Jesus weeps over Jerusalem,
grieving over mankind’s hard
hearts.
puricarefiles
Luke 19:41- "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over
it, 42 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. 43 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 44 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.'” (ESV)
Jesus knew that most people would
reject Him, just as had been prophesied (Isaiah 53:3-4).
He also knew that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. The Temple would be razed, and many people would be killed by the Romans (Matthew 24:2; Luke 21:20-24).
Jesus wept for the hardness of their
hearts. He did not want them to perish but desired them to come to repentance (Luke
15:7).
God will judge sin, but He makes
clear that He wants people to turn from their sin and live, not die (Ezekiel
33:11).
In an attempt to “establish their own righteousness” the
Jewish leaders of that day had so distorted
Mark
3:4 -" And he said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to
do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?' But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger,
grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand
was restored."
(ESV)
They had neglected the weightier
matters of the law, “justice and mercy
and faith” (Matthew 23:23; Romans 10:3).
The people of Jerusalem had heard the Word of God through the mouths of prophets time and again warning them to repent, turn from their sins, and return to the Lord. But they would not.
Jesus
lamented at the hardness of their hearts:
Luke 13:34 -
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the
city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen
gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (ESV) (see
also Matthew 23:37)
We should weep over our sins.
Understanding some of these
things that grieve our Lord should cause us also to weep and be grieved over
several things.
We should weep over our sins and repent
for offending a holy and just God. Paul exhibited this type of godly sorrow
when he wrote the following:
Romans
7:21- "So I find it to be a law
that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I
delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my
members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me
captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man
that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (ESV)
When we grieve over our sin in
humility, the Lord will not reject us, as the psalmist wrote: “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I
would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not
despise” (Psalm 51:16-17).
In In Isaiah 66:2 God says, “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
We should weep over the sin of fleshly living.
We have to guard against our own
tendency to sow to our own flesh instead of to the Spirit (Galatians 6:7-9).
We should be quick to heed the
admonition in James 4:8-10 to mourn
over our sins:.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. ESV) .
Also, we are to weep in warning
others about false teachers and fleshly impostors who claim to be Christians,
when in reality they are enemies of Jesus Christ.
Once again, the Apostle Paul
demonstrated this response in a way we should strive to emulate:
Philippians
3:18 – “For many, of whom I
have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of
the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is
their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly
things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it
we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (ESV)
We should weep over the sin of complacency and idolatry
God does not want our worship of Him to be merged with fleshly practices and bowing down to graven images.
God wants us to worship Him in
spirit and in truth, and to live a life of holiness (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).
We must constantly guard against
complacency. God threatened to “vomit
out” lukewarm Christians in the church of Laodicea (Revelations 3:15-16)).
And in keeping with this, there
are times when we must endure and exhibit godly sorrow, in order to produce
repentance.
Do we have weeping hearts like Jesus’ heart?
Jesus, as God incarnate, was
weeping at the hardness of people’s hearts and the sin around Him.
Jesus was weeping that mankind
was still under the curse of death and that the last enemy of mankind was yet to
be defeated.
But Jesus was not powerless. He
had the power to overcome death. Through His death, burial, and Resurrection He
has made believers more than conquerors over sin and death (Romans 6:9-10; 8:37).
We look forward to that blessed
hope (Titus 2:13).
Christ will come, and shall be
made alive with Him (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Through faith in Christ, we can
look forward to an eternity one day when He will wipe away all tears and there
will be no more sorrow (Revelation 21:4).
Are you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future
will play out?
Why not talk to the God of the universe and let Him work in your
behalf?
He says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way
you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask God to show you what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly Father,
I admit that I am a sinner
and my sins have separated me from You. I now want to turn away from my past
sinful life and begin a new life with You.
Please forgive me. I now
receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my Lord. I believe
and confess that Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and rose from the
dead.
I want to receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my
Savior. Your Word says, ‘Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
I believe and confess that
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes unto the
Father, but by Him.
Lord Jesus, I pray and ask
You, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. I thank You that you have
given me eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am born again.
Heavenly Father, thank You
for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is in me now. I surrender my life to You. I
promise to study Your Word – the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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“Jesus, we enthrone you”
Don Moen
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lyrics
Jesus, we enthrone you
we proclaim you are king
standing here, in the midst of all
we raise you with our praise
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
come lord Jesus and take your place
Jesus, we enthrone you
we proclaim you are king
standing here, in the midst of above
we raise you with our praise
we proclaim you are king
standing here, in the midst of all
we raise you with our praise
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
come lord Jesus and take your place
Jesus, we enthrone you
we proclaim you are king
standing here, in the midst of above
we raise you with our praise
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
come lord Jesus and take your place
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
and as we worship fill the throne
come lord Jesus and take your place
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