Luke 19:41 “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,”

Luke 19:42 “Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

Do you know what’s good for you?

… These verses are about Jesus Christ as he arrives at Jerusalem “the city of peace”. And he weeps over Jerusalem!

… This isn’t just squeezing out a tear and an “oh well”, the word “wept” is a much stronger word than that.

If something makes Jesus weep, we should probably pay attention. What would Jesus be weeping over?

Well, the situation is that Jesus has just been given a royal welcome to Jerusalem!

They welcome him with praise and worship… but they’ll soon be be crying out “crucify him, crucify him”.

And sadly, this nation is totally blinded to all the good things God had given them in Christ Jesus by their unbelief…and they wholeheartedly reject him, nailing him to a cross outside the city…

… and it was all because they didn’t know what was good for them.

If you reject your own salvation… you surely don’t know what’s good for you!

And that’s what Jesus is weeping over! He’s weeping over the fact that Jerusalem did not know what was good for them… and then what that meant for them, which wasn’t good.

… Do you think you know what’s good for you?

If we’re being honest, we all think we know what’s good for us, and how to get what’s good for us also.

But no matter what we think… the fact is, none of us know what’s good for us.

Only God does.

Yes, it’s a faith issue, and as the Bible says “for all men have not faith”.

Biblical faith is always validated in time… but trusting that God knows what’s good for us is a step of faith not many will ever take. And yet it is such an important Jordan river crossing to make in our life.

… Because the way our life will go and what our future will hold entirely hinges on whether we are able to surrender what we think is good for us and instead trust in what God knows is good for us… because he does know.

What was worth weeping over not just for Christ, but for any child of God as years go by, is seeing so many people who “know better” than what the Bible says.

I’ve lived that same way myself, and then realized many times over and looking back that I truly didn’t know what was good for me when I went my own way.

And I found that it wasn’t I knew better, I just didn’t know what was good for me. And we all get in that same state.

And it’s because as Jesus said “they are hid from thine eyes”… if you ask yourself honestly… is there anything that could potentially be hidden from your eyes?

Do you truly believe you’ve got it all figured out? Do you not think there could potentially be a critical blindspot in your life you haven’t accounted for while you think you know what’s good for you?

Imagine not being able to see the most important things in your existence.

It is absolutely critical to know what’s good for us while there is still time, because we are all on the clock.

… We don’t have forever to figure out what’s good for us, just one short little life. And it’s such a big issue. That’s why it was so serious to Jesus himself.

The Bible teaches there are so many people going to hell that hell itself has had to make room “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure”.

That’s scary. But what’s sad is that every single person in hell did not have to be there. But they’re there because they didn’t know what was good for them…

…. and it wasn’t for lack of God’s trying either “All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”

“All day long” God warns, pleads… but for all us our little day of life here will end and maybe sooner than we think.

And so today “while it is called To day” … if you truly know what’s good for you, you’ll believe in the Lord, you’ll call on him to save you, and you’ll follow and devote yourself to the word of God in your life even as Jesus himself did “as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do”.

Jesus Christ “came near” in this story… and he’s pretty near each one of us. He’s very within your reach, but don’t let your life end up a “nearly”.

Because though so near, Jerusalem totally missed out on what was good for them. Though it’s their legacy… it doesn’t have to be yours.

And yet still, so many more people are going to miss out on the blessedness of Christ all because they did not know was good for them.

Blog Bible Christian Faith God Jerusalem Jesus Peace Salvation Weep Wept