Luke 19:43, commentary and pictures

Spoken as He halted on the crest of Olivet overlooking Jerusalem during His triumphal entry, the verse foretells that enemies would cast siegeworks about the city, surround it on every side, shut its people in without escape, and lay it even with the ground with starvation, suffering and death till not one stone stood upon another. He spoke it amid triumphal shouting while foreseeing Calvary before Him and the coming mighty host, and His joy broke into wailing lament with tears bedewing the palm branches strewn in the way. This ruin would come because Jerusalem in spiritual blindness failed to know the things belonging to its peace and the time of its visitation, rejecting salvation, scorning His miracles, and crowning its guilt by crucifying its Redeemer. Had she accepted Him who alone could heal her, searched the Scriptures and obeyed God, no Roman army would have besieged her, she could have stood forever under the shield of the armies of heaven as a source of peace to the nations. The warning was fulfilled about forty years later when Roman legions shut the inhabitants in and destroyed the city and temple by starvation, fire and scattering, after its people also refused submission as their last chance of safety. Jerusalem's temporal doom is a first foretaste and symbol of the final judgment on an unrepentant world hardened in unbelief, and His wholly unselfish tears over the city He loved still address all in every age who repay His love with neglect, warning that probation and mercy have a boundary.

Triumphal Entry Setting

Luke 19:43 belongs to the account of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the hopes of the crowds for a new kingdom were rising. It was spoken as part of His final testimony about the doom coming upon the Jewish nation because of its impenitence, on a special occasion that witnesses would never forget and would always remember with its impression. The multitude that poured out from Jerusalem to join His company was fulfilling prophecy without knowing it, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah.

That multitude included people who had felt His healing power in their bodies, cripples who had been healed, blind whose eyes had been opened, lepers cleansed from impurity, and those raised from the dead. They spread their garments in the way and cried Hosanna to the Lord. He spoke halted on the crest of Olivet, on the summit overlooking the city, at sunset overlooking Jerusalem in all its glory amid general acclamation of triumph for the mighty works He had wrought. He spoke knowing the end from the beginning, seeing the tread of the coming mighty host, and seeing Calvary and Kidron at the foot of Olivet where He Himself would be stretched on the cross.

While the multitude rejoiced, He wept in agony of tears that bedewed the palm branches strewn in the way, tears showing mercy and love toward a devoted city that rejected that mercy and love. In the midst of triumphal joy His sorrow broke like wailing into lament, unlike His God-like grief at the grave of Lazarus. The shouting multitude fell hushed while angels beheld their Commander in an agony of tears, His body rocking and anguish bursting from His quivering lips, with tears and groans of insuppressible agony.

His triumphal entrance, cleansing of the temple, and judgment on the barren fig tree pointed to Jerusalem's doom, and His tears as He looked over Jerusalem were a final plea of rejected love and compassion. The judgment on the barren fig tree acted out the same warning, that Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed because the nation rejected Christ and had become barren in piety and good works.

Siege Encirclement Described

The days foretold would bring enemies casting a trench, ramp, siegeworks or army about the city, compassing it round and keeping it in on every side. That encirclement meant surrounding Jerusalem, shutting it in, cutting it off, trapping its people and preventing escape. The city would be hemmed in and restricted on every side by hostile forces closing around it.

That shutting in would bring retribution in starvation, terrible suffering and death. Enemy armies would lay the city and its inhabitants waste, laying her even with the ground with her children within her. Not one stone would be left upon another, and the temple itself would be torn down.

He spoke this with the beautiful, seemingly secure city in view set against the approaching calamity He foresaw. His knowledge of the coming siege and disaster moved Him to deep anguish and tears because He longed to save the people.

Rejection Caused Judgment

The encircling trench was judgment for rejecting the Redeemer, refusing His salvation, saving help, mercy and love, scorning conviction by His mighty miracles, and crowning that refusal by taking His life on the cross. The siege that shut the city in on every side and laid it and its people waste was retribution for failing to recognize the time of visitation, spoken by Christ with weeping over the doomed people. Because the people rejected Christ, enemies would surround Jerusalem and bring it to desolation, though it might have stood forever and become a source of peace to the nations had they accepted Him and heeded His teaching.

