Luke 19:44

Because thou knewest not the time, &c.— Our Lord here assigns the cause of the destructionof Jerusalem, and her children; it was because that when God visited them by his Son,—the Seed of Abraham and David,—the Messiah,—they did not know it, but rejected and crucified him, being blinded through the hardness of their hearts. The destruction of the city, and ofher inhabitants, clearly foreseen by our Lord in all its circumstances, was a scene so affecting, that it moved his tender soul, and made him weep. The miseries of his bitterest enemies had more influence to afflict and melt his soul, than the admiration, the acclamations, and hosannas of his friends, to elate him with joy. His weeping was a wonderful instance of his humanity, and is so far from lessening the dignity of his character, that it beautifully illustrates it. Were it worth while, the reader might be put in mind that the historians of Greece and Rome, to aggrandize their heroes, have been at pains to relate occurrences at which they shed tears;—but this would be to fall egregiously below the greatness of the subject. Is it possible to have the least relish for goodness, and not be enraptured with the conduct of our Lord in the present instance, and that inexpressibly tender spirit which he now discovered;—especially if we consider, that the objects moving his compassion were enemies; and his fortitude was such, as to enable him to look without perturbation on the greatest disasters ready to fall on himself? See Matthew 20:18. Let wondering mortals then behold in this an example of compassion and generosity, infinitely superior to any thing that the heathen world can furnish;—an example highly worthy of their admiration and imitation.