"And as they drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that belong to your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.'" (Luke 19:41,42 ).

"'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.... For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" ( Luke 23:28,31).

Jesus wept over Jerusalem. The women wept over Him, and He told them to weep for themselves and for their children. Grief at a moment of triumph, grief at a moment of desolation.

There is irony in the Palm Sunday story, for over its rejoicing hangs the shadow of the betrayal, trial and crucifixion. Was the angry crowd that called for His crucifixion the same multitude that hailed Him as King five days earlier? Why did the Lord ride in triumph, knowing the things that would surely come to pass? He did so to announce that He, the Divine truth from the Divine good, would rule all things; to give us a picture which will stand for all time of His majesty. And then the events of Gethsemane and Calvary let us know the nature of that majesty - that indeed His kingdom is not of this world.

Can we picture the scene on Palm Sunday? The multitudes were rejoicing and shouting, and then they saw their King weeping. This was not a brief moment, but a sustained weeping, which caused the writer of the gospel to hear of it. Did their shouting die down as they watched His grief, did they wonder when He pronounced doom upon the city they lived in? "Your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children with you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation." Then, perhaps, as He rode on, the cheering resumed, and the strange words were forgotten.

There is yet another irony; for the people shouted that peace had come. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Yet when Jesus wept, He said to the city, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."

This grand panorama speaks of the world inside each human being. It is in our minds, in the spiritual sense of the Word, that Jesus rides in triumph. When we see the wonder of His truth, sense its power over all things, we crown Him. All the events of Palm Sunday tell of those times when we acknowledge that the Lord, the visible God, rules our minds through the Word which is within us. It is a time of great rejoicing. Like the multitudes of Palm Sunday, we feel that this vision will sweep all that is evil away, and the Lord will easily reign within us as our King and our God.

Such happy times do come to us, and we can rejoice in them, and hail our Lord and King with jubilation. "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!" Peace comes through conjunction with the Lord whom we have seen (Apocalypse Explained 369:9, 11). Yet the Lord Himself knows that there are battles to come from those who know no peace. This too He warns us of in His Word. In the natural Jerusalem of the Lord's day the rulers had used falsity to destroy the truth, and they brought much grief upon the Christians. In the spiritual Jerusalem in our minds there are false values which would destroy peace. Before we get to heaven there is going to be a battle between our vision of the Lord and our self love which will abuse the truth to make that happen.

So the Lord wept, out there on the mount of Olives, as He looked down upon the city. His weeping was a sign of mercy, for He grieves over the states in us which will hurt us and which are opposed to our peace. (Arcana Coelestia 5480; Apocalypse Explained 365 [9]; cf. 365:11, 340). Yet His grief is an active force, it is mercy, working to eliminate those states. Jesus promised that Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed - not a single stone left standing. It is true that the natural Jerusalem was razed to the ground, but this is not what He meant. He promises us - even as He warns us of the battles to come - that He will triumph, and that our Jerusalem - our excuses for doing evil - will not stand. They will be decimated by His Word. (Cf. Arcana Coelestia 6588 [5]; Apocalypse Explained 365 [9]).

He wept from mercy, and He promised an end to weeping, for "His tender mercies are over all His works."

On Good Friday there was surely cause for weeping. Picture this scene: The women were following the cross, lamenting. Jesus must have been bleeding from the whipping, and scarred by the crown of thorns. He was surrounded by people who enjoyed seeing someone die. Those who called Him their enemy were satisfied that they had won.

His followers were desolate. Never had they imagined that the dream He had fostered would end this way, or the Leader they loved would be treated so terribly. They felt for Him in what they were sure was His suffering. They wept for Him.

Then perhaps the crowds that insulted Him were stilled as He turned to the mourners. Out of His infinite love He spoke. "'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.'" He did not think of His approaching agony, He grieved for those He loved. He would triumph. It was upon them that suffering would come. What clearer picture can we have of the goal which brought our God to earth than that sentence? He came because evil people and evil feelings bring misery to His children. He came to give them joy after their weeping, to give them consolation and hope, and finally to give them the certainty that there should be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying.

