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Forecast of the World’s Destiny
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A homeless wanderer, He lived to minister to the needs and
lighten the woes of men, to plead with them to accept the gift of life.
The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned
in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love. But Israel had turned
from her best Friend and only Helper. The pleadings of His love had
been despised.
The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing. The cloud that
had been gathering through ages of apostasy and rebellion was about
to burst upon a guilty people. He who alone could save them from
their impending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was
soon to be crucified.
As Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city,
a whole nation, was before Him. He beheld the destroying angel
with sword uplifted against the city which had so long been God’s
dwelling place. From the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and
his army, He looked across the valley upon the sacred courts and
porticoes. With tear-dimmed eyes He saw the walls surrounded by
alien hosts. He heard the tread of armies marshaling for war, the
voice of mothers and children crying for bread in the besieged city.
He saw her holy house, her palaces and towers, given to the flames,
a heap of smoldering ruins.
Looking down the ages, He saw the covenant people scattered
in every land, “like wrecks on a desert shore.” Divine pity, yearn-
ing love, found utterance in the mournful words: “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which
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are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not!”
Matthew 23:37
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Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbe-
lief and rebellion, hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of
God. His heart was moved with pity for the afflicted and suffering
ones of earth. He yearned to relieve them all. He was willing to pour
out His soul unto death to bring salvation within their reach.
The Majesty of heaven in tears! That scene shows how hard a
task it is to save the guilty from the consequence of transgressing
the law of God. Jesus saw the world involved in deception similar
to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin
of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the world