IF ONLY YOU HAD KNOWN
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said,
“If only you had known on this day what would bring you peaceG1515!
But now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you
when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.
They will level 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 your visitation from God.”
Luke 19:41-44
Jerusalem, the city of the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, the leaders of the Jewish faith, should have been able to recognize Jesus as the Messiah based on the teachings of the Prophets. But they had blinded themselves to the truth that was right before their eyes. A very few of the religious leadership, such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, saw Jesus for who He was—the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who would provide us the opportunity to be at peace with God. However, those who refused to see were, in the end, given over to their blindness by the Lord. They were looking only at the prophecies concerning the Messiah as conquering King and failed to see the truth that He came to bring peace with the Father—deliverance from sin, not deliverance from Rome. Jesus prophesied the judgment that would come upon Jerusalem for their failure to recognize Him as the Christ, the Son of God. Even though Jesus, the righteous judge, would eventually execute vengeance upon the city, He compassionately wept over them because of the judgement the Lord would have to carry out. Jesus shed tears for the very people who would shout “Crucify Him!”, demanding His execution. Jesus, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, cried for those who would condemn Him to an agonizing and humiliating death on the cross. The events Jesus described would occur in AD 70 when the Romans besieged then demolished both Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The Temple and the city, including homes, were completely leveled. Most of the inhabitants were killed outright, and those who were not were taken prisoner to fight as gladiators or in other ways die as a spectacle for the Roman citizens. The reason for this future calamity upon Jerusalem was their failure to recognize Jesus. As the Voice translation says:
Luke 19:44b because you did not recognize the day when God’s Anointed One visited you.
The Lord has revealed Himself in nature (Romans 1:20), through His Word, and through the testimony of believers. If you have not already seen the truth of Jesus, ask God to open your eyes. Seek Him in the Bible and listen to the witness of those who serve Him. Today is the day to recognize Jesus as the Son of the Living God and surrender your life to Him, the day of salvation is today, right now:
2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT) For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
Today, you can be at peace with God by trusting in the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, took your place on the cross and paid the debt for your sin. Jesus was the only acceptable substitutionary sacrifice for our sin because He lived a perfect, sinless life when He walked on earth as a man. He is the only path to true and lasting peace. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Trust in Jesus now!
Father, we thank You that we can be at peace with You rather than fearing Your righteous wrath because You placed our sin on Jesus who died to settle our debt. Then You imputed—transferred—Christ’s righteousness to our account.
Worship with Conrad Fisher singing “He Paid a Debt”: