Luke 23:27-31

(Luke 23:27-31)

 

And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.  For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.  Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.  For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

 

Jesus, sentenced to death by Pilate, had been taken to the hill of Golgotha ​​with the cross. He was already bound and dragged back and forth. He couldn't sleep and was interrogated and beaten a lot. When the Roman soldiers saw Jesus, who was exhausted and could no longer carry the cross and go to the execution site, the Roman soldiers seized a Cyrene, Simon, who was nearby, and took up the cross instead of Jesus and followed him. Cyrene was the territory of the Roman Empire in North Africa, bordered on the west side of Egypt at the time of Jesus, and was the name of the region corresponding to today's Libya as well as the name of its main city near the Mediterranean coast. Many Jews came and settled. Simon was probably a Jew living in Cyrene who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

 

When Jesus was bound and dragged by the Roman soldiers, staggering the way of the cross, many people were following him. It would not be possible to say that all of those people were sorry for the death of Jesus. Some may have watched out of curiosity, or others may have been hostile to Jesus, mocking him, and chasing him to make sure he is dead. But there were also a large crowd of women who were striking and mourning over the suffering Jesus suffered and the death of the cross that he would suffer.

 

It cannot be said that all of the women's mourning striking their hearts was because of the unjust and unjust suffering and death of the Son of God and the Messiah. Of course, there must have been women who were beaten and saddened by the torments of a noble person who had performed many precious lessons and marvelous miracles of love. Anyway, the last word Jesus threw before he was crucified was directed at those women.

 

Of the four Gospels, these words are recorded only in Luke.『 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.』

 

Jesus said to the women, "But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children" As the Son of God, Jesus is the Messiah who came to save the world, and the way he took up the cross was the way of glory to fulfill the mission given by the Father who sent him. Because he would come back to life on the third day of his burial. The problem was not Jesus, but the women who followed Jesus. The Lord knew that the temple in Jerusalem would soon be completely destroyed by the Roman army, leaving no stone on the stone, and a terrible plague would come upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

 

The Lord grieved that it would be a day of terrible calamity that could hardly be endured for those who do not have the preparation of true faith. When the day of the plagues that will soon befall Jerusalem, people say, “For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.” Jesus said it would. "Being able to conceive and give birth to a child, and to feed that child" was the greatest happiness that Hebrew women received from God. The opposite was seen as a cursed life to them.

 

 However, how great and terrifying the disaster that will come soon is inevitable, there is no way to hide with them, cannot feed them, cannot bear the pain they will suffer, and it is difficult for the whole family to suffer the disaster together. It would be so painful that everyone would lament, "I would rather have had children," and be in a state of misery enough to envy those without children.

 

However, you might think so, but from the point of view of Israel and the Gentiles, the situation is that of Israel as a whole. Those who cannot conceive represent the Gentiles. God's grace goes to the Gentiles. So Israel was abandoned. What Jesus said at the end, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?.

『Blue Tree』 means Jesus himself, the Lord of life. And a dry tree is a tree that will immediately burn out, a word for all those who do not believe in and follow Jesus as Lord, who will not receive forgiveness of their sins from God and overcome the fire of judgment. Then, 『For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?』
Even though he is an innocent son of God, if he takes the anger of God who judges the sins of the world and is suffering from such a cross, then the suffering that all those who do not believe in him and consequently crucify him will suffer severely. Isn't it possible to do so? That is why Jesus spoke with a grievous heart.