Jesus Wept (2)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 9/20/2020
In Lou Holtz's second season as head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, his team experienced a humiliating loss against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Holtz was utterly dejected as he walked into the locker room, but it seemed to him that most of the players didn't appear very distraught over the devastating defeat. With one exception. A second-string sub named Chris Zorich sat in front of his locker, weeping deep gut-heavy sobs. In that moment, Coach Holtz decided that next year's team would be composed of players who loved football as much as Chris Zorich. The next season, this young man went from sub to starter to team captain, and helped the Fighting Irish win a National Championship. Chris Zorich won his spot on the starting team because he cared enough to cry. Some things, at least, are worth crying over.
Maybe you can relate to Chris Zorich's feelings of disappointment and discouragement. For many of us, this year has felt like one big loss after another. Between the coronavirus, the isolation, economic uncertainty, racial tensions, the rioting, the political divisions, the upcoming elections, and disrupted routines, people seem to be more discouraged and depressed than ever before.
If you've had days where you just feel like sobbing in front of your locker or at the foot of your bed, you're not alone. It may comfort you to know that even Jesus, as strong and capable as he was, had moments of deep gut-wrenching sorrow. In fact, the Bible records three separate times that Jesus was so overwhelmed with emotion that he broke down in tears. He experienced the same inner turmoil and tension that we often experience in life. He faced real anxiety and anguish on many occasions. And much like Chris Zorich, Jesus wept deep gut-heavy sobs.
I'm convinced that you an I can learn a lot about ourselves and how to deal with our own disappointment and discouragement through the tears of Jesus.
Last Sunday, we examined the first instance recorded in Scripture of Jesus crying. It took place at Lazarus's funeral, where Mary and Martha were left wondering, as we often are, "Where is God when bad things happen?" Through Mary and Martha's experience, we learned that Jesus is coming—carefully timing his arrival for just the moment, Jesus is caring—willing to weep with us in the midst of our emotional distress, and Jesus is capable—able to raise us up from the dead, heal our hearts, and restore our joy.
The second time Jesus weeps is recorded in Luke 19. If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, feel free to follow along. This too is a familiar scene just days after the resurrection of Lazarus.
On what we remember as Palm Sunday, Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem—for the last time. The sun was beaming over the rolling desert hills, birds were singing the songs of spring, and a gentle breeze whispered through the palm leaves of nearby trees. It was a beautiful day. Everything was perfect. Jesus, the Son of God, climbed confidently onto the back of a young colt which had never before been ridden—a symbol his kingship prophesied long ago by the prophet Zechariah—and gently trotted along the rocky road that led toward Jerusalem’s southern gate.
Like frenzied fans at a Beetles concert or a Bulls Championship, crowds of men, women, and children rushed out to greet Jesus as he approached the city. They started shouting with enthusiastic fervor, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:13). The love and joy that radiated form Jesus’ face affirmed their praise. Then someone pulled a large leaf from a proud palm tree and laid it across Jesus’ path. Another followed suit, then another, until the road was covered in leaves—like a red carpet rolled out just for Jesus.
But as Jesus rounded the last bend in the road, suddenly his countenance changed. The Bible says, "But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep" (Luke 19:41 NLT). What happened? What could possibly have brought Jesus to tears in the midst of such joyous celebration?
Jesus explains his tears in the following verses. As he looks out over the great city of Jerusalem, the crowning jewel of the Kingdom of Judah, he says, "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 recognize it when God visited you." (Luke 19:42-44 NLT)
So, why did Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem and how are his tears relevant to our struggle today? First, Jesus wept because of his fellow Jew's disbelief.
• JEWS' DISBELIEF
As Jesus approaches the city, Passover is only a week away and the streets of Jerusalem are flooded with merchants and travelers. Tens of thousands of Jews descended upon the city to partake in the annual festivities. Seeing so many of his fellow Jews, his countrymen, in one place, he laments, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes… because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you." (Luke 19:42-44 NIV).
