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Chapter 1—Destruction of Jerusalem
“The days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast
a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on
every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” [
Luke 19:43,
44
.]
From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looks upon Jerusalem. Fair and
peaceful is the scene spread out before him. In the midst of gardens
and vineyards and green slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rise the
terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel’s
capital. The daughter of Zion seems in her pride to say, “I sit a
queen, and shall see no sorrow;” as lovely now, and deeming herself
as secure in Heaven’s favor, as when, ages before, the royal minstrel
sung, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount
Zion,” “the city of the great King.” [
Psalm 48:2
.] In full view are
the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun
light up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls, and gleam from
golden gate and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection of beauty” it
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stands, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could
gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But
far other thoughts occupy the mind of Jesus. “When he was come
near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.” [
Luke 19:41
.] Amid the
universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches wave,
while glad hosannas awake the echoes of the hills, and thousands of
voices declare him king, the world’s Redeemer is overwhelmed with
a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised
One of Israel, whose power has conquered death, and called its
captives from the grave, is in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of
intense, irrepressible agony.
His tears were not for himself, though he well knew whither
his feet were tending. Before him lay Gethsemane. Not far distant
was the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which he was soon to
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