J.C. Ryle's devotional thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, section 114, Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, Luke chapter 19, verses 41 through 48. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong unto your peace, but now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, that your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and keep you in on every side, and shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you, And they shall not leave in you one stone upon another, because you knew not the time of your visitation.

And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, and could not find what they might do, for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

We learn firstly from these verses how great is the tenderness and compassion of Christ towards sinners. We're told that when he came near Jerusalem for the last time he beheld the city and wept over it. He well knew the character of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Their cruelty, their self-righteousness, their stubbornness, their obstinate prejudice against the truth, their pride of heart were not hidden from him. He well knew what they were going to do to him within a very few days. His unjust judgment, his delivery to the Romans, his sufferings, his crucifixion, were all spread out distinctly before his mind's eye. And yet, knowing all this, our Lord pitied Jerusalem.

He beheld the city and wept over it. We err greatly if we suppose that Christ cares for none but his own believing people. He cares for all. His heart is wide enough to take an interest in all mankind. His compassion extends to every man, woman, and child on earth. He has a love of general pity for the man who is still going on in wickedness, as well as a love of special affection for the sheep who hear his voice and follow him. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hardened sinners are fond of making excuses for their conduct, but they will never be able to say that Christ was not merciful and was not ready to save.

We know but little of true Christianity if we do not feel a deep concern about the souls of unconverted people. A lazy indifference about the spiritual state of others may doubtless save us much trouble. To have no concern whether our neighbours are going to heaven or hell is no doubt the way of the world. But a man of this spirit is very unlike David who said rivers of waters run down my eyes Because men do not obey your law He is very unlike Paul who said I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart for my brethren Psalm 119 verse 136 and Romans chapter 9 verse 2 Above all, he is very unlike the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ felt tenderly about wicked people, then the disciples of Christ ought to feel likewise.

We learn, secondly, from these verses, that there is a willful ignorance which is sinful and blameworthy. We read that our Lord denounced judgments on Jerusalem because they did not know the time of their visitation. She might have known that the times of Messiah had fully come and that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. But she would not know. Her rulers were willfully ignorant. They would not calmly examine evidences and impartially consider great plain facts. Her people would not see the signs of the times. Therefore judgment was soon to come upon Jerusalem to the uttermost. Her willful ignorance left her without excuse.

The principle laid down by our Lord in this place is deeply important. It contradicts an opinion which is very common in the world. This principle teaches distinctly that all ignorance is not excusable, and that when men might know the truth but refuse to know it, their guilt is very great in the sight of God. There is a degree of knowledge for which all are responsible, and if from indolence or prejudice they do not attain that knowledge, the lack of it will ruin their souls.

Let us impress this great principle deeply on our own hearts. Let us urge it diligently on others when we speak to them about saving religion. Let us not flatter ourselves that ignorance will excuse everyone who dies in ignorance and that he will be pardoned because he knew no better. Did he live up to the light he had? Did he use every means for attaining knowledge? Did he honestly employ every help within his reach, and search industriously after wisdom? These are grave questions. If a man cannot answer them, he will certainly be condemned in the judgment day. A willful ignorance will never be allowed as a plea in a man's favor. On the contrary, it will rather add to his guilt.

We learn thirdly from these verses that God is sometimes pleased to give men special opportunities and invitations. We're told by our Lord that Jerusalem did not know the day of her visitation. Jerusalem had a special season of mercy and privilege. The Son of God himself visited her. The mightiest miracles that man had ever seen were wrought in her midst. The most wonderful preaching that was ever heard was preached within her walls. The days of our Lord's ministry were days of the clearest calls to repentance and faith that any city has ever received. They were calls so marked, peculiar, and unlike any previous calls Jerusalem had received. that it seemed impossible that they should be disregarded but they were disregarded and our Lord declares that this disregard was one of Jerusalem's principal sins

the subject before us is a deep and mysterious one it requires careful stating and delicate handling lest we should make one scripture contradict another There seems no doubt that churches, nations, and even individuals are sometimes visited with special manifestations of God's presence, and that their neglect of such manifestations is the turning point in their spiritual ruin. Why this should take place in some cases, but not in others, we cannot tell. Facts, plain facts in history and biography, appear to prove that it is so. The last day will probably show the world that there were seasons in the lives of many who died in sin when God drew very near to them, when conscience was peculiarly alive, when there seemed but a step between them and salvation. Those seasons will probably prove to have been what our Lord calls their day of visitation. The neglect of such seasons will probably be at last one of the heaviest charges against their souls.

As deep as the subject is, it should teach men one practical lesson. That lesson is the immense importance of not stifling convictions, and not quenching the workings of conscience. He who resists the voice of conscience may be throwing away his last opportunity of salvation. That warning voice may be God's day of visitation. The neglect of it may fill up the measure of a man's iniquity and provoke God to let him alone forever.

We learn lastly from these verses how much Christ disapproves of the profanation of holy things. We read that he cast the buyers and sellers out of the temple and told them that they had made God's house into a den of thieves. He knew how formal and ignorant the ministers of the temple were. He knew how soon the temple and its services were to be destroyed, the veil to be rent, and the priesthood to be ended.

But he would have us to know that a reverence is due to every place where God is worshipped. The reverence he claimed for the temple was not for the temple as the house of sacrifice, but as the house of prayer. Let us remember this conduct and language of our Lord whenever we go to a place of public worship.

Christian churches, no doubt, are not like the Jewish temples. They have neither altars, priesthoods, sacrifices, or symbolic furniture, but they are places where God's Word is read, where Christ is present, and where the Holy Spirit works on souls. These facts ought to make us grave, reverent, and solemn whenever we enter them.

The man who behaves as carelessly in a church as he would in an inn or a private dwelling has yet much to learn. He has not the mind of Christ.