Jesus Wept Over It...

41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’* Luke 19:41-44

On this Thanksgiving Day, as our hearts and homes are filled with laughter, family, food and safety, this passage from the Gospel of Luke gives me great pause. How can it be that this writing from the 1st century can be so on point, so accurate and prevalent here today in the 21st century? I am haunted by it and troubled deeply for those families who are caught in the crushing.

Each morning I listen to a prayer app called Pray As You Go, and today the speaker reflecting on the passage from Luke suggests that we stand by Jesus as he looks over Jerusalem and weeps. The speaker asks, "What's it like to be near him as he weeps?" But then he says something that brings me to tears.

"Perhaps you can join Jesus in his lament by naming a place in the world which causes you to feel sorrow and anguish. Can you recognize the strength of your feelings for this place and for the people who live there?"

There are very few people in the world who would not immediately think of the Middle East this very day in response to this question. And so we pray, knowing that God can do for us greater things than we can ask or imagine.

Ephesians 3. 20 - 21 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

What else can we do? I won't post a picture because they are too painful.