What Makes God Cry

The crowd rejoiced, but Jesus wept. His ministry was almost over. Time was short. He had healed their sick and raised their dead. He had fed their hungry and forgiven their sins. Yet, by and large, He remained mostly alone and rejected.

Jesus knew that in a short time, one of His own handpicked disciples would betray Him for thirty pieces of silver. And He knew that Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod would conspire against Him to bring about His death.

But not only that, Jesus knew that the same fickle crowds that were shouting His praises on that day soon would be shouting, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22–23 NLT). He knew those crowds would reap the full impact of their sin because they missed the day of their visitation.

This is the second time that we read of Jesus weeping openly. He also wept at the tomb of Lazarus (see John 11:35). And even though He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead, He still wept over the pain and anguish that death brings.

Jesus, being God, was omniscient. He knew the future. He saw the destruction that would come upon Jerusalem in just forty years. Four decades later, in AD 70, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. And after 143 days, they had killed 600,000 Jewish people and took thousands of others captive.

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that during this siege, rivers of blood flowed through the gates of the city, and the beloved temple burned to the ground, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy. He had said of the temple, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!” (Matthew 24:2 NLT).

This broke Jesus’ heart because unbelief and rejection break God’s heart. He knows the consequences.

God created the world. He placed the planets in orbit. He made the light to shine out of darkness. But when someone closes their heart to Him, He won’t forcibly enter. He will knock, but He will not make people believe.

Of course, when people believe, God is happy. And when they reject Him, He is sad because He knows they will reap the repercussions—not only of future judgment but also the repercussions in their lifetime.

Sometimes, people come to me and say they’re doing thus and so. I tell them they really shouldn’t be doing that, and I explain what the Bible says about it. Usually, they say something along the lines of “Hey, don’t judge me!”

And then a few years later, they’ve made a wreck of their lives or the lives of their family members because of the decisions they made. That is what sin does to people. And it makes me sad to see the devastation, ruin, and misery that it brings into a life.

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday, He demonstrated sadness when He saw what was about to happen to those people. And He wept.

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