DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Monday, May 14, 2018

Why did Christ weep at the walls of Jerusalem?

“And when Christ drew near and saw the city of Jerusalem, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” – Luke 19:41-44

Christ came to Jerusalem with a process of peace, but the hard-liners in Jerusalem rejected His way of patient persuasion, His way of loving the enemy until the enemy was friend. No, Jerusalem would choose the military option and attack the Roman armies with bloody swords. And in so, Jerusalem was destroyed as the nation was no more. And I believe that Christ is once more weeping at the walls of Jerusalem.

Fear builds walls and pride makes them all the taller. Just as pride can lead a person to tragic ends, so national pride can lead to tragic ends. The way of Christ was one of courageous love and heroic humility. The way of Christ was trusting in the power of Divine Love humanly expressed. The way of Christ was endurance and perseverance. The way of Christ was not one of defeating the enemy by taking on the enemy’s ways, but by making them neighbors by being their neighbor.

But back then in the time of Christ the zealots took over the reins of the faithful… and I fear it is taking place once again. Back then they trusted the worldly ways of political and military power … and I fear it is taking place again. So once more, I believe, that Christ is weeping at the walls of Jerusalem because we trust worldly ways more than we trust the ways of Christ.

In His Service always,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz