“If this day you only knew what makes for peace—
But now it is hidden from your eyes”

Hindsight is 20/20. Looking back after something has already happened, it’s easy to see what changes would have been beneficial. It’s easy to find an option that would have led to a different outcome. But once things have been done, it’s hard to undo them. Once you’re in a war, it’s hard to get out. In the midst of a war, it’s tempting to look back and try to figure out how the war might have been avoided. When soldiers and civilians are dying, we want to think, could this have been avoided? Could there have been some appropriate way to keep peace instead of waging war? And the people who start the wars are almost never the same people who fight them! But once it’s started, it’s hard to go back. You can’t unkill the people. And you can’t always just stop in the middle. Once a thing is started, you can’t go back and redo and change the situation. And there is only destruction ahead. The people did not recognize the signs or take the appropriate steps that could have avoided the demise.

This is true in war and peace, and also in a more symbolic sense. Jesus is the peace. He wept for the people of Jerusalem because they had an opportunity to take the peaceful route, but once they passed that option, the downward spiral was inevitable. If today people only realized that what makes for peace is Jesus, they could experience that peace and save their souls. But letting that pass, destruction is inevitable. The people of Jerusalem did not recognize the visitations, and many people today do not either. Those who recognize the signs and know that Christ is peace gain that peace. Those who do not recognize the time of their visitation get destruction. And Jesus weeps for them, knowing they had an opportunity to take the appropriate route but did not.