Luke 19:41-44
08/25/2025
- And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
- saying, ‘‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
- For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
- and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’’ (ESV)<\li>
Saint Paul wrote to the congregation in Rome: ‘‘For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’’[1] This week’s Gospel lesson, which comes from Saint Luke’s account of Palm Sunday, truly gives us both a warning and hope. The warning, if God would punish His chosen people for rejecting Him, will He not do the same to all who reject His love? The hope, our Savior weeps over those who turn from the truth, for they are the cause of their own destruction.
And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’’
In these few verses is enough to study about our salvation from sin and death to last for a long time. Here we see the punishment of sin and God’s rich grace, love, and mercy. Here we see our sin and God’s response to redeem us from the guilt of our transgressions. This week we will ponder these words of Jesus, spoken the Sunday before He was crucified for our salvation.
May our Lord grant that we recognize the day of our visitation. Amen.