Lamentations: The Weeping Prophet

When we look at Christ in the book of Lamentations, we don't need to look any further than the title. The entire book is full of the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah, who was known as the weeping prophet back in the Old Testament. Why did this prophet get this title and how then can we see Christ in the same light? 

It was because of the sins and ultimately the destruction of Judah. They had become so wicked that God allowed them to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Jeremiah had so desperately wanted the people to return to God that seeing the city of Jerusalem in its destroyed state moved him to tears. From the very opening of the book, we see Jeremiah's tears: "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!
how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! (Lamentations 1:1)" 

As you move through the book, you constantly see terms of sadness and hopelessness. Words like weep, mourn, and distress show the condition of the hearts of the righteous who still follow God. Words like desolate, solitary, cut off, and captivity show the condition of the country that has been left behind by the people who once followed God and of the people who now live far from home.

And through all of these lamentations, all of this hopelessness, all of this destruction, we can still see a picture of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is seen in the author, Jeremiah with the same name-- the weeping prophet.

Just as Jeremiah wept over the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus also wept over Jerusalem. Luke 19:41-44 tells this story of Jesus. 
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Just as Jerusalem was destroyed in the time of Jeremiah by Babylon, it would one day be destroyed by the Romans. And Jesus wept because of that! In another passage he pleaded with the citizens of Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)" It broke His heart that His people would not follow Him.
And it still breaks His heart.

It breaks His heart when sinners reject the salvation that He died to secure. It breaks His heart when those who He has saved live like there has not been a sacrifice made for them. It breaks His heart to think that there are those who have not even heard His name once. 

Where does that leave us? Our hearts should break for what His heart breaks for. It's cliche, I know, but seeing sinners die and go to hell, seeing believers live in sin, and seeing people die without ever hearing the gospel should break out hearts. We must strive to emulate the heart of Christ and allow His burden to become ours.