Daily Devotional For Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Good morning or good afternoon or good evening — whichever it is for you. Today is what we call “hump day.” Meaning — you are halfway through the week to reaching the weekend. When we read the Gospels, there are a few occasions where they inform us that Jesus was moved to tears and weeping. One such place is found in Luke 19:41-44:

“But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. (42) `How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. (43) Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. (44) They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you’” (NLT).

Jesus was making His way down to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. I have been there and coming down that hill, you can see the city of Jerusalem spread out before you on the terrain. The Greek New Testament word translated here as “wept or weeping” is [κλαίω, klaio]. This is the strongest Greek word. It denotes Jesus’ agonized sobbing over their superficiality, hypocrisy, shallowness, and rejection of Him—and the inevitable divine wrath that would follow.  

Unbelief had blinded everyone, even His own disciples, that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus loved the city of Jerusalem. He is referencing an event that would take place some 40 years later around 70 AD. Rome would in 70 AD crush a Jewish rebellion. And Jesus made it clear how terrible this destruction would be in five ways. First, Rome would be ramparts all around the outside walls of Jerusalem. Second, Rome would totally circle the whole perimeter around the city. Third, Rome would hem in every side so that no one would escape. Fourth, Rome would literally destroy Jerusalem by leveling their great wall to the ground. Fifth, Rome would not leave one stone upon another including the Temple. 

Jesus also later referred to this in Luke 21:6, when He said this about their Temple, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (ESV). Jews and their religious leaders marveled in their structures such as the Temple and their wall. These were beautiful structures in those days, but what they missed was what was more important — spiritual things. 

As I read  Luke 19:31-44 today, I wonder if Jesus weeps over America. As we are about to enter a national election, many Americans believe our salvation is through some politician, or political party or some economic or scientific or medical breakthrough. These have a way of distracting our attention away from Jesus Christ, our true Savior. 

For the record, Jesus Christ does not align Himself with any political party. He is not a Democrat. He is not a Republican. He is not an Independent. Jesus Christ is God and only aligns Himself with His Word, and His purpose and will for this world. Therefore, we must be careful not to put too much stock in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ. 

In America, we find it difficult to stand for His truth. We are hesitant to promote a biblical perspective on morality, sexuality, or the sanctity of human life. With America legalizing abortion, gay marriages, transgenders in sports, gambling, strip clubs, and etc., I imagineJesus weeps over and about America like He did over Jerusalem. 

As I said, in 70 AD the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem. A Jewish historian by the name of Josephus tells us this about the destruction:

Titus did indeed construct barricades and siege ramps in order to sack the city (Source: Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Vol. 5, pp. 465-470). Josephus in a later volume said this: “The Romans kept some towers and parts of the wall intact for their own use. But for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. Besides the destruction, the killing bordered on extermination. Then, in AD 135, Hadrian brought a crushing and final end to the nation of Israel, even attempting to eradicate Judaism and permanently erase their very existence from history, changing the name of the region to Syria Palaestina. The nation was doomed to such obliteration because the majority of its citizens rejected the Lord’s sovereign claim” (Source: Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Vol. 7, Book 1, pp. 3).

America does not recognize Jesus as our king. We no longer even affirm, “In God we trust.” We all caught up in political parties, politicians, activist groups, celebrities, athletes, education and science as our kings. I believe Jesus weeps over America. Pastor and Christian author Wilbur Rees says this is the attitude of America and most Christians today:

“I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please” (Source: Wilbur Rees, “$3.00 Worth of God,” When I Relax I Feel Guilty, by Tim Hansel (Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1979), p. 49).

Wilbur Rees is right. We don’t want to talk about, acknowledge or even confess our sins today because down deep, we act as if we really don’t have any based on the standards of this world. Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem knowing that Jews who prided themselves in the structures they had built and in the pride they were God’s chosen people, was enough to protect them no matter what they did — especially if they rejected the Messiah—Jesus Christ. 

Hebrews 5:7 says this, “While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the One who could rescue Him from death” (NLT). Jesus was not praying to escape death. He made it clear that is why He came (Read John 12:27). Literally the Greek text says, “ . . . save Him from remaining in death.” Jesus was about to bear every sin ever committed by every human. His heart was broken at the prospect of bearing sin. He felt the power of sin and He felt temptation. He cried. He shed tears. He hurt. He grieved at what our sin had done to us and to others. 

Questions To Consider

1. Jesus weeps over your sins. Do you? Why or why not? Jesus weeps that the consequences of your sin are coming or maybe have already arrived. Do you? Why or why not?
2. Would our Lord say you talk about politics, the upcoming election, candidates, polls, the economy, air something else and etc. more than you do about the Kingdom of God? What does that tell you about your priorities and your spirituality?
3. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Do you ever weep over America? Why or why not?
4. When are you more like what Wilbur Rees wrote above? 

Scripture To Meditate On: Ezra 10:1, “While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I really do not weep much at all over my sin nor the sins of others. I am so sorry that what breaks Your heart does not break my heart. Lord, please forgive me for this. Please forgive me that I can get so distracted with non-spiritual topics that by the time the day ends, I have not even talked about the priority of the Your kingdom on this earth — even when I am around Christians at church. Jesus, please help me have the kind of heart You do for America, the lost, and especially about sin. Your death on the cross was worth more than just $3 so to speak. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly