As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it
Jesus came, as we recently read, to seek and to save the lost. His was the heart that would not be content with ninety-nine sheep safe and sound while one was lost. The reason that Father sent Jesus to the world was not to condemn it but so that the world could be saved through him.
Jesus entered the world and lived in such a way as to reveal the Father's love. He offered salvation to those who would choose surrender themselves to that love, precisely as manifested in and mediated through Jesus himself. He himself was the one, the only one, who truly knew "what makes for peace".
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (see Romans 5:1).
And yet, in spite of this desire in the heart of Jesus, it was no guarantee condemnation was impossible. Those who heard what Jesus had to say about peace could still have the truth of that message hidden from them. Those to whom he came were all too capable of not recognizing the time of their visitation.
but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (see John 3:17).
We see in the tears of Jesus that he did not delight in or celebrate that some would refuse to be convinced by him and would instead harden their hearts.
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (see Ezekiel 33:11).
We may imagine that the people in the time of Jesus who failed to recognize him were especially culpable. Having God in the flesh in their midst, what excuse could they have for not recognizing him? We must remember that though Jesus was God in the flesh, nevertheless his flesh looked like that of any other person in that time and place. In order to recognize him it was necessary to have a heart that longed for peace, that was able to recognize one's own complicity in discord and violence, and therefore one's own need for salvation. In order to recognize his visitation it was necessary to set aside preoccupation with self, routine, and business as usual enough to pay attention. It would call for those who would recognize him to abandon the lies by which they attempted to rationalize the condition of the world around them and of their own hearts.
Jesus comes to visit us as well, and to teach us what makes for peace. We actually have an advantage over those who merely saw his physical body for we have received the firmly defined truth about who he is and the meaning of his incarnation and the mysteries of his life. We don't have to waiver around the thought that God seems to be acting in an unusually strong way through someone who seems to be human and what that might mean, for we know him to be both God and man. Given all of our advantages, of the Deposit of Faith, and seeing that teaching vindicated over the centuries in the lives of the Saints, we ought to be ready to recognize Jesus when he visits us.
With all of the advantages of life within his Body we ought to recognize the hour of our own visitation. But is it so? Are we so desperate to preserve our own sense of self-justification, self-righteousness- in other words, the feeling that we are OK and not in need of salvation- that we refuse to listen when he tells us something that would lead us to greater peace? Are we so busy eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, that we don't have enough free awareness or attention to notice him when he comes to us in prayer, in his Word, in our brothers and sisters, and in in the Sacraments? Is Jesus weeping over us because although he can save us from the pain of the destruction of the earthly city we simply aren't listening?
The world around us conspires with the devil and our own fallen flesh to make us blind to God's presence in our midst. The voice of the accuser teaches us to classify the circumstances of the world so as to imply a cold, distant, or even hostile God. We are led to believe that we must settle for what temporary benefits we can eek out of this valley of tears and close our eyes and stop our ears to hope. We must not listen to the voice of the accuser!
Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him,
so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers
and consents to the king’s orders,
yet I and my sons and my kin
will keep to the covenant of our fathers.
Like Mattathias we can learn zeal for the one who was first zealous for us. We can recognize how manifold have been the blessings of living in the New Covenant already, and motivate our entire lives by the leading of Jesus, the mediator of this covenant, the king of peace. Jerusalem was named "City of Peace". Yet it could not be so without recognizing the coming of the King of Peace. Neither can our own lives remain in peace if we are not attentive to all of the ways in which the Lord himself is still coming to us to offer healing and salvation.
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.
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