The Perfect Man: Bible Talks On Luke, Luke 19:41-48: Peace Refused (19:41-48)


The name “Jerusalem” means “city of peace.” On one high part was Mount Zion, with the king’s house; on the other high part, Mount Moriah, was the temple, where God was to be honored. All was for the people’s good and for peace. Yet, because of their sins, they had wars and trouble, the opposite of peace.

Many years they had no ruler of their own, but were ruled by cruel kings of other lands. But it was promised in the Scriptures that God would give them a holy King, or ruler, to bring peace. It was written of that One as first a child, “Unto us a child is born,” who would grow then older, “Unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” One of His names was to be “Prince [ruler] of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

When Jesus was born in the town near Jerusalem, the angel said, “Peace on earth”; He was the One to bring peace, and when older, He did the good written of that One.

Perfect Prophecy

It was written that the holy King would be just and lowly, and how He would ride into Jerusalem, (Zechariah 9:9). The year this holy Ruler would be born a child was not foretold, but the exact year He should be there as “Prince,” or Ruler, was written, He being also called “Messiah,” which meant the One anointed and chosen by God.

The Israelites were captives many years in another country; then God told Cyrus, who ruled over them, to send them back to build up Jerusalem, (Ezra 1:1-5). An angel told the prophet Daniel that from the time of that command “unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks,” or 69 “weeks” (Daniel 9:25).

A week to us means seven days, but then a “week” also meant seven years (as shown in Genesis 29:27-28), and it was entirely plain to the people then, that 69 “weeks” meant 483 years. They knew well the year of command to restore their city, so they could count the 483 years from then to know the year the holy King would be there.

All the people who knew the writings should have been expecting Him, and that was the year the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem. But the men of the temple, who had the writings, did not want the holy King.

Jesus knew they would refuse Him, yet He mourned that they would have no peace. He looked down on the city, perhaps from the Mount of Olives where He stayed at night, and wept, and spoke as though to the city itself, “If thou hadst known  ...  the things which belong unto thy peace!” He was the One to bring peace and deliver them from their enemies, if they had welcomed Him. But instead of peace, Jesus said that an army would surround the city and fight against them until all would be broken down and the people destroyed. Because they knew “not the time of their visitation,” meant that they did not believe the coming of the holy King.

Although refused by Israel, the Lord Jesus, by His death on the cross, made peace, which God offers now, not to one city only, but to every person who will accept Him.

“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Further Meditation

1. Where had the Lord’s coming as Messiah been prophesied?

2. How are man’s predictions different from God’s prophesies? What does fulfilled prophecy tell us about God’s knowledge of the future? What other reasons do we have for being confident that God knows best how to direct our lives?

3. If you would benefit from a richer understanding of the prophecy referred to in Daniel 9, you can find it in the pamphlet The Seventy Weeks of Daniel’s Prophecy by W. Kelly.