When Jesus Wept


As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

 

There are three times that Scripture says that Jesus wept. We find one reference in John 11:35; another in Luke 19:41, the passage we just read; and a third in Hebrews 5:7. John 11:35 simply says, “Jesus wept.” That, for those of you who like trivia, is the shortest verse in Scripture. On that occasion, Jesus wept when he met Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, who were mourning the death of their brother. He wasn’t weeping because Lazarus had died—Jesus knew he would bring him back to life—so it had to be some other reason. What could the reason be? I’ll leave that for you to figure out.

 

On this, the second occasion that Scripture records Jesus as weeping, he is approaching Jerusalem. He is entering the city like a conquering hero, with people all around him singing praises and laying palm branches on the road. However, instead of being jubilant, as you might expect, Jesus weeps. Why? Unlike, in the case of Lazarus, we don’t need to speculate because going by what Jesus says as he weeps, we find two reasons. One reason was the impending destruction of the city of Jerusalem. In 70 AD more than a million residents of Jerusalem would die in one of the most brutal sieges in human history. 

 

Another reason, and this is what really accounted for his sorrow, was that the destruction of the city was brought about by the hard-heartedness of the people. They, as Jesus said, “did not recognize their visitation from God.” Accepting Jesus as the promised Savior was the way to life. Rejecting him was the way to destruction. The destruction of Jerusalem was metaphorical for the spiritual destruction they faced which was far worse. God was in their midst, but they didn’t recognize him. I think we might have wept too if we were in Jesus’ place. But see now, here is the thing. If Jesus were to have come today instead of 2000 years ago, how many of us would have recognized him? 

 

I really hate to say this but I think many of us — most of us? — would not have recognized Jesus. Because, like the Jews, we too are blinded by our own ideas and belief systems. And, with his radical notions about love, Jesus would have been a threat to all of us who prefer to hate. With his advice to serve instead of being served, he would have posed a challenge to every one of us who likes to lord it over others. With his exemplification of humility and holiness, he would have put most of us to shame. And I think we might have wanted him dead too. 

 

And looking at us, he would have wept. No?


Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/POzbkS_g5Mc

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