Sermon - Trinity X 2021 - Luke 19:41-48

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630

            “When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” Just days before Jesus would be arrested, beaten, mocked, and crucified in Jerusalem, He wept over Jerusalem. “For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Forty years later Jesus’ prophetic words took place. In the year 70, Roman Emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem for six months, during which time the people starved to the point of eating shoe leather, one another, and their own children. Afterwards the Roman army entered Jerusalem to kill many more with the sword, burning down the city and flattening it to the ground, temple and all. Hundreds of thousands died. The remaining Jews were sold as slaves. All of this took place because when their Messiah had finally arrived, they rejected Him.

Jesus wept. Out of all the people on the earth, God had chosen the Israelites to be His people. Why those people in particular? Only God knows. He loved them and they were His. The Old Testament is kind of like a love story: the Bridegroom (God) continually rescues His chosen bride (Israel), and time and again she leaves Him for another, and still He pursues her and saves her and loves her. Now finally Jesus, the Bridegroom, has arrived, and the Israelites, the bride, refuse Him and kill Him. Still the Bridegroom loves His bride. Jesus wept.

The destruction of Jerusalem is a sad account. If I chose the readings each week, I probably wouldn’t have chosen this one. But for centuries our Christian forefathers, in wisdom, read this each year. C.F.W. Walther even included the Destruction of Jerusalem from Josephus in the Synod’s hymnal so that Christians could read it each year.

The reason this is so important is because the Destruction of Jerusalem is more than just a historical curiosity. We don’t read about Jesus weeping just so that we can be sad about a tragedy, like when we remember 9/11 or the Holocaust. Jesus didn’t just speak these words to warn the Israelites of Jerusalem’s destruction, but He spoke them for our benefit. Jesus wept over Jerusalem so that we today may know the things that make for peace.

Jerusalem, the city of peace, didn’t know the things that make for peace, and so it was truly the city of hypocrites. Their day is past, it’s too late for them. Those people have long ago been killed. But it’s not too late for us. 

See, we Christians are the new Israel. We are now God’s chosen people. Out of all the people on the earth, God chose us. Why us in particular? Only God knows. Out of His grace and mercy He chose us to be His people. He loves us. We Christians are the bride and Jesus is the Bridegroom who has laid down His life for us! 

The Bridegroom has come! The time of our visitation is now! Jesus, the One who comes to bring the things that make for peace, He is here. Now is the time of visitation. Now is the time to know Jesus and the things that make for peace. Now is the time of repentance when we confess our sins and dwell in the peace of having a clean conscience.

The destruction of Jerusalem also teaches us that the end is approaching. This world is passing away. Jerusalem’s destruction foreshadows the destruction of this entire world. The wicked who reject Jesus and hate His believers, they will be punished; God’s wrath is greater than a whip on some money changers. We faithful will be spared. Like the Christians escaped from Jerusalem before it was besieged, because they knew what was coming, likewise will we escape the destruction of this world because we know it’s coming. We have the time to prepare.

This world is passing away, there’s no denying that. This world is going from bad to worse. It’s not going to get better, that’s what Jesus is teaching us. We’re not going to win the culture war. This world is Satan’s kingdom and it will never be a Christian kingdom. We must constantly fight for Christian virtues and against degeneracy. We should fight that battle in our homes, cities, states, and country. But we know how this ends. We don’t belong to this world. Like Jesus, our kingdom is elsewhere.

So instead of winning a culture war, we Christians are preparing for the apocalypse. While the preppers are right, we should have some clean water, canned food, and guns, there’s something more important to prepare. We’re not just trying to survive the apocalypse, because no one survives that. Rather, we’re trying to be faithful through the apocalypse.

Just like soldiers in the military prepare for war by training, so do we Christian soldiers of the cross prepare for war by training. We are the church militant! We are soldiers in a war! We’re preparing for imprisonment, torture, and battle. The first part of our preparation is that we live in repentance; we’re sustained by the means of grace, we live according to our forgiveness and trust the Lord to preserve us. But we’re not just passive here, God does call us into battle. Christ leads the charge, and we fight alongside Him.

To fight in this war and be faithful through the apocalypse means we need to train. Of course outward bodily preparation, like fasting, is important, but today we’re going to talk about that inner spiritual and mental preparation. This is primarily a spiritual war. We are soldiers in God’s army, and that requires work, it requires courage, discipline, and diligence. 

For the Christian the most basic and important preparation is memorization, learning by heart the things that make for peace. At a bare minimum every Christian needs to know the words of the Divine Service, the Catechism, some hymns, and some Bible Passages. Those are the things that make for peace which we’re to know.

We all need to know the words of the Sunday morning liturgy by heart. These words aren’t just random pieces pasted together, but they’re a cohesive whole which tell the story of redemption and salvation; our salvation! When these words are held in your mind and known by heart, they shape your soul to be formed after the things of God rather than the things of this world. These words are food for the soul and when you carry them in your heart they will nourish you even in times of famine. Should you be in a POW camp, your hymnals are taken away, you lose your sight or your mind, you won’t lose the Divine Service if it’s in your heart. You’ll always be united with the saints who’ve gone before and come after.

One of the best ways to memorize the Divine Service is simply to come to church weekly. When we intentionally use the same service every week we do ourselves and our children a great benefit. This was the service handed down to us from our forefathers and they have given us a rich heritage and treasure. I bet you have more of it memorized than you even realize; try singing it, or parts of it, without looking at the hymnal. You can do it. 

After the Sunday morning liturgy, we also need the catechism and Bible verses. We need more than just general ideas, we need the exact precise words in their order and in their context. If you only know basic ideas, it’s easy to get them confused and corrupt them. The catechism gives you the entire faith, from beginning to end, the commandments, the creed, prayer, the sacraments of baptism, confession, and communion. It’s all there. When you have the catechism and Bible verses in your heart, suddenly decisions you make, conversations you have, and problems that arise can be shaped not only with your opinions but with God’s own Word. We want our family, friends, and neighbors to be Christan? The best way is to speak with them, and if you have God’s Word in your heart then it becomes second nature for you to share the faith and bring others into God’s kingdom, thus sparing them from the coming destruction.

Alongside this memorization, a daily diet of scripture reading and prayer is essential. Don’t skip it. If you fall off the wagon, get back on. Not only are you a soldier, but you’re a priest, it’s your sacred privilege and duty to pray and read the scriptures in your home. 

With all of these things the church is here to help you. Each week we print off The Daily Prayers to give our whole congregation a schedule to memorize the Catechism, Bible Verses, Hymns, and read the Bible and say prayers. We do this all together. You don’t have to use this schedule, maybe you have a better schedule, that’s fine. The point is that we Christians need to be prepared, we need to know the things that make for peace, we need to fill our hearts with God’s Word through memorization, reading, singing, and praying. 

I know these things are hard and daunting. We’re all busy and tired. But don’t quit. Keep fighting! Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest. 

In all things, Rejoice! Jesus weeps to show you that He loves you. He provides you with all of these treasures in order to sustain you. He knows the great difficulty, and He spares no expense in preparing you for the end. Jesus not only makes peace, He is peace. That peace is yours. The words we memorize are meant to comfort and encourage us amidst life’s trials. In those words God speaks to us; He comforts, consoles, forgives, and emboldens. He’s coming soon. He will end all our sorrows. Until then, let us hang on His words, let us cling to the things that make for peace.