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Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.(Luke 19:41–48)
If Jerusalem would have known Jesus, they would have had peace with God. If Jerusalem would have seen Jesus as the promised Messiah — their only source of salvation — they would have been able to depart this life in peace, just like Simeon. If Jerusalem would have believed in Jesus as the Prince of Peace, they would have been comforted in the forgiveness of sins. If Jerusalem would have known that the time of God's visit among them was in Jesus, they would have had a peace which the world can never give.
Instead, they worshiped a stone building and bragged about their own righteousness. They made money their idol god and, therefore, turned the temple into a den of thieves.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because they did not know that God's visitation among them was found in Him alone. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because He knows of the destruction that awaits their beloved city. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because they did not believe that the things that have to do with peace are found in Himself. Jesus wept for Jerusalem because of their unbelief.
We will learn today that Jesus warns us against unbelief. We are not to be unbelieving, but believing. We are not to be unrepentant, but sorry for our sin and to seek God's forgiveness. We will also learn today that the things that have to do with peace in our lives are found in Jesus alone. In this house, God visits us through His Word, and He feeds us with His meal. Here, He gives us a peace which surpasses all understanding. Here, we receive a peace which the world can never give.
Since Jesus makes reference to the temple in Jerusalem and its destruction, let me begin by taking you back to the very first temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem.
During the reign of Solomon as king, God instructed him to build a temple. Solomon used the finest kinds of wood, the purest silver and gold, and the highest quality of stone for the building of the temple. It took almost 200,000 people to build the temple. They cut and transported cedar and pine. They cut the stone from the quarry and carried them to the construction site. After seven years of construction, the temple was complete. The year is 960 B.C.
No longer will God dwell among His people in the tabernacle. His glory will now dwell among them in the temple. The glory of the Lord now filled the house of the Lord. Where was God? He was to be found in the temple. On account of the animals that were sacrificed and offered in the temple, God forgave the people their sins. The temple was also a house of prayer. God's ear was open to hear prayer.
As time went on — and during the time of Jeremiah the prophet — the people had forsaken the worship of the true God. You may not believe it, but they set up idol altars right in the middle of God's house. Of all places, they worshiped the pagan idols even within the Lord's temple.
Needless to say, God was angry. He would not share Himself with pagan gods that do not exist. He couldn't just ignore their sin of idolatry and adultery. So, through the prophet Jeremiah, God called the people to repentance. For over 40 years the prophet Jeremiah spoke harsh words of law to God's people, but hardly anyone listened. At one time he said, “If you do not repent, this city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it” (Jeremiah 38:3). In other words, if they did not repent and turn from their wicked ways, Babylon would burn the city and take them captive.
Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem and over the rebellion of God's people. Jeremiah's lament over Jerusalem is recorded in his book of Lamentations.
Sure enough, in the year 586 B.C., God allowed the Babylonians to capture the people of Jerusalem and carry them off into captivity. Shortly before the temple was destroyed, Ezekiel chapter 10 tells us that God's presence left the temple. Then, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed much of Jerusalem including Solomon's magnificent temple. They broke down it's wall and burned down the royal palace.
Dearly beloved, we learn from this that God is a just God. He is holy, and He hates sin. Even in our own lives, He doesn't ignore our sin and look the other way. We can't hide anything from God. He knows the idiolatry and the adultery of the heart. He knows when there is unbelief inside.
While the people were in captivity for 70 years, God was still with them. The time of captivity was a time of cleansing. The Lord used this time to show them what it meant to live by faith in the one true God. The descendants of Israel began to see the foolishness of worshiping idols. They began to see God as a merciful and forgiving God.
At the end of the 70 years of captivity, God arranged things so that His people would return to Jerusalem. One of the first things they did was to rebuild the temple. It towered 15 stories high. It was fashioned with marble and overlaid with gold and silver. This temple took a long time to build, but it was finally dedicated in 515 B.C. But this second temple never compared to the beauty of Solomon's temple. You can read about it in the book of Ezra.
