At this passage of Scripture, we observe the last week before the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The disciples fetched a donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem triumphantly as a king. Picture with me outside the city where Jesus sat on the animal. His disciples surrounded him. The contagion of excitement burst forth from the lips of many who threw down their cloaks or tore off branches from trees that he might walk upon them. They paved the way for him into Jerusalem just as surely as mankind’s sinfulness paved the way for him to the cross. As he rounded the bend to be greeted by these folks, Jesus paused. He looked toward the city and wept.
What to us would’ve been elating, was not so for Christ. It is difficult for us to imagine the flood of emotions that filled his heart. Surely, he was glad that those closest to him throughout his ministry accompanied his entry into town. It was almost like a carnival of people jumping and shouting. Everyone but Jesus thought how glorious it was finally that the Messiah was coming to be the great earthly conqueror!
Outside of the city Jesus sat on the donkey. He looked at the houses, the many buildings, the temple that glistened in the sun. His heart ached for what he knew was coming not just in the immediate future for his murder, but for what was his own people would experience within 35 years when Roman General Titus sacked the city. Scripture says he wept. This is only the second of two times in which the Bible records Jesus weeping. Yes, in the garden as he prayed, he was in agony and his sweat was like that of blood dropping from his brow. But only these two times did Jesus weep.
We have pictured before us in this 19th chapter of Luke there were tears of Jesus before his triumph. Both of these incidents are important to each of us. Jesus wept because of his concern for the citizens of Jerusalem, for mankind. By the next Sunday, Jesus would display his triumph through his resurrection from the tomb. It is immeasurable how that our Lord God wept to turn those tears into victory. And why did he do that? He did it for you and me!
It can be reduced to this Passover week, this Passion week, the ups and downs, the heartaches, the seeming failures, all that led to just seven days away for our Lord who did all of this so that we might have our sins forgiven. The exuberance of the crowd on that Palm Sunday was artificial. His murder had been plotted for months. Palm Sunday is not just a holiday. It is a holy day. It is a time that Christ pulled everything together from prophecy to reality. Jesus tied the knot to the helplessness of humans.
Let’s make our observance of this particular Sunday to be a time in which we uplift him. It is a time when we recognize his own passion for our needs. Only he could make it possible for what all of creation has suffered because of sin that would be canceled through his blood. It was only Jesus who rode that donkey. It was only Jesus who wept for Jerusalem. It was only Jesus who for a second time cleansed the temple of moneychangers. It was only Jesus who supervised his arrest and ultimate murder on the cross. It was not a disciple. It was no one in his family. It was no member of the priesthood. It was no citizen of Jerusalem. Let us lift him up and no one else as our mediator to the Heavenly Father Praise God. It was only Jesus for the swing of his emotions, the abuse from his enemies, and his suffering on the cross. And for what, for whom? It was only Jesus for you and me!
Christian Writer 