Chapter 1—Destruction of Jerusalem
“If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For 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 19:42-44
.]
From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and
peaceful was the scene spread out before him. It was the season of
the Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered
there to celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of gardens
and vineyards, and green slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rose the
terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel’s
capital. The daughter of Zion seemed in her pride to say, “I sit a
queen, and shall see no sorrow;” as lovely then, and deeming herself
as secure in Heaven’s favor, as when, ages before, the royal minstrel
sung, “Beautiful of situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount
Zion,” “the city of the great King.” [
Psalm 48:2
.] In full view were
the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun
lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls, and gleamed from
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golden gate and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection of beauty” it
stood, 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 occupied 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 waved, while
glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices
declared him king, the world’s Redeemer was overwhelmed with a
sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised One
of Israel, whose power had conquered death, and called its captives
from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense,
irrepressible agony.
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