The Bible rarely records that Jesus wept, even though He suffered greatly on the cross. However, Jesus did weep when confronted with the death of Lazarus, His beloved friend. “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35). The second time He wept was over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44).
Why did Jesus weep for Jerusalem? Of course, He wasn’t weeping over the physical city itself, but over its people. When Jesus said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes,” this was spoken around the year 30 A.D.
Forty years later, in 70 A.D, Jerusalem—under Roman rule—rebelled. This revolt was crushed by the Romans, led by General Titus. Jerusalem was destroyed. A Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, who witnessed the events, recorded that corpses filled the streets of Jerusalem—the bodies of the Zealot rebels, the elderly, pregnant women, and even children. The city became a bloodbath.
Jesus had said that the suffering to befall Jerusalem would be unparalleled—nothing like it had happened since the world began, and it would never happen again. The Temple, the pride of the nation and symbol of God’s presence and Jewish unity, was demolished. It was believed that golden plates were hidden beneath the foundations, so not only was the structure destroyed, but its foundation was also dug up. Jesus had seen all this coming forty years earlier.
This shows how deep God’s love is for His chosen people. Yet, no matter how great that love, He did not spare Jerusalem from disaster—not because He was unable, but because the people refused to repent or understand God’s will. God does not refrain from acting due to a lack of power but because His justice and integrity prevent Him from violating His principles. In His sovereignty, God gives individuals and nations the freedom to choose. And the consequences of those choices cannot be revoked—even by God Himself.
We must understand this correctly. God is not limited in many ways, but in His will, He sets limits on Himself. As a holy, just, loving, wise, and all-knowing God, His actions are bound by divine order. There is a rule system within Him. If a sinner goes unpunished, God would be unjust, for He doesn’t teach and warn them not to sin. So, when God chooses not to act, it is not out of inability, but because His nature does not permit Him to act recklessly.
This is a valuable lesson for us: just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should. We must learn to set boundaries. Nahum 1:2-3 says that God is slow to anger, but He will not leave the guilty unpunished. When Cain was about to kill Abel, God had already warned him. But when Cain insisted, God did not stop him. He restrained Himself from preventing the act, and so the murder happened.
The same was true for Jerusalem. Jesus mourned for the city, but He didn’t prevent the catastrophe. That was the people’s choice. They chose their path and had to reap what they sowed. We might say, “Lord, just open their eyes so they understand!”—but even that cannot be done. If someone does not want to understand and does not desire what God desires, then they cannot know because they have chosen to desire only what they want.