Jesus wept over Jerusalem's rejection of Him, lamenting that He "desired to gather your children together... and you were not willing." Scripture teaches that God's external call is genuine and His sorrow is real. Yet the internal call of the Holy Spirit always accomplishes its purpose.
Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives and weeps over Jerusalem. He has just pronounced judgment on the religious leaders for their rejection of His message. His words are desperate and tender at once: "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37).
But if God is sovereign—if He controls all things and accomplishes all His purposes—then how could Jerusalem be "not willing"? How could Jesus desire something and have it thwarted? Didn't He predestine the events of history? Didn't He know from eternity that Jerusalem would reject Him?
This is the tension that trips up so many believers. Scripture presents two seemingly contradictory realities: God's call is genuine and universal (the external call), and God's call is always effective in those whom He chooses (the internal call). The resolution lies in understanding the difference between these two kinds of calling.
The external call is the proclamation of the gospel to all people. It's the message: "Come to Christ. Believe. Repent. Be saved." This call goes to everyone—the elect and the non-elect, the willing and the unwilling. It is a genuine offer of grace and salvation. Jesus really was offering Himself to Jerusalem. He really did desire to gather them. His offer was not a facade or a trick.
Consider Christ's lament over Jerusalem:
Notice: Jesus's desire is real. His "how often" speaks of genuine repeated attempts. His metaphor of the hen and her brood is an image of warmth, care, and protection. This is not the language of pretense. Jesus genuinely wanted to gather Jerusalem's children. The external call is Christ's authentic offer of salvation to all who would hear.
The external call has several characteristics:
The external call is the Word of God preached. It's the Christian witness. It's the Spirit testifying "come." And it's available to everyone. But not everyone responds to it. Why? Not because the call isn't genuine, but because the call is resistible. People have the capacity—and the reality—to reject it.
Jesus's tears over Jerusalem are not crocodile tears. They express the real emotional reality of God the Son as He encounters human resistance to His offer of grace. This is part of what it means to affirm God's sovereignty alongside human responsibility. God genuinely offers salvation. God genuinely desires that all people be saved. And yet, God's sovereignty means that His desire encompasses more than just the offer—it includes the accomplishment. Some will reject the external call. And God's purpose is not thwarted; it is accomplished in a larger framework that includes even that rejection.
Contrasted with the external call is what scripture teaches about the internal call—the inward work of the Holy Spirit by which God creates the very response that He commands. The internal call is the effectual call. It's irresistible not in the sense of forcing the will through coercion, but in the sense that it infallibly produces what it intends.
Luke records the conversion of Lydia at Philippi, and his language is illuminating:
Paul extended the external call—he preached to Lydia. But something more happened. "The Lord opened her heart." This is the internal call. It's the Holy Spirit's invisible, sovereign work within Lydia's spirit. And what's the result? She "paid attention." She believed. She was baptized. Her entire household followed her into faith.
Jesus teaches directly about the necessity of the internal call:
The word "draws" here is significant. It's not a passive suggestion; it's an active attracting. The Father's drawing is the internal call. And notice the result: those whom the Father draws "come" to Christ. The internal call is effective. It produces what it purposes. The Father will raise them up on the last day. There is no uncertainty here. No "might come" or "could be saved." The Father's internal call produces faith and secures salvation.
Unlike the external call, the internal call has these marks:
Scripture affirms both God's absolute sovereignty and genuine human responsibility. The external call demonstrates human responsibility: we are commanded to repent, called to believe, held accountable for our response. The internal call demonstrates God's sovereignty: He accomplishes His purpose in salvation through His irresistible grace. Both are true. Both are biblical. Both are necessary. The external call explains our obligation; the internal call explains God's efficacy.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because His external call was rejected. His offer was genuine. His desire was real. But His sovereignty meant that He also foreknew that Jerusalem would refuse. So how can both be true? Because God's sovereignty includes not just foreknowledge but the accomplishment of His purposes in a way that includes both the offer and the refusal. Jesus's tears don't contradict His foreknowledge. They coexist. God's plan includes even the rejection of His offer. His purpose is larger than the single moment of offer-and-refusal. The cross itself—the greatest rejection of Jesus—was the centerpiece of God's redemptive plan. God's sovereignty and Jesus's genuine grief are not enemies; they are partners in the accomplishment of salvation.
The external call goes to all. Yet belief is not universal. Why? The answer is the internal call. Where the internal call is absent, people hear the gospel but do not respond in faith. Where the internal call is present, the Spirit opens the heart, and faith follows. This explains both the universality of the gospel proclamation and the particularity of its saving effect. We are called to extend the external call to all (Matthew 28:19-20). God's prerogative is to give the internal call to whom He chooses (John 6:37). Our faithfulness is measured by our obedience in the external call. God's faithfulness is measured by His accomplishment through the internal call.
When you understand the two calls, you can hold these truths without tension: You can preach the gospel with all your heart, knowing that your proclamation is part of God's plan. You can call people to faith with genuine urgency, knowing that their response is their responsibility. And you can rest in God's sovereignty, knowing that in the end, His purpose will be accomplished through the irresistible work of His grace. Jesus can genuinely weep over a rejection while simultaneously being at peace in the sovereignty of God. And you can be both urgent in evangelism and confident in God's promises. Both calls are real. Both are necessary. And together, they reveal the complete picture of God's character and His plan of salvation.
The general offer of the gospel to all who hear.
The grace that overcomes all objections and transforms the willing heart.
The logical and temporal sequence of God's saving work.
How God sovereignly draws His chosen people to Himself.
Understanding the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Why sinners cannot save themselves and must be rescued by God.