The city did not know in its day the things belonging to its peace, nor the time of its visitation, and therefore the days would come when enemies would cast a trench about her, compass her round, keep her in on every side, lay her even with the ground with her children within her, and leave not one stone upon another. That failure was spiritual blindness, ignorance of God and Christ, impenitence, guilt, obstinacy, and disregard of repeated warnings and of the opportunity for peace.

The ruin need not have come, for had Jerusalem accepted Him who alone could heal her wound, no Roman encirclement and destruction would have fallen upon her. Had the people searched the Scriptures honestly, recognized Jesus as Messiah, accepted the Redeemer, heeded His teaching and obeyed God, no Roman army would have besieged the city or placed it under Rome's yoke. In that loyalty she could have stood forever and become a source of peace to the nations, with the armies of heaven shielding her from adversaries and the invisible host fighting for her, instead of God refusing to be her helper while enemies compassed her round and the proud temple burned till only smoldering ashes remained.

The judgment came after centuries of resisted grace, with privileges abused, opportunities slighted, prophetic warnings, reproofs and counsels rejected, God's servants mistreated and abused, prophets put to death, and His vineyard trodden under foot. For a thousand years the cloud of vengeance had been loading with ingratitude, formalism, hypocritical insincerity, Pharisaic pride and national apostasy before Him, yet though they were His property and their course offended Him, He bore long with them and did nothing to cut them off, having done all that could be done for His vineyard. Jesus saw the approaching calamity and wept in agony over Jerusalem as persistent refusal of grace and mercy brought the nation to the brink of ruin.

Her day of mercy and privilege was ending and her probation was to pass when she crucified the Son of God, her day closing as the sun gilding her towers set and the whole nation given up to destruction. Punishment was measured just according to the light from heaven that had shone upon her and been turned away, for she had refused untiring mercy, knew not the time of her visitation, and was blinded by sin so that she did not know her day was ending. His tears over her impenitence added to her guilt, for they were not for His own coming agony, suffering, humiliation and shame at Calvary and Kidron at the foot of Olivet where He Himself would be stretched on the cross, but for giving up the people for whom God had done so much.

Fulfilled in Roman Ruin

The warning was fulfilled when Roman legions and enemy armies surrounded Jerusalem, shut its inhabitants in, cut off escape and brought the city to ruin. What was foreseen as encirclement became siege and destruction, with terrible suffering visited as retribution for rejecting Jesus and His salvation. Inside the shut-in city the people suffered starvation and death.

That same stubborn rejection of Christ's salvation led the people to reject submission to the invading armies, which was their last chance of safety. Though they would muster their forces for the defense of Jerusalem, God would not be their helper. The invisible host of heaven would not fight in their behalf while enemies compassed them round on every side.

Many who were then mourning Lazarus would die in that siege with no hope in death. That coming destruction followed the scene of Christ's humiliation and crucifixion. The city's doom was sealed that night when its people rejected Jesus and were about to crucify their King, and about forty years later the Roman army utterly destroyed it and burned it with fire.

The retribution came for rebellion against God and hatred of the Roman power they were compelled to obey. The beautiful temple in which they prided themselves was seen consumed by fire till only a heap of smoldering ashes remained. The nation was scattered, its rich men despoiled of wealth gained by fraud and disobedience, the people dispersed through foreign countries as acknowledged citizens of none without any sure abiding place, and their children's children hunted from place to place and always refused protection or relief amid wails of anguish.

Foreshadowing Final Destruction

The encirclement foretold for Jerusalem was a temporal judgment upon the covenant people for impenitence and rejection of salvation, and at the same time a first foretaste of the final judgment. It foreshadowed the destruction of the world at the second advent, pointing to the final destruction of the impenitent world. In this the fate of the city serves as a symbol of a world hardened in unbelief and rebellion and facing retributive judgments, with Jerusalem representing the world and its besieging and ruin connected with the more terrible destruction of the world. The world before the first advent stands as a picture of the world before the second advent, showing the sure result of transgressing the law and refusing heaven-sent messages. The weeping over the city and the foretold surrounding by enemies therefore look beyond Jerusalem itself to an impenitent world doomed to destruction.

