Luke 19:41-44
08/28/2025
- 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)
Saint Luke wrote:
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.’’
There are two times in history that Jerusalem was destroyed. The first, which was prophesied by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many other prophets, was in 587 BC, which began the Babylonian Captivity of the children of Israel. Ezra, Nehemiah, and the latter prophets wrote of the rebuilding of the city. The second was in 70 AD, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people. That diaspora lasted almost 1,900 years.
Because Jesus so clearly foretold the fall of Jerusalem, noted also in Matthew and Mark, we can use this prophecy to help date the New Testament writings. Frequently the apostolic writers would note, ‘‘This was done to fulfill’’ the words uttered by Jesus. The New Testament is quiet about this prophecy’s fulfillment, however. We can surmise that the New Testament books, other than Revelations, were written before 70 AD. This prophecy and the silence about its fulfillment stand as an indication that the New Testament is what it claims to be, an eyewitness account of Jesus, His teachings, and the history of the early Church.
May our Lord grant that we hear His Word, and trust in Him. Amen.