As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Lk 19:41-44)
Jesus wept over the city. His journey to Jerusalem was long and with a lot of preparation. He had gathered a great crowd of followers. He had done such an amount of preparation for this journey but at the end of the journey he weeps. It should have been a glorious and a joyous arrival.
Weeping and tears seem to be the core of his mission in Jerusalem. As a leader and as a messiah he should have avoided this. Right from the beginning and all through his journey he was preparing for peace and God’s grace. Like Galileans the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem did not heed his call. (Unless you repent you will all likewise perish Lk 13: 3,5).
The destruction and the lose are due to the negligence of the people. In fact they are the outcome of their not heeding to his call. The arrival of the enemy and his evil activities are consequences. Jesus does not gloat over the consequences he feels sorry for the people and feels one with them in their suffering and weeps for their resistance to good.