Once again, God's presence filled the temple. Once again, the temple was used to sacrifice animals as a means of forgiveness. The temple was, once again, used as a house of prayer.
I want to, at this time, talk about a third and final temple — Jesus Himself.
Where is God now located? Not in the temple, but in Jesus. Jesus is the new temple. Jesus is now the glory and presence of God. Jesus is the real sacrifice come to atone for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus came to His own Jewish people bringing life giving words, but they refused to listen to Him. Jesus performed many miracles clearly proving that He is the Son of God, yet they refused to believe in Him. Jesus came to save everyone from their sins, but His own Jewish people did not think they had sins which needed to be forgiven. Jesus was identified by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, but He was rejected by His own people. A blind beggar knew who Jesus was and called out to Him saying, “Son of David, have mercy on me”, but Jerusalem was blinded to this truth, and they remained in the darkness of unbelief. They refused to acknowledge that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. They did not believe that God was visiting them in the person of Jesus.
John the Baptist called them to repent. Even Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief, but they refused to listen.
They destroyed Jesus all right. Our text says that the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders among the people sought ways to “destroy” Jesus (v. 47). Eventually, they arrested Him and handed Him over to Pilate. Jesus was the stone which the builders rejected. They didn't want Jesus.
The people made the temple a den of thieves, and yet, Jesus was nailed to the cross between two thieves. The temple was a place of sacrifice, and yet, Jesus was the real Lamb of God come to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the whole world. Jesus was the real priest offering Himself as the final offering.
Since the once–and–for–all sacrifice for the world's sin was made, there is no more need for the temple. And so, God had the curtain of the temple torn from top to bottom. The temple of Jesus' body was destroyed, and yet, it was raised in three days. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus has become the chief cornerstone of the New Testament church.
The good news is that, because of Christ's death and resurrection, there is now peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Jesus has reconciled us with the Father. Jesus has bridged the gap between sinful mankind and our heavenly Father. The old way to approach God through an earthly temple is gone, and the new way to God is now open for all people through Jesus alone.
Christ died and rose again in about the year 31 A.D. This Gospel went out to all nations and to all people even to those living in the city of Jerusalem. God waited 40 years for the city of Jerusalem to repent. But they refused to believe that Christ rose from the dead. They refused to believe that God visited them in the person and work of Jesus. They rejected the Gospel itself found in Christ alone.
So, God allowed the Gentile Romans — lead by Titus — to destroy the temple. The Jewish historian Josephus records what happened to the temple in 70 A.D. The Gentile Romans surrounded the city and built an embankment around Jerusalem. No one could get out or in. Over 1.5 million people were trapped inside for five months. Josephus records many heart–wrenching examples of what happened — too vulgar to mention here. What Josephus wrote parallels exactly to what Jesus predicted.
This is a warning for all of us. We ought not reject God's Word or resist the Holy Spirit. We ought not be filled with pride, but we should always be found in repentance — confessing our sin and seeking God's grace and forgiveness because of Christ our Lord.
Does God take pleasure in the death of the wicked? No! God says in Ezekiel 33:11: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their way and live.” Jesus desired that his own people would turn from their wicked way and live a life of repentance and faith, but they were not willing. God wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, but some reject the Gospel, and they resist the Holy Spirit.
Where do we find Jesus? We find Him not in the temple, but in the water of Holy Baptism, in the Word taught or preached, and in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. Where do we find true peace? Not within ourselves, but only in Jesus. For He is our Prince of Peace. He is our hope and joy. He is our only source of salvation. Where does God meet us? He meets us here in His house — a house of prayer, a house of life and salvation.
Dearly beloved, today, our Lord visits us bringing us that peace which the world cannot give. Today, He comes bringing a meal which gives to us the forgiveness of all our sin. Here, in this place, God brings us the blessings of the cross through Word and Sacrament.
God grant you faith to believe in Christ and to live in His peace all the days of your life. Peace be with you. Amen.
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