Morning Devotion for Saturday the 14th
Jesus Wept
Linda Ahrens
We will start our morning at the top of the Mount of Olives just as Jesus did in Luke 19:28-44
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.' "Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it."
One of the important truths of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was fully human and fully divine. It is one of the mysteries of the faith that is impossible for the human mind to comprehend. Jesus is fully human and fully divine one hundred percent of the time; he does not switch back and forth between the two as situations change. As a human being, Jesus possessed the full range of human emotions, which are shown to us only briefly in the gospel accounts of his ministry. Few and far between are the accounts that tell us how Jesus actually felt. In our brief text today we catch glimpses of both true natures at work within Jesus. We see his heartfelt human emotions. In a moment of extreme sadness, Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem; and in anger he drives the moneychangers from the temple. We see an indication of Jesus' divine insight, as he describes in accurate detail how the Romans will destroy the city of Jerusalem some 37- 40 years in the future (70 AD). It is this coming destruction of the Holy City that moves Jesus to tears. However, Jesus is not weeping over the loss of the buildings and the temple though, as a Christian Jew, I am sure that they were important to him. He is weeping over the lost people, who have and will reject his message of salvation. He is weeping for the crowds who will cry out for his crucifixion. He is weeping for the Chief Priests, Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, who are plotting his death even as he weeps for them. And while the heartfelt pain of his weeping is the result of human emotions, the tears are divine and the heart that is broken belongs to God. In our text today we find that the heart of Jesus is grieved over the sinful nature of human beings. In the story of Jesus' trial and passion we, as sinners, are all complicit in the plot to kill him. In this story we are all citizens of the Jerusalem that rejected Jesus. We too have broken the heart of our savior and out God. We should know that Jesus has wept over each one of us, just as he did for Jerusalem. Because of the way the story of the passion of Jesus ends, we receive mercy upon mercy, as our sins are forgiven. If the heart of God can be grieved, it can also be made glad. When we live our lives in response to the grace and mercy we have received, God cannot help but be delighted. When we forgive and show mercy to those who have wronged us, Jesus cannot help but to laugh and smile. After all, that would be a natural human response.
Jesus Wept
Linda Ahrens
We will start our morning at the top of the Mount of Olives just as Jesus did in Luke 19:28-44
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.' "Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it."
One of the important truths of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was fully human and fully divine. It is one of the mysteries of the faith that is impossible for the human mind to comprehend. Jesus is fully human and fully divine one hundred percent of the time; he does not switch back and forth between the two as situations change. As a human being, Jesus possessed the full range of human emotions, which are shown to us only briefly in the gospel accounts of his ministry. Few and far between are the accounts that tell us how Jesus actually felt. In our brief text today we catch glimpses of both true natures at work within Jesus. We see his heartfelt human emotions. In a moment of extreme sadness, Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem; and in anger he drives the moneychangers from the temple. We see an indication of Jesus' divine insight, as he describes in accurate detail how the Romans will destroy the city of Jerusalem some 37- 40 years in the future (70 AD). It is this coming destruction of the Holy City that moves Jesus to tears. However, Jesus is not weeping over the loss of the buildings and the temple though, as a Christian Jew, I am sure that they were important to him. He is weeping over the lost people, who have and will reject his message of salvation. He is weeping for the crowds who will cry out for his crucifixion. He is weeping for the Chief Priests, Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, who are plotting his death even as he weeps for them. And while the heartfelt pain of his weeping is the result of human emotions, the tears are divine and the heart that is broken belongs to God. In our text today we find that the heart of Jesus is grieved over the sinful nature of human beings. In the story of Jesus' trial and passion we, as sinners, are all complicit in the plot to kill him. In this story we are all citizens of the Jerusalem that rejected Jesus. We too have broken the heart of our savior and out God. We should know that Jesus has wept over each one of us, just as he did for Jerusalem. Because of the way the story of the passion of Jesus ends, we receive mercy upon mercy, as our sins are forgiven. If the heart of God can be grieved, it can also be made glad. When we live our lives in response to the grace and mercy we have received, God cannot help but be delighted. When we forgive and show mercy to those who have wronged us, Jesus cannot help but to laugh and smile. After all, that would be a natural human response.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
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