Palm Sunday

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44 ESV). There are so many things that happened that last week before the resurrection. On the Sunday before Jesus entered into the Holy City riding a small donkey while people sang praises. After coming into the city he found himself in the Mount of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley to see the city of Jerusalem with all of the people going in and out of the temple area. It is here that he weeps for them. Why did Jesus weep when He saw Jerusalem? Being God and having omniscience, Jesus knew these fickle people who were crying out, "Hosanna!" would soon be shouting, "Crucify Him!" He knew that one of His handpicked disciples, Judas, would betray Him. He knew that another disciple, Peter, would deny Him. He knew that Caiaphas, the high priest, would conspire with Pilate, the Roman governor, to bring about His death. And, He knew the future of Jerusalem. Looking ahead 40 years, He saw the destruction that would come upon the city at the hands of the Emperor Titus and his Roman legions. I think he also wept because he knew the depth of the deception they had fallen into. They had traded reality for religion. They had come to believe that their system could forgive their sin and restore their joy. They were lost like “sheep without a shepherd. He had healed their sick. He had raised their dead. He had cleansed their lepers. He had fed their hungry. He had forgiven their sins. Yet for the most part, He had been rejected. Waving the palm branches, singing their praises, they were blind and running to their destruction when their salvation was right in front of them. What a tragic picture it must have been. I often wonder if that’s not the same picture we present so often today. Our great causes must seem so trivial to him at times. We so easily fight the fights we can win instead of the fights that need to be fought. How often have we struggled to make a better living without ever struggling to live better? Take some time and intentionally reexamine your priorities. Use the life of Jesus to guide you in ordering them. You will not regret it!