For three years, Jesus ministered all throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. He performed awe-inspiring miracles and crafted thought-provoking parables. He announced that he was God incarnate, sent to save the world. He backed up his claim by healing the sick, casting out demons and even raising the dead more than once. Yet many of his own people, especially those in positions of power and authority, refused to belief in him. They didn't recognize him as divine. They rejected him. They call him a blasphemer—a dangerous zealot. Demon possessed. In league with Satan. And then, they plotted his assassination. It's as if they had blinders on. They simply refused to see what was right before them. And, consequently, they would never know peace. Ironically, the name Jerusalem literally means "City of Peace." But, because they rejected the Prince of Peace, they would never live up to their name. Instead, they'd be plagued by unrest, strife, and conflict.
When Jesus considered the spiritual and moral state of his nation, it broke his heart and he wept. Perhaps you can relate when you look at the moral and spiritual decay of our country. We've drifted farther and farther from the faith of our forefathers. The percentage of atheists and agnostics in the United States has slowly increased from 5% to 9% over the last decade, while the percentage of Americans without religious affiliation, who mostly identify as "nothing in particular" and are therefore known as "Nones", is around 21%. Our culture is increasingly hostile toward religion and Christianity in particular. Many people, it seems, are wearing blinders. They just can't see Jesus for who he is. As a result, peace is as elusive for us as it was in first-century Palestine. Our nation is filled with unrest, strife, and conflict.
I'm reminded of those bumper stickers that read: "No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace." It sounds cliché, but it's true. Apart from Jesus, true, eternal peace is ever elusive. On the eve of his execution, Jesus told his followers and friends, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27 NIV). In other words, the peace of Christ, true peace, is a gift the world can't give. It only comes to those who take off the blinders and see Jesus for who he is.
Some things are worth crying over. Jesus shows us that the disbelief of our neighbors and nation is one of those things. Of course, it wasn't just their disbelief that drove Jesus to tears. He also wept because he knew the consequences of their disbelief; namely Jerusalem's destruction.
• JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION
Gazing out across the cityscape of Jerusalem, Jesus prophesies, saying again, "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. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another" (Luke 19:43-44 NLT).
This prophetic prediction came to fruition forty years later.
In 66 AD, the Roman emperor Nero needed money, and ordered his representatives in Judaea to confiscate it from the treasury in the Jewish Temple. After sixty years of Roman taxation and oppression, the Jews saw this as the last straw. They revolted and Jewish forces laid siege to the Roman garrison within Jerusalem. When word reached Nero Caesar, he commissioned General Vespasian to quell the rebellion and declared war against Israel. The Roman-Jewish war lasted three and a half years and culminated in the total destruction of Jerusalem.
Jesus warned his fellow Jews over and over to flee the city when they saw the enemy approaching—when they saw "the abomination of desolation." He said not to even go back into the house to grab your coat, just run. But they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t believe him. So, when the Roman army surrounded the city, they simply locked the gates and hid inside, with nowhere to run. So, the Romans starved them out. They build ramparts around the city, cut off the supply lines and water sources. For two full years, the Romans laid siege to the Jerusalem. Then they pummeled the city with trebuchets, hurtling massive boulders into the Temple and surrounding structures, destroying the walls around the city and leveling the cityscape. According to the Roman historian, Flavius Josephus, over a million Jews either died of starvation or were slaughtered by imperial swords, their bodies cast into the surrounding valleys , the Kidron Valley and the Valley of Hinnom, to become food for vultures and wild dogs.
No wonder Jesus wept.
I have no doubt that Jesus still weeps for lost cities and lost souls—for those who reject him. After all, what happened to Jerusalem was a precursor, a foreshadowing, of that fate of everyone who rejects Jesus on Judgement Day.
Notably, the word translated hell all throughout the Gospels is the Greek word Gehenna, which means Valley of Hinnom. Every time Jesus spoke of what we call hell, he was actually referring to this valley where the bodies of the dead were heaped in disgrace. He used the Valley of Hinnom as a metaphor, a symbol of God's judgement. Centuries earlier, in the Old Testament, the Israelites burned children alive in sacrifice to the Ammonite god Molech in this very valley. In response, God told the prophet Jeremiah, "The day is coming, says the Lord, when this valley shall no longer be called Topheth or Ben-hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter. For I will upset the battle plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and I will let invading armies kill you here and leave your dead bodies for vultures and wild animals to feed upon." (Jeremiah 19:6-7 TLB). The Valley of Hinnom became a place of death and destruction and, thus, a symbol of God's judgment. Eventually, that's the fate of every person who rejects Jesus. Death. Disgrace. Destruction.