The agonizing tears were shed not for Jerusalem only but in thought of the terrible retribution to fall upon an unrepentant world. In the fate of Jerusalem was beheld the destruction of the world, for the Jewish nation was a symbol of people of all ages who scorn the pleadings of infinite love. Those tears were for the sins of all time, not only the apostasy of the Jewish nation but the apostasy of the present time when the Protestant world departs from the principles of true Protestantism and churches whose spiritual declension is foretold look down the ages. They are for all who abuse present privileges, who profess His name yet fail to become what was designed, who continue in sin and weakness from which they could be saved if they would come. Vengeance will surely be visited upon those who have had so great light yet remain cold and unimpressible, with grace resisted, privileges abused, opportunities slighted, insincerity and hollow formalism and pride where earnest vital piety was expected, and ingratitude and abuse of blood-bought privileges registered against many entrusted with great and solemn truths.

As Sun and Light to that people He was about to be withdrawn because of stubborn refusal of offered mercy knocking at their hearts, in contrast to His soon coming in power and great glory. He knew the result of rejecting light and looked forward to strong armies encompassing the once-favored city and destroying its inhabitants, with the whole nation let go and cast off for iniquity because it did not know the things belonging to its peace. This shows there is a boundary to mercy where neglected blessings are recorded and persistent refusal leaves men given over to the power of Satan. The same will happen to all who now refuse the light for this time.

The same pattern holds at the end, when warning is given because truth has been rejected and messages sent by God have been despised, yet the warning goes unheeded. God sends by His ambassadors messages declaring that the end of all things is at hand, and some will listen but the vast majority will disregard them. Farmers, merchants, lawyers and tradesmen left wholly engrossed in business will then be overtaken unprepared when He comes, as Lot's family was overtaken at Sodom. The destruction of Jerusalem stands with the flood upon the antediluvian world and the destruction of Egypt's armies among God's judgments upon transgression, showing retribution that must come because of power man has taken to himself, including oppressive man-made unions bringing confusion and violence and strife and ruling men and acquiring means through underhand deception. Bible history is to be repeated, with most awful and unexpected calamities following one after another, and cities full of extreme transgression destroyed by earthquake, by fire, by flood, with devastation and death by unseen agencies to warn all the world that there is a God who will display His authority, so that notwithstanding scientific safeguarding one touch of the rightful Ruler brings idolatrous possessions and accumulated riches and magnificent display to nothingness. He cannot pass such injustice by with silence, for though He has borne long He has not been deceived but keeps strict account of every lie framed and every secret devising and will reward every transgressor according to works, yet if warnings are heeded and churches repent and return to allegiance other cities may be spared for a time, while if deceived men continue disregarding the law and presenting falsehoods He allows calamity that their senses may be awakened.

The warning about judgment applies to similar scenes in the last great day, and the judgments coming upon the land make this a call to wakefulness and to come to Jesus. It points also to the impending destruction of wicked cities and of cities devoted to idolatry, over which there is grief as there was over the doomed city that failed to recognize the time of its visitation. Those who know the truth are therefore called to feel compassion and work to warn them rather than neglect them.

Christ's Sorrowing Love

Christ wept over the doomed people and the city He loved, with tears, groans of insuppressible agony and quivering lips expressing grief, tenderness, longing and pity over their guilt, hard-heartedness, crookedness and impenitence. His weeping was the final pleading of rejected love and compassion, for He was their only hope and had come to bless and save them, yet they would not receive Him. The joyful crowd that surrounded Him did not understand His anguish as He contemplated the coming fate of the city trapped by its enemies in retribution for failing to recognize its time of visitation.

His tears were not in anticipation of physical suffering at His coming crucifixion, and no fear of pain, suffering, humiliation or shame moved His self-sacrificing soul. Gethsemane and its darkness lay just before Him, and He saw Calvary and Kidron at the foot of Olivet where He Himself would be stretched on the cross, with the sheep gate of sacrifice pointing to His own sacrifice for the sins of the world. He spoke halted on the crest of Olivet overlooking Jerusalem while the shouting multitude fell hushed, His body rocking and anguish bursting from His quivering lips as angels beheld their Commander in an agony of tears.

His sorrow was wholly unselfish, pierced by the sight of Jerusalem that had rejected the Son of God, scorned His love, refused conviction by His mighty miracles, and was about to take His life. He was pierced by seeing her guilt in rejecting her Redeemer and what she might have been had she accepted Him who alone could heal her wound. He was unwilling to give up the child of His care whom He had come to save, seeing a nation blessed with every advantage rejecting the only One who could give them peace and hope and rest, break the yoke from off their necks, and give them triumph and victory.

