Matthew Henry Commentary Luke 19:41-48

"And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold, saying unto them, It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of robbers. And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him: and they could not find what they might do; for the people all hung upon him, listening." — Luke 19:41-48 (ASV)

Who can behold the holy Jesus, looking forward to the miseries that awaited his murderers, weeping over the city where his precious blood was about to be shed, without seeing that the likeness of God in the believer largely consists in goodwill and compassion? Surely those cannot be right who take up any doctrines of truth so as to be hardened towards their fellow sinners.

But let everyone remember that, though Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he executed terrible vengeance upon it. Though he does not delight in the death of a sinner, yet he will surely carry out his terrible threats on those who neglect his salvation. The Son of God did not weep vain and causeless tears, nor for a trivial matter, nor for himself.

He knows the value of souls, the weight of guilt, and how low it will weigh down and sink mankind. May he then come and cleanse our hearts by his Spirit, from all that defiles. May sinners, everywhere, become attentive to the words of truth and salvation.