“As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

-Luke 19:41-44

Jesus traveled toward Jerusalem on a donkey as strangers placed cloaks and palm branches along the path before Him while shouting welcoming words of praise. According to Luke, “the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:37-38)  It was a massive celebration. Adoring crowds welcomed Him into town while praising God; yet He wept. As Jesus neared Jerusalem, He wept over the city. He knew that they did not recognize “the things that make for peace” and they did not “recognize the time of [their] visitation with God.” They praised God, they welcomed Jesus as the coming king, and while the joyous celebration continued all around Him, He wept for them because critical pieces of the puzzle were still hidden from their view.

“If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” But the things that make for peace were hidden from their view, and they failed to “recognize the time of [their] visitation from God.” Jesus is God. He has always been God. While He walked the earth He was God in their presence. And now, He is God in our presence. He is God, the Almighty, the Creator of the universe, the sovereign One. Isn’t it awesome that He is here with us, desiring relationship with us? How awesome is it that He invites us to call Him “Father”? It is so amazing that we have the opportunity to engage in conversation with the holy, pure, divine, Creator of the universe.

Think about the times you have experienced His presence, when your heart burned, when you were filled with His wholeness. Perhaps tears ran down your cheeks and you laughed and His joy bubbled out of you naturally. We have experienced Him, we have recognized Him, we have felt His peace, but as I imagine Jesus weeping over the adoring crowds, I cannot help but wonder how is He responding to me?

My thoughts go in two directions. First, I think about the times I have experienced His closeness. Think about the times you have experienced Him with intimacy. What were you doing? What enabled you to recognize the time of your visitation from God? How often does it happen? And I wonder, what is preventing me from experiencing His wholeness all the time?

I also imagine we are part of the crowd, welcoming and adoring Jesus as He rides past on the donkey, and we see Him for who He is. We see Him and we see God. We recognize our time of visitation with God, and I wonder, because it is so awesome to see this, what am I doing to tell everyone else in the crowd about the amazing things that I see? We have experienced the wholeness, the peace, the life, the light of our holy, pure, Creator. How awesome is that? Who did you last tell about your awesome, life-changing experience with Him?

May you have eyes to see and ears to hear. May your heart be fertile soil in which His seed grows.