The women of that time did indeed face physical sorrow. It is heartbreaking to learn of the persecutions of the Christians, to think of people killed because they worship their God; of children being taken from them, of good people subject to the mercy of those who know no mercy. Indeed it must have seemed that the Lord was right in saying that it would have been better had they never borne children who would suffer so for their faith. "For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'"

But the real reason the Lord came down to earth was that within physical cruelty there is a far greater hurt. There are plenty of people walking this earth who wouldn't think of murdering someone else, but who regularly enjoy taking away something far more precious - his ability to follow his Lord.

That was why the Lord spoke those words, "Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." The daughters of Jerusalem represent the gentle love of truth with sincere people all over the world. Their children are the charity and faith which comes from the love of truth. These are the casualties of evil, especially when it infests a church. These are the things that cause internal weeping, a sorrow of the spirit that is the more devastating because it is silent.

"Daughters of Jerusalem," He called them. Our innocent love of the truth grows up together with our justification for being selfish. In fact, it is ruled by self justification, as the daughters of Jerusalem were ruled by a corrupt church. When those women tried to break loose from the Jewish Church they were persecuted. When our innocent love of the truth seeks to lead us to follow the Lord we suffer temptations in our spirits. The hells rise up and tempt us with all the selfish and evil delights we have ever had, and we indeed weep for ourselves.

You see, it is not the truth itself that suffers! "Weep not for Me," Jesus said. The truth is all powerful. It is our love for that truth which is tempted. It is our charity and our faith - the children of that love - which suffer.

"For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never nursed.'" Doesn't it seem to us at times that the people who have no truths, who have no ideals, are the ones that are happy? In fact this is a prophecy that those who are outside of the Church and find it afresh will have an easier time than those who bring the falsities of life into the battle.

On Palm Sunday, when Jesus wept, He said that Jerusalem would be destroyed. As I have said, He was actually promising the destruction of evil in us. On Good Friday He gave the same assurance: "Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"' These apparently harsh words are ones of comfort, for they promise that as the Lord's truth triumphs in us, heaven will draw nearer. When that happens the hells who tempt us will be unable to bear the presence of heaven, and will cover themselves over and hide.

"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" The listeners knew what that meant: if when He was among them they rejected His truth, what will they do when the memory of His presence and His miracles have dried up? In the internal sense the green wood is truth that is still alive from a love for it. Even when we see the ideals of the Word, we are going to struggle with temptation. But when that wood dries out, when we can't sense the life and power of truth, the battle becomes very much harder.

In both these images - His weeping on Palm Sunday, His sad warning to the women to weep for themselves and for their children, the Lord is preparing us to fight for what we believe. How does He prepare us? By assuring us, not only of the trials to come, but of the certainty of victory now that He has revealed His might. There is such wonder, such hope for eternal happiness in the true Christian religion. Yet no worthwhile love will ever be ours to keep until it has faced its challenges. There must be a time of weeping: our merciful Lord weeping over our struggles and giving us strength from mercy; our dreams and hopes weeping when we fear they are lost. Through the trial we express our commitment to our dreams, and He delivers us.

Less than twenty four hours before His arrest the Lord spoke again about weeping. At the Last Supper He said, "Most truly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice." But He did not stop there. "And you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."

When He was crucified and rose again, they must have thought that now His words were fulfilled. Now they had found the joy which no one could take from them. Perhaps when they suffered at the hands of persecutors and found joy among fellow-Christians they thought the same. And finally, when they had fought their private battles, and from His power overcome the enemy within, they knew what He really meant.

"Jesus wept over the city." "Weep for yourselves and for your children." Our love of the truth will be threatened and with it our hope for true faith and true charity. It was to that end that He came into the world and rode in triumph and drank of the cup of rejection and apparent death - to be able to turn our sorrow into joy. Therefore He could also say, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Amen.

(References: Luke 19:29-44, 23:24-38)

9192. 'He who sacrifices to the gods' means worship composed of falsities arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'offering sacrifice' as worship, worship being meant by 'offering sacrifice' because sacrifices were the chief forms of worship among the Israelite and Jewish people, 923, 6905, 8680, 8936; and from the meaning of 'the gods' as falsities, dealt with in 4402(end), 4544, 7873, 8941. The expression 'worship composed of falsities arising from evil' is used since it is the opposite of worship composed of truths springing from good. For the guidelines of all worship are religious teachings, which to the extent that they spring from good are truths, and to the extent that they arise from evil are falsities. The truths derive the essence and the life that is theirs from the good, while on the other hand the falsities derive the death that is theirs from the evil.

