this out in detail… in v.43-44 [read verses]
Jesus details the destruction of Jerusalem with an eerie accuracy… Let’s take a look at what He says!
“…for the days will come…” Here is the prophetic voice of the One who knows all things telling those of the city that the time is coming when they are going to experience a great travail!
Jesus is NOT saying, this MAY happen, or it is a possibility, but Jesus says… for the days WILL come! This is a foreknowledge of events… Jesus reveals His intimate knowledge of God’s plan…of God’s working… of how God was going to deal with this open rebellion against His Son!
“…your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side…”
From history, we know that in 70AD the Roman armies marched against Jerusalem to quell a Jewish uprising that had been fueled by the Jewish revolt that began in the city of Caesarea in the year 66AD…
By the end of August 70AD Rome had defeated the Jewish uprising and had leveled the once great and mighty city of Jerusalem. They did it by setting siege to it… by building a wall around the city… a wall as high as the walls of the city… and in between the 2 walls they dug a trench…
When we read the KJV translation we find it telling us this in v.43
“…that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side…”
Here we find BOTH the trench and the wall being spoken of in differing translations… the KJV mentions the trench specifically and implies a wall with the phrase, “…and compass thee round…” To be encompassed is to be surrounded… they were surrounded by the armies of Rome, by a trench dug to keep them from escaping AND by a separate wall to ensure they do not escape.
Jesus tells these men who are standing close by Him just what is going to happen to this great city that is filled with the spirit of darkness and rejection of God… but He continues in v.44 with what happens next…
v.44 details what happens AFTER the siege has broken the city. Tradition has it that a Roman soldier threw a burning stick onto the wall and it caught the wall on fire… The Temple was caught up in this fire and burned to the ground.
Tiberius, the Roman commander did NOT want to burn the Temple because it had been improved by Herod in recent years… Rome’s plan was to transform it into a temple for the Caesar of Rome!
In this one act of burning down the Temple… or should I say, God allowing the Temple to be burned down, we find a great many spiritual truths!
First of which is that God is NOT limited to one place on this earth; it does not matter if you burn down a building… God is greater than that!
2nd I can see that God was NOT going to allow the minions of Rome transform His temple into a worship center for a false God… it would be an affront to God Himself… and so God allowed the Temple to be torn down…
Jesus says in v.44, “…and tear you down to the ground, you and your children with you…” This was a warning that NO ONE would escape this calamity! Even the young children are not safe!
Here Jesus draws a picture of Rome laying waste to the holy city of Jerusalem. Rome was going to be USED by God to discipline His nation… Rome was an instrument used to get the attention of a nation!
Jesus continues in his monologue of despair for Jerusalem by saying, “…they will not leave ONE stone upon another in you…” This implies that the destruction would be complete! There would be nothing left!
Jesus is NOT going to allow His people to disobey Him for very long… He will utilize those who are evil in His sight to do His bidding and to accomplish His purpose!
How often does God have to do that with us… we have the warnings, we have the siege, but we still don’t turn to Him… although that is His calling in our lives. We are called to turn to Him in obedience, in ALL situations! If the nation would have turned to God He has promised them that they would have been delivered.
Jesus’ message falls on deaf ears and He articulates this in what He says next, “…because you did not know the time of your visitation…”
Just what that means can be confusing, but when we look at the NLT we can see it a bit more clearly: “…because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation…”
This is a picture of the rejection of Christ and what it means… not only to the nation of Israel at one particular point in time, but for all who reject Him… they will suffer greatly because they did NOT receive or accept their opportunity for salvation…
Jesus knew the hearts of the people and he knew He would be rejected and this broke His heart and He wept as He entered the city… I can almost see Him riding on the colt… people praising and rejoicing and singing Hosanna… and a tear rolling down Jesus’ face!
His enters the city through the Susa gate on the Eastern part of the city, closest to the Temple complex. Upon entering the city, Jesus is flushed with emotions and moved by the enormity of the spiritual darkness and His attention is drawn to something He wants to correct! Something I imagine has bothered Him for a while…
v.45-46 Jesus goes into the Temple and cleans it out… scripture tells us: “…[He] began to drive out those who sold…” Now many of us here know what that means, but let me clarify for any who do NOT understand.
When someone came to sacrifice at the Temple, The law that had been passed down since the time of Moses… the law required that the sacrifice be without blemish… you were to give your best to God!
God placed the priests in charge of the sacrifice and they determined if the animal or bird or grain that was brought was worthy. Over time there had been corruption in the priesthood and a bargain had been struck with local businessmen.
These businessmen would set up in the outer courts and sell ‘qualified and acceptable’ animals, birds or grain to those coming to worship. It had gotten so bad that even when someone brought the best from their flock, it would not be good enough and they were told that they had to buy from the men in the Temple courtyard…
Because they had the monopoly on the trade, the prices began to rise and it became a huge burden on those coming to sacrifice, but Jesus did NOT accept it and as He entered into the outer courtyard of the Temple, heart breaking, and spirit moved by the Father, Jesus could NO longer stand seeing this desecration of the Temple and He let them know…Jesus saw the sin, Jesus saw the abuse, Jesus saw the hypocrisy and so Jesus acted.
We find that after Jesus clears the Temple of those who were NOT there to worship, but strictly to profit… the religious leaders and businessmen wanted to destroy Him, but the people were hanging on Jesus’ words and teachings and they were afraid, so they began to plan!
Chptr 19 is filled with a treasure trove of great spiritual revelation and teaching. I encourage you to read it over and over again and study it deeply… do words studies and trace back the customs and practices to better understand why Jesus did what He did and said what He said…
God wants us to follow Him, Jesus gives us the example of how to do just that… there are many who will tell you that this is what to do or that is what to do, but our guide cannot be anything BUT God’s Word… we must live our lives according to Scripture!
