Daily devotion – The God who weeps
Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it..
Can you imagine God weeping? Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus and Jesus on His entry into Jerusalem in the final week of His life both tell us of Jesus’ weeping.
Is it not interesting that we weep as His creation. After all we have been made in His image and with that we have the capacity to be moved in our emotions to the point of tears.
This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday, the time that Jesus on the back of a small donkey was welcomed and praised publicly, as He entered the holy city. The story is found in all four gospels.
As Jesus passed through the villages of Bethany and Bethphage, the cavalcade rounded the brow of the Mount of Olives, and suddenly Jerusalem came into view, with the glorious Temple taking pride of place.
But to everybody’s astonishment and embarrassment Jesus bursts into tears. Through His sobs He uttered a prophetic lament over the city, predicting its destruction because it did not recognize the time of God’s visitation.
It is surely remarkable that, at the very moment when Jesus warned the city of judgment, He was weeping over it in love! Divine judgment (which is the main theme throughout Holy Week) is a solemn, awesome reality!
But we find the God who judges is the God who weeps. He is not willing that any should perish. And when in the end His judgment falls on anybody (as Jesus said it will), God’s eyes will be full of tears!
Remarkable!