”As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will… [destroy you] because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’ ” (Luke 19:41-44)

In the midst of the Palm Sunday celebration, there are tears being shed by the One who is the reason for the celebration. It’s a situation that appears to be totally upside down from our earthly viewpoint. When a teacher sees a student refusing to comprehend what is being taught, and the teacher has to hand that student a failing grade, which of them would you expect to be crying? The teacher? “Palm Sunday was a day of insight and a day of misunderstanding. The insight that Jesus was the Savior would eventually bring joy, and the misunderstanding would bring about destruction – the murder of Jesus a few days later, and the destruction of the entire city 40 years later. And Jesus saw it all coming. It is dead wrong to view His tears of mercy as a sign of weakness. His sovereign power is all the more beautiful because of His tears.” (John Piper)

It means that Jesus feels the sorrow of the situation. “It means that Jesus is more emotionally complex than we can imagine. No doubt there is a deep inner peace that God is totally in control and that God’s ultimate wise purposes will come to pass. But that doesn’t mean you can’t grieve and let the tears flow. He is clearly teaching that’s okay for us too! The theme of the celebration was supposed to be peace. It was the opening proclamation in Luke’s gospel, ‘peace on earth!’ (Luke 2:14) But because ‘He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him’ (John 1:11), there could be no lasting peace on earth. Instead, there would be bitter conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil. However, thanks be to Christ’s work on the cross, we do have peace with God and His assurance of everlasting peace. We have finally understood the greatest good news possible – Christ is alive!” (Sinclair Ferguson) And by believing in Him, we can spread the word with gladness, and no more tears, because we know that He is the only Way that can bring us peace. (John 14:27 and 17:1-3)