4. August 2024
Trinity 10
Luke 19:41-47
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.
The word for visitation in this Gospel, in Greek, is episkope. This word, which serves as the basis of the word “episcopal,” has the same root word as that which is translated as “bishop” or “overseer.” The idea is of a man charged with oversight like a bishop coming in to check up on a local congregation. This was exactly what Jesus was doing in His visit to Jerusalem. Specifically, He was fulfilling a prophecy from the Old Testament, which we also sang in our hymn of the day, from Zechariah 10: “My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the goatherds. For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock, The house of Judah, And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.”
As soon as Jesus enters His city, Jerusalem, He visits the house dedicated to Him. The city is meant to be an icon of the eternal city in heaven, the dwelling place of God with men. The temple is meant to be an icon of Christ’s body, Jesus’s eternal presence. Their image has been obscured. Thus, He turns over the money changers in the Gentile courts and restores the temple’s purpose: He preaches, absolves, and gives life.
But this is only temporary, as both Jerusalem and the temple always were. As icons, they are shadows of the eternal reality. But even as shadows, their desecration is grievous. Before bringing His judgment upon the current shepherds of the temple and doing what must be done, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. Like at the death of His friend Lazarus, Jesus mourns the death of the faith of His people. Jesus weeps as He foresees the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. He knew the slaughter that would come upon His people, all because they did not know the things that made for their peace.
To understand Jesus, remember why the Romans came and dismantled Jerusalem in AD 70. Tensions had been mounting in Israel ever since the days that the Romans conquered them, and various factions were interpreting God’s promises about an everlasting kingdom politically. They believed that God’s promise to King David—that his kingdom would never end—would be fulfilled on earth politically. The disciples were under this delusion even up to the point of Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:6). Judas also hoped that Jesus would be a political Messiah.
Jesus did not fulfill his expectations of what he wanted from a Messiah. Jesus teaches quite clearly that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36) and that the kingdom of God is within (or among) us (Luke 17:21). Christ also clearly differentiates between God and Caesar, granting that Caesar has a sphere of power that Jesus has no plans of supplanting (Romans 13). This is why John Nelson Darby’s dispensationalism, along with the false assertions of the Rockefeller-funded Cyrus Ingerson Scofield and his Reference Bible, are ignorant. Jesus’s own Word explicitly rejects an earthly rule, a restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, and any of the propaganda our government and people use to justify war in the Middle East. The political machinations of the nation and its allies once home to the temple cannot make for peace, Christ’s rule, or His return.
What, then, were the things that made for Israel’s peace? To answer this question, we have to understand what had brought upon Israel their tyranny and warfare. The Scriptures assert that their oppression by the Roman Empire and all previous and current empires is the result of their sin and faithlessness. Leviticus 26 lays down the program of events that will happen if Israel fails in her faithfulness to the Lord. It says, “I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste (Lev26:33).”
Indeed, that is exactly what happened to Israel; its major city and temple lay desolate. And now, Jesus never promises to restore them again. The return from exile and Temple are fulfilled in His kingdom, the Church, and the tabernacle of His body. What, then, makes for her and our peace? The Lord also answers this question in Leviticus 26: “If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me (Lev 26:40)” then He will forgive them. In other words, repentance and forgiveness of sins are the things that make for peace.
As St. Peter proclaimed, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2).
This is precisely why Jesus came to Jerusalem that Holy Week, to bear the sins of His people. He wept because He knew that most of His people would not recognize Him as the source of their forgiveness and peace. After Jesus arose, He came to His disciples and gave them peace, and then He breathed out His Holy Spirit upon them, and with that Spirit, the ministry of the forgiveness of sins. This was what made for their peace.
Today is your “Day of Visitation” because your Shepherd and overseer, Jesus, has come and given you His peace. “I forgive you all your sins!” “Shed for you for the forgiveness of sins!” The temple curtain was torn apart, providing access to God through Jesus Christ. Not one stone was left on another because the dwelling place of God with man is in Jesus. You are joined to Him in Holy Baptism, built up as living stones into a new temple. You are forgiven. Go in peace. Amen. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School – Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin