April 19, 2026
Luke 19:41–44 ESV
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Discussion Questions:
Jesus has not yet been rejected by all the people, yet he weeps over the city.
1) Explain verse 42:
- “this day” or “this thy day”
- “things that make for peace”
2) How were verses 43 and 44 fulfilled?
Discussion Summary:
Jesus had just presented himself as a king to the nation of Israel. Even though they were acclaiming him and laying down palm branches he knew they would soon reject him and call for his death. After 3 ½ years of his ministry, they did not accept him as the messenger of God, the son of God.
In an echo of Isaiah 48:18, “Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea,” Jesus laments that in rejecting him they have rejected a peaceful future for their nation. On a higher level, their rejection of him meant that they rejected peace with God. “For he himself is our peace…making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14,15)
The destruction of the city of Jerusalem is described in verses 43 and 44. This was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Roman general, Titus, burnt the city and took apart the temple, stone by stone.
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