Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 19:42

"saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." — Luke 19:42 (ASV)

The term “Christ” is, of course, used here, not as a proper name, but as a title, “the Messiah” (see comment on Mk 8:29–30). The Messiah was commonly understood by the Jewish people to be a Son. If this is so, the question is why David calls his messianic descendant his “Lord” in Ps 110:1. Although the rabbis of the first Christian centuries did not interpret “to my Lord” as referring to the Messiah, that is the only meaning that makes sense here.

Jesus is still outside the city of Jerusalem as he utters this lament. Once more Luke focuses on Jesus’ concern for the city (cf. 13:34) and adds his prediction of its destruction, a prediction not given in 13:34. The day of peace has finally arrived, but the city, whose very name means “peace,” has failed to recognize it. For a further description of Jerusalem’s fate, see 21:20–24. “God’s coming” has here the sense of a “visitation” that brings good or ill—in this case, either salvation or judgment.