115. Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (continued)
37As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”39And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
41And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, 42saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. 43For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44and dash you 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.”b
19The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing; look, the world has gone after him.”
(Lk. 19:37–44; Jn. 12:19)
b “For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you 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.”—This prophecy was swiftly fulfilled. In AD 70 the Roman army leveled Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and dispersed the Jews living there.
The following description of this event is found on page 195 of Civilization Past and Present, a standard college history text: "During centuries of tribulation, the Prophets had taught that God would one day create a new Israel where righteousness prevailed under a divinely appointed leader, a Messiah. But groups concerned less with a spiritual kingdom than with an independent political state called for rebellion. In AD 66 violence erupted. The Roman garrison at Jerusalem was massacred, and the revolt spread beyond the walls of the city. Rome met the challenge with a large army commanded by Vespasian. When in AD 69 Vespasian was proclaimed emperor and went to Rome, his son Titus completed the siege of Jerusalem. The siege was recorded in all its horror by the Jewish historian Josephus: 'While the [temple] was on fire, everything was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain: nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men... and priests, were slain in the same manner.'” (The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, III Bk. 4, Ch. 5)
“Although other revolts were attempted later and Roman armies devastated Palestine even more completely, the wholesale destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 spelled the end of the ancient Hebrew state. The Jews' dream of an independent political state was to remain unrealized for almost nineteen centuries, until, as a result of United Nations action, the republic of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.”
(172:3/1881–3)
