19:41 {9} And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
(9) Christ is not delighted with destruction, no not even of the wicked.
19:41 He beheld the city, and wept over it. This lament over the wicked city is given only by Luke (Lu 19:41-44). In that moment when the multitude is shouting his praises, his heart is breaking over the woes of the city that he knew would slay him. Only in one other place are we told that Jesus wept (Joh 11:35), each time over human sorrow.
19:41-48 Who can behold the holy Jesus, looking forward to the miseries that awaited his murderers, weeping over the city where his precious blood was about to be shed, without seeing that the likeness of God in the believer, consists much in good-will and compassion? Surely those cannot be right who take up any doctrines of truth, so as to be hardened towards their fellow-sinners. But let every one remember, that though Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he executed awful vengeance upon it. Though he delights not in the death of a sinner, yet he will surely bring to pass his awful threatenings on those who neglect his salvation. The Son of God did not weep vain and causeless tears, nor for a light matter, nor for himself. He knows the value of souls, the weight of guilt, and how low it will press and sink mankind. May he then come and cleanse our hearts by his Spirit, from all that defiles. May sinners, on every side, become attentive to the words of truth and salvation.
