"From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and
peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the
Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to
celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of gardens and
capital. The daughter of Zion seemed in her pride to say, "I sit a
queen, and shall see no sorrow;" as lovely then, and deeming herself as
"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,"
"the city of the great King." Psalm 48:2. In full view were the
magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun lighted
up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls, and gleamed from golden gate
and tower and pinnacle. "The perfection of beauty" it stood, the pride
of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene
without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied
the mind of Jesus. "When He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept
over it." Luke 19:41. Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal
entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes
Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the
Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death,
and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary
grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony."
...The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan
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