Luke 19:43–44

Every word of the warning was exactly fulfilled in the siege of Titus. But what grace shone out of that heart! He was overwhelmed with grief for a people who were blindly refusing, to their own ruin, the very One who wept over them. He wept in a love at once truly divine and perfectly human.

The Romans discussed three plans: to storm the city at once, to repair the works and rebuild the siege engines, or to blockade the city and starve it into surrender. They chose the last, and set the whole army to work "to cast a trench" around the city. But the siege was long and difficult. It lasted from the spring till September.

The words in Luke 19:44, "the time of your visitation," undoubtedly mean the day of grace for Jerusalem. That grace came through the presence and testimony of our blessed Lord. It was the opportunity for blessing, and this is why the Lord laments... When, however, we come to Peter's words, "the day of visitation," the thought is rather that of judgment, and not of grace.

Men wanted peace, but were so blinded that they did not recognise what peace required. These things centred in the person of the Lord Jesus, the Prince of peace. But because of unbelief the things necessary for peace were hidden from Israel's eyes (v.42). Prophetically the Lord pronounced on Jerusalem the terrible alternative to peace. Its enemies would make it their prey, and subject it to oppression, siege and destruction.

Those days did come. Yet I admit the Lord's prophecy was only partly fulfilled, and that it will have a fuller accomplishment later on. If you want to read a dark and bloody page of history, sit down and read the account of the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. You will look on horrors that will strike to the very bottom of your soul. Only that time of terrible tribulation still to come will exceed them.

Jerusalem is only a sample of the world in general. Because Christ was rejected, the world will have to go through a very different history than if it had been prepared for Him... The world is not prepared for Him, and the earth must pass to its rest through the judgments that will cleanse it of its defilements.

They had had the opportunity of learning the things that belonged to their peace, but these were "now hidden from their eyes"... And note, ignorance is the ground of its condemnation. That is a solemn warning to those who remain willingly ignorant now.

In Luke 19:44, "The time of your visitation" certainly means the day of grace for Jerusalem. That grace came through the presence and testimony of our blessed Lord. It was the opportunity for blessing. This is why the Lord laments: "If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." But when we come to Peter's words, "The day of visitation," the thought is judgment, not grace.

It is the hour of her visitation, and she has not known it. If only she had, even now, listened to the call of the testimony of her God! She is given up into the hands of the Gentiles, her enemies, who will not leave her one stone upon another. In other words, she did not know this visitation of God in grace in the Person of Jesus. So she is set aside. The testimony goes no further, and she gives place to a new order of things.

This was the alternative, which His lament over the city brings fully out: it was the Saviour or the destroyer, Christ or the dreaded and hated Roman. In fact, they had already made their choice, and could only be left to it. But the Judge weeps as He gives sentence. She and her children within her would be destroyed — not a stone left upon a stone.

Oh, "If you had known, at least," all would have been pardoned then — "in this your day" — what a day for Israel! For if all her sin was piled up, all grace was piled up too... but now they were hidden from their eyes. The joy and acclamation of His disciples was right, yet it gave occasion to the tears of Jesus rather than wiping them away. All as to Jerusalem hung on this: "You did not know the time of your visitation."

Every word of the warning came true to the letter in the siege of Titus. But what grace shone out of that heart, overwhelmed with grief for the people! They were blindly refusing, to their own ruin, the very One who wept over them in a love that was truly divine and perfectly human.

They had the opportunity to learn the things that belonged to their peace, but these were "now hidden from their eyes." So the Lord, still yearning over darkened Jerusalem, speaks ahead of time as Judge and pronounces her doom. And note, ignorance is the ground of its condemnation, which is a solemn warning to those who remain willingly ignorant now. There are many like this. They will even plead ignorance as the ground of forgiveness. But God takes pains to enlighten them, so such a plea is only evidence of the most glaring stubbornness.

It was said of Jerusalem that she did not know the time of her visitation (Luke 19:44). Her capture by the Romans, and the desolation that followed, are standing witnesses of her folly in that respect.

He now sees it as lost to Him, and soon to be laid level with the ground, because she had not known this, the time of her visitation!... The people would not see Him among them again, offering Himself to them as their King, until by repentance and faith they learn to join with His disciples in calling Him "Blessed."