[2] The implications of all this are that there are some people who possess authentic truths, some who possess unauthentic truths, and some who possess falsities. And yet those who possess the authentic truths are often damned, while those who possess the unauthentic truths, and those too who possess falsities, are often saved. To most people this will seem to be paradoxical, but it is nevertheless the truth. Actual experience has proved it to me. I have seen in hell those who were more learned than others in truths derived from the Word and from the teachings of their Church, both prelates and others. On the other hand I have seen in heaven those who possessed unauthentic truths, and even those who possessed falsities, both Christians and gentiles.

[3] The reason why the former were in hell was that in doctrine they had indeed possessed truths, but in life they had been steeped in evils. And the reason why the latter were in heaven was that in doctrine they had indeed possessed unauthentic truths, but in life they had nevertheless been governed by good. Some spirits who had arrived recently in the next life and to whom I was allowed to speak were amazed that those who were more learned than others in the Word and in the teachings of their Church should be among the damned. They had supposed that these would be leading lights in heaven, in accordance with the following words in Daniel,

Those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and into eternity. Daniel 12:3.

But I told those spirits that 'those who have intelligence' are people who possess truth and teach truths, and 'those who turn others to righteousness' are people who are governed by good and lead others to good, and that this was why the Lord said,

The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43.

The word 'righteousness' has reference to good, so that 'the righteous' are those governed by good, see 2235.

[4] I went on to tell those spirits that people who are learned in doctrine but evil in the life they lead are the ones to whom the Lord was referring in Matthew,

Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name, and through Your name cast out demons, and do many mighty works in Your name? But then I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matthew 7:22-23.

And in Luke,

Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; You taught in our streets. But He will say, I say to you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:26-27.

The same people were also meant by the foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps, who are spoken of in Matthew,

Finally those virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He replying said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Matthew 25:11-12.

'Having oil in their lamps' means having good within truths that belong to the Church's faith, 4638, 'oil' being the good of love, see 886, 4582.

[5] I also told those spirits that those who possess unauthentic truths, and indeed those who as a result of their ignorance possess falsities, yet are governed by good and therefore desire to know the truth, were meant by the Lord in Matthew,

I say to you that many will come from the east even to the west and will recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness. Matthew 8:11-12.

And in Luke,

They will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, reclining in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Luke 13:29-30.

The fact that gentiles who are governed by good, even though as a result of their ignorance they possess unauthentic truths, are received into heaven, see 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197.

[6] From all this it now becomes clear that 'those who sacrifice to the gods' means people whose worship consists of falsity arising from evil, and that they are the ones who 'shall be utterly destroyed', that is, cast out. Falsities arising from evil are evils in an outward form, for when evil steps out into the light and dons an outward form it is called falsity. So it is that if people are ruled by evil in the life they lead, then even though in doctrine they possess truths, they are still steeped in falsities arising from their evil. The truth of this is plain to see in the next life. When those people are left to themselves, then evil that goes against the truths they have known and claimed to believe in governs their thinking, that is, falsities compose it. Those same people behave in a similar way in the world if left to themselves; for then their thoughts are such that those people either pervert truths or deny truths, in order to justify the evils of their life.

[7] But people who are governed by good yet possess unauthentic truths, and even people who possess falsities because they know no better (of whom there are very many within the Church, and also very many outside it, called gentiles), do indeed regard their falsities as truths. But since these falsities proceed from good and those people bend them towards good, there is nothing harmful about them, as there is about falsities that arise from evil. And since falsities arising from good are gentle and yielding, those people are capable of receiving truths, and do indeed receive them when given instruction by angels. These falsities may be compared to food that looks bad but is nevertheless palatable, whereas falsities arising from evil may be compared to bad-looking food that is rotten inside. Truths that arise from evil however may be compared to food that looks good yet contains what is harmful, or if hypocrisy is present is poisonous, as the Lord teaches in Matthew,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly do indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27.