Soon they came to the top of the Mount of Olives, and then the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were in sight before them. As Jesus looked upon the city, the tears came into his eyes and he said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! If only you might know, even now, while yet there is time, what would give you peace! But no, it is hidden from your sight! The time is coming when your enemies will build walls and forts around you, and shut you in on every side; and trample you down into the dust, and your children with you. They will not leave in you one stone standing upon another--and all because you would not understand when the Lord was visiting you." Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, and across the valley of the brook Kedron. At the gate of the Temple he got off from the back of the colt, and sent it with the ass back to its owner. As he came into the city and the Temple there was a great stir, the people everywhere flocking to meet him. "Who is this?" they said; and the crowds answered, "This is the Prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee!" [Illustration: Many waved branches of palm, and all the multitude shouted together: "God save the King, the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's name!"] The Pharisees said to each other, "We can do nothing! The whole world has gone after Jesus!" Everybody, both the friends and enemies of Jesus, looked to have him take control of the city and act as a king. But Jesus only went into the Temple and walked around it. By this time it was evening, and Jesus returned with his disciples to Bethany. Forty years after that time, the terrible things that Jesus declared were to fall upon Jerusalem, did come to pass. The Jews rose against the Romans and made war upon them. A mighty Roman army came, and swept over all the land, bringing ruin and death everywhere. The Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, and built a strong wall around it, so that no one could come out or go in. The people fought desperately, until they were starved and could fight no more. At last the Romans broke into the Temple, and set the city on fire. Both the Temple and all the city were utterly destroyed; untold thousands of the people were slain, and many thousands more were sold as slaves. And from that time, seventy years after Jesus was born, and forty years after he died on the cross, the Jews have not had of their own a land or a city. [Illustration: After teaching in the Temple all day, Jesus went out in the evening over the Mount of Olives to the home of his friends in Bethany.] Monday on the Mount and in the Temple CHAPTER 74