That same mercy and love that wept over a devoted city rejecting mercy moved Him to die for sinful man so that man would not perish in his sins. He bore day and night the weight of rebellious Jerusalem, grieving over its rebellion as a mother grieves over a son rebellious to God. His tears expressed grief over willful rejection of the redemption He offered, since the people would not come to Him that they might have life, choosing instead thoughtless gaiety, social excitement and undisciplined inclination. Souls are very precious in God's sight, and that same love led God to give His only begotten Son to be crucified to save sinners. The Redeemer is still grieved and longs after wandering individuals now, calling them to give their hearts to Jesus and find cheerful trust and a humble, happy walk with Him.

Warning for Later Generations

The solemn words belong not to the Jews only, for in weeping over Jerusalem Jesus looked down through the centuries even to the close of time. They are addressed to all in every age who repay His love and admonitions with selfishness and neglect, who scorn His counsels and love and despise and hate His servants for speaking the truth. Many today in like manner draw upon themselves the wrath of God because opportunities are unheeded, mercy and privileges and warnings are refused, and persistent unbelief and disobedience leave them bound in doubt and despair. Judgment is proportionate to the light received, for God gives light, warnings, and opportunities to repent, and when resistance is persisted in until there is no response left, mercy's final appeal has come and rejecting reproof brings condemnation with no means of deliverance.

Those who receive great light and opportunity but respond with neglect and unfaithfulness bring judgment upon themselves, as Jerusalem brought destruction upon itself by rejecting Christ's mercy and failing to recognize the time of its visitation. Jerusalem's rejection stands as a warning to churches, for those who turn from the light they have received repeat her sin and face the consequences of that course. Persistent departure from just and righteous principles can leave them unable to discern light, truth, justice, or mercy. The same sorrowful, displeased gaze that rested upon impenitent, ignorant Jerusalem rests upon spiritual backsliding and danger at Battle Creek.

The words spoken upon Olivet reach to the present time, and the tears shed there were shed for present impenitence. The same great light given to the Jews is now sent, with reproofs, entreaties, warnings, and the Saviour's yearning love to warn sinners of danger and rouse them to repentance. As the temple courts were desecrated by unholy traffic, so the temple of the heart where Christ should dwell is now defiled by selfishness, love of the world, malice, envy, and unholy passions. The messages are too often received as idle tales, and many who profess godliness remain as unsanctified as the Pharisees, with thousands rejecting the light of truth because it involves a cross and does not harmonize with their practices and natural inclinations.

The condemnation falls on those who claim to represent Christ while their lives deny Him through selfishness, love of wealth, and desire for worldly honor. It falls on those entrusted with great and solemn truths where earnest, vital piety should be expected but insincerity, hollow formalism, and pride are seen instead, where grace is resisted, privileges abused, opportunities slighted, and blood-bought mercies met with ingratitude registered in heaven. It warns all today who have seen great evidence of His power, goodness, and mercy but have not fulfilled God's purpose for them, that a time comes when the results of a wrong course must be faced. Vengeance will surely be visited upon those who have had so great light yet remain so cold and unimpressible that no light shines from them to the world.

Paris likewise had its chance to hear the gospel, but most rejected it. After failing to recognize the things belonging to its peace, its churches were closed and persecution returned. Jerusalem's ruin likewise warns against concentrating too many responsibilities and interests in Battle Creek lest similar evils come. In that weeping over Jerusalem was shown the very same corrupting influences that would corrupt God's cause at the heart of the work, namely selfish dealings carried on by business maxims based on false principles, with which men vitalized by the Spirit of Christ will never comply in even a single transaction.

A time of opportunity and visitation will not last, for privileges can be abused or rejected and then lost. This is the day of healing and the day of opportunity, in which God's people are to exemplify before a world sunken in sin and selfishness the sinlessness of the Redeemer's character. Real laborers share His care-worn, oppressed spirit when they see crookedness, impenitence, and refusal to listen, and with the last message of mercy going to the world and the coming of the Lord near, ministers must carry that burden with zeal, living interest, and intense effort for precious souls, while power attends the last warning only a little while.

His grief is the model for grieving over those who stray from the truth, seeking to restore them with love rather than condemn them. The world where He suffered in agony is still filled with people perishing in sin.