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!"

 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

Yesterday, we read that after Jesus had told the Parable of the Minas (to those with Him who expected the immediate manifestation of the Kingdom), He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?"  And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:  "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

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."  My study bible tells us that the name Jerusalem means "foundation of peace."   It tells us that it is faith in Christ that brings true peace.  "This your day" means the time of the visitation of Messiah, of Christ.  It is a truth hidden from a city "that will soon rebel against its Savior," says my study bible.

"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."  This scenario Jesus describes would manifest in AD 70, during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem.  My study bible suggests that it also describes the spiritual end of every person who lacks faith, who fails to grasp the reality of the presence of the Kingdom.

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.  Those who bought and sold in the temple are trading in live animals that are used in sacrifices.  We remember this is a time of preparation for the Passover.  There are also those present who are money changers; they exchange Roman coins (bearing the head of Caesar and so considered to be defiling in the temple) for temple currency.   This trade -- while ostensibly for people to obey the Law and make proper sacrifices -- is a profit-driven business; these people are making money from those who want to come to worship.  My study bible says that it points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits, and that "as each person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters."   Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.  This cleansing is a messianic act; only the Messiah or Christ would possess the authority to do so.   Jesus will be teaching daily in the temple while He is in Jerusalem, until the time of His Passion; this cleansing act sets the foundation for His presence there, His ministry to the people, who love to hear Him.  By contrast, the chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people seek to destroy Him.  Cyril of Alexandria reminds us that Christ's teachings are those of beauty and truth, and that we are to worship in spirit and in truth, fitting to a true "house of prayer."  St. Ambrose reminds us that Christ calls us not to legal duty, but to voluntary obedience, to love.

Origen gives us an interesting commentary about today's passage, reminding us how Jesus truly lived out His own teachings, and it's important that we understand this example.  He teaches that when Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, he confirms that "blessed are the meek" and we're also reminded that elsewhere Jesus has taught, "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).   Jesus has also taught in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" and surely He is an example of the really true peacemaker, the One who brings us His peace, the Son.   He is the One who reconciles us, "dissolves hostility" and "destroys it in His own flesh"  (see Ephesians 2:14-15). In the Beatitudes He also taught, “Blessed are those who who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and this is truly His Kingdom!   Origen tells us that no one suffered such persecution because of justice or righteousness as Jesus did, crucified for all of us.   Exhibiting all the Beatitudes in Himself, Jesus wept, as He had taught, "Blessed are those who weep (or mourn), for they shall be comforted."   In His weeping and mourning for Jerusalem He lays the foundation for an example of living the Beatitudes.     In His Resurrection and Ascension, in the living presence of His Kingdom, we are all comforted.  He is the supreme example of all His teachings; and surely in today's reading it is the people who are comforted in and love His teachings to them in the temple.  In all ways, Jesus gives the supreme example.  He is Messiah, but He is the Suffering Servant, the One is humble and meek and calls us to be "like Him."  He calls us to love, and to voluntary obedience (as St. Ambrose reminds us), and to worship in spirit and in truth.  This is our example, and there is nothing He calls us to that He has not already embodied in Himself, as fully human being, one of us, with us, meek and lowly of heart as both brother and friend -- humbling Himself even as He is God.  Let us try and do likewise, as He calls each one, in voluntary obedience, in response to His great love, fully manifesting also the love of the Father for each and every one.  It is always, because of Christ, the time of our visitation.  Do we know it now?  Let us remember that it is in Him, in His teachings and full embodiment of all of them, that we find the things that make for our own peace!