“And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city(Jerusalem), 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.’” Luke 19:41-42
Going through Luke again I was struck once again by these verses.
How blind are we, His children, on any given day to what the Lord has for us? Why do we seek our own way so often and then seek to blame others, or Him, for our confusion and despair? Why are we such a fickle people when we have been given so much from Him? How long, will we/I be this way before I can experience the blessings that He has already given…not fully… but enough to know He IS with me?
Long before the Day He will wipe away our tears, He wept many of His own, and we praise, bless, and adore Him for doing so. The tears He shed coming into a broken and rebellious Jerusalem, underscore the mercy and magnificence of these words from the Apostle Paul: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows His (own) love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:6-8). He wept over Jerusalem for they had been taught about Him and they still rejected Him and He was indignant over the sin displayed.
But, when I consider the Romans passage I humbly and gladly acknowledge Paul was writing about me/us, in that Scripture. I am/was one of the powerless, ungodly sinners for whom He willingly gave His life—demonstrating God’s lavish love for the non-deserving. I wasn’t an impassioned seeker or a misguided God-fearer; I was a traitorous rebel when I received the gift of reconciliation, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Rom. 5:9-11). The only reason I have peace with God is because God made peace with me first through Him. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Rom. 5:1)
I would still be looking for peace elsewhere, if He hadn’t opened my eyes to see my need and His grace. I have no claim to salvation—no boast or hope, no assurance of sins forgiven or of righteousness received, apart from God’s sovereign grace.
I long for the Day when I will no longer even be tempted to look for peace anywhere else, but in HIM. Until that Day, I pray that God will show me more of His incomparable beauty and the bounty of the gospel…the gospel that builds up when I am discouraged.
So as those who have been justified…reconcile…are at peace with God, why are we still so often blinded by what God is doing around us each day? I guess the answer is in actually believing what He says of us, His children. We put way too much stock in a world that is passing away and not enough in what He says and does.
He wept over us that day as well…knowing he was coming to save us…and unfaithful lot…but one He had loved from before eternity. I pray that I can stop long enough today to remember His tears over my sin so that I might seek more and more to glorify and enjoy Him!
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