Elsewhere the Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23 NIV). Ultimately, every person can choose only one of two destinies: life or death.
Jesus wept at the thought of so many people being destroyed. Shouldn't we do the same? The Bible tells us that in the end everyone who rejects Jesus will be destroyed—they'll perish and be no more. That's worth weeping over. We ought to shed some tears every so often over the fate of unbelievers. Jesus cared about them even though they rejected him and wouldn't listen to him, and so should we.
Finally, despite the Jews' disbelief and Jerusalem's inevitable destruction, this passage also spotlight's Jesus's determination.
• JESUS'S DETERMINATION
In the verses immediately following, the Bible says, "Then Jesus entered the Temple… After that, he taught daily in the Temple" (Luke 19:45,47 NLT).
Jesus wept over Jerusalem five days before his crucifixion. He knew what was coming. He knew the Scribes and Pharisees were plotting to murder him. Yet, he continued on with his mission. Even knowing their fate and what they would do to him, Jesus didn't give up. He wiped his tears, dried his eyes and got to work. He kept preaching and teaching right up until they nailed him to the cross.
I really doubt that Jesus felt like teaching in the Temple that day. It would have been so easy for him to just give up. He could have said, "I've done my good deeds. I've tried to reach these people. Nothing I do now is going to make any difference. I'm just going to take the rest of the week off. I'm going to hang out with my buddy Lazarus, eat some pomegranates, play some checkers and wait for the inevitable conclusion." Who could blame him? Would you?
A lot of us are struggling right now. Maybe you're feeling down and depressed because of circumstances in your life that out of your control. Maybe you're saddened or even heartbroken over the moral and spiritual state of our country right now. Maybe you're stressed out over all the racial and political tension and turmoil. Some days it's hard to get out of bed. You don't feel like going to work or school or being productive. You just want to sit on the couch, binge-watch your favorite shows, and eat Cheetos all day. I get that. But, listen… giving in and giving up doesn't make things better; it makes them worse. You spiral into an even deeper state of depression.
There is a time to weep, but there is also a time to work. When you feel stressed, or depressed or overwhelmed by life, it's okay to get upset. It's okay to cry about it. But then you need to dry your eyes and keep moving forward. Lean into it. Don't give up. There is still work to be done.
If we want to change the heart and soul of our country, we need to do what Jesus did. We need to get to work. We can't just throw up our hands, saying, "This country's going to hell in a handbasket." We need to do something about it. We need to teach people a better way.
Jesus determined to keep working, keep preaching, keep teaching, keep healing and helping even when he was disheartened. And because he did, he changed the world and opened the gates of Heaven to everyone who believes. Let's follow in his footsteps. Let's wipe our tears, and get back to work.
Conclusion:
Here on the outskirts of Jerusalem near the end of his journey, Jesus shows us that some things are worth weeping over. Despite the cheering crowd and joyful celebration going on around him, Jesus wept. He wept because of the disbelief of his fellow Jews. He wept because of the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem. But he didn't let his sorrow cripple him. Because of his determination, Jesus wiped his tears and continued his mission. May we all have a heart like his!
There's just one last occasion recorded in Scripture when Jesus wept. I hope you'll all join me next Sunday to see how Jesus survived the worst night of his life.
Invitation:
In the meantime, if you’re feeling discouraged or disheartened, I want to invite you have a little talk with Jesus and tell him all about your troubles. But don't stop there. I want to encourage you to reach out to someone like myself, a family member or friend. Together, we can encourage and inspire one another to dry our tears and keep moving forward. Let's pray together…
Dear Lord, we all struggle with discouragement, disappointment and depression at times. It's comforting to know what Jesus too wrestled with soul-crushing grief. I want to lift up those who are struggling emotionally right now. Help them to see the light in the darkness—the light of Jesus. May we all find hope and healing in the tears of Jesus. Amen.
