Luke 19:40-48

Jesus responded, “Listen to me. If my followers were silenced, the very stones would break forth with praises!” When Jesus caught sight of the city, he burst into tears with uncontrollable weeping over Jerusalem, saying, “If only you could recognize that this day peace is within your reach! But you cannot see it. For the day is soon coming when your enemies will surround you, hem you in on every side, and lay siege to you. They will crush you to pieces, and your children too! And they will leave your city totally destroyed. Since you would not recognize God’s day of visitation, you will see your day of devastation!” Jesus entered the temple area and forcibly threw out all the merchants from their stalls. He rebuked them, saying, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Father’s house is to be filled with prayer—a house of prayer, not a cave of bandits!’ ” From then on Jesus continued teaching in the temple area, but the high priests, the experts of the law, and the prominent men of the city kept trying to find a strategy to accuse Jesus, for they wanted him dead. They could find no reason to accuse him, for he was a hero to the people and the crowds were awestruck by every word he spoke.