Do not weep for Me

Luke 23:27-31: “And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ 31 For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?’”

Jesus was mocked and convicted, scourged and beaten. He was made to carry an old rugged cross until He could not take another step. A man from the crowd was pulled in to help this convicted felon drag this heavy cross to the place of execution. While He was struggling His way to Golgotha, He noticed the women as He passed by mourning and wailing at the state of their messiah. They beat Him to near death, and then the officials made a sport of mocking and beating a man who did nothing to them and did not fight back. The scriptures told them that He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a lamb is quiet, so He would be quiet. He would not fight and cause an uprising; He being God would not send down a legion of Angels to stop this. Why would He? This was His mission, His purpose. If He did not do this then there would be no hope for the Jews whom He loved so much. There would be no hope for the political leaders who were willing to kill an innocent man. If He did not continue there would be no hope for you or for me.

These women wept for Jesus. Look at what they had done to their Savior, Master, and Friend, and now they are going to kill Him because of their jealousies. Jesus rebuked them, not harshly, and not in a condemning manner, but rather with compassion in His voice and love on His mind. He told them not to weep for Him, but rather to weep for themselves and their children. He was telling them that they needed to understand what was truly going on here. There was coming a time that would be worse then this. Worse then this! Yes, this was just the beginning. There will be coming a time that they will not be satisfied with Just the blood of Jesus, but with the blood of all of those who call Him Lord. He was telling them to weep for themselves because they will be next. He also wanted them to realize that what He was doing was for their benefit. Jesus said that anyone who desires to follow after Him would also suffer.

For the Christ follower, we should never think that suffering should not come our way. If we are followers of the true Jesus we must understand that He tells His church that sufferings will come and that that is expected in the life of a disciple. Jesus was letting these women know that this was just the beginning and to see how hard it is. He wanted them to prepare for the time when this thing would really get going. Therefore, what can we say about us 2000 years later? Are we fulfilling this scripture today? "For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" We as a body must be geared up; are you ready? Jesus was securing a victory on the cross, not so we can live this life of prosperity, but rather that we can be a witness during the times of suffering and persecution.


Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: 1 Kings 8-9 New Testament Luke 23:39-56