If You Had Known...
As the celebratory procession approached the city of Jerusalem, the gospels say that Jesus looked upon Jerusalem and wept. The Jewish nation was a symbol of the people of all ages who scorn the pleadings of God’s infinite love. The tears of Christ as He wept over Jerusalem were for the sins of all time. His words, through tears, rang true for Jerusalem as much as they ring true today for those who reject God’s gift of love:
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!"
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"... you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42 & 44)
The multitude of people gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast believed that Jesus would soon sit on the throne as King of Israel. However, the shadow of the cross was looming larger - though none could see it but Jesus. In that shadow, He saw not just the agony He would suffer, but more joyously, the completed work of human redemption and the love of God manifested to the universe.
This was to be accomplished by the voluntary sacrifice of His own life, in order to impart abundant life to humanity.
As Jesus walked in the shadow of the cross the week before His crucifixion, He did what He had always done: He expounded on the scriptures, taught living lessons with parables, gave words of instruction and warning, and spent personal time with his disciples. He cleansed the temple again, as well as rebuked the priests and scholars who were as pretentious and barren in their ministries as the barren fig tree which He cursed on the way.
Jesus' whole life example and lesson could be summed up as this:
the law of self-sacrifice is, ironically, the law of self-preservation; and
the message of the cross would simply be:
TO GIVE - IS TO LIVE!
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