Luke 19:41–48

content/bible_journal/luke_19:41-48.md

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+title = "Luke 19:41–48"
+date = "2023-01-21"
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+
+### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk19.41-48)
+
+Amidst all of the excitement of the Messiah coming to Jerusalem, with all the
+people praising God for fulfilling His promises, when Jesus sees the city He
+starts crying. And these aren't tears of joy, but of sadness. He explains why
+in His lament that Jerusalem doesn't know what's actually happening in it, in
+spite of all the hubbub and uproar that is presently happening around Him.
+Furthermore, it will not know because the city will be besieged and destroyed,
+and it cannot know because they have been hidden.
+
+This is a hard thing to come to grips with. God prevented the people from
+knowing what Jesus was really about, and thus the city was judged with
+destruction in A.D. 70. One might question how that is fair and just. I'm not
+sure I can fully answer that, but I can assert that it must be, because God is
+entirely just. I can also point out that if He hadn't, then Jesus might not
+have been crucified which would leave all of us in our sins forever, prove God
+a liar, and make all of reality a contradiction. But we have seen things like
+this througout the Luke's account, where plain truth is hidden from people
+until the proper time. The only proper response is to trust in God's
+unchangeable character and goodness.
+
+Luke spends less time on the cleansing of the temple, but all four Gospel
+writers include the event. The merchants who had set up shop in the temple were
+providing legitimate services; travelers would not necessarily bring their own
+sacrificial animals with them on a journey, and only a certain kind of coin was
+accepted as offerings. Having a place near the temple to get these things was
+convenient. However, it seems clear that the priests didn't care about the
+worship any Gentiles would offer because these merchants were set up in the
+only place the Gentiles were allowed in the temple. They had forgotten that
+Israel was supposed to be a blessing to all nations by being a visible sign of
+the Lord's goodness to the whole world.
+
+After cleansing the temple, Jesus begins teaching there every day. We are also
+told that "principal men of the people" are now trying to find a way to kill
+him along with the chief priests and scribes. I would not be surprised to learn
+that these men are the owners of the businesses Jesus disrupted. But Jesus is
+still extremely popular, so they aren't able to move against Him publicly or
+they would cause a riot.
+
+* * *
+
+Your goodness and Your power are the only hope we have for this life or the one
+to come.