The passage is Luke 23:26-32.
“And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.” (Luke 23:26–32, ESV)
This section begins and ends with Jesus being "led away" to be crucified. It continues with Romans conscripting Simon to carry the cross for Jesus because He no longer has the physical strength to carry it. This is a beautiful look at how we are called to carry one another's burdens and to mourn when our brothers and sisters in Christ mourn. After this moment the other three gospels are silent regarding what happens next.
Luke tells us that there were a bunch of people following Jesus, mourning and lamenting His imminent death. This is where something strange happens. Jesus stops, turns towards them, and tells them to stop weeping for Him. Instead, they are to weep for themselves and their children. He explains the reason for this is that the day is approaching when judgement will fall on the nation of Israel. (This is why He refers to them as Daughters of Jerusalem.) In that day the judgement will be so fierce that the women who were once called accursed for their barrenness will be called blessed. The reason is that they will only have to fear for themselves and not for their babies. Jesus then quotes a section of Hosea regarding how people will welcome death in exchange of having to stand before God's wrath. (While I believe that this is a further prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Titus in 70 A.D., this truth can also be applied to those who do not know Christ today. For when He comes again and all eye's have the Truth appear. They will fear the coming destruction.)
Verse 31 can be a bit confusing. Jesus is the green wood and the people are dry. He is communicating in word pictures here. Think about it...Jesus is the only righteous one to ever walk on this earth. Now at the hands of the Romans through the blessing of the leadership of Israel He is being handed over for death. But how easily does green wood burn? It is extremely difficult to burn fresh wood. On the contrary a nation that is filled with a works based righteousness and is far from God will be consumed easily.
Now comes the beauty of this passage. Jesus in excruciating pain and at His physical limitations is still concerned for the people around Him. He lets them know that there is no need to weep for Him because He is in charge. He is going to the cross willingly for their benefit. And now for their benefit He preaches repentance to the nation once more.
What I see in this passage is that JESUS NEVER STOPS CARING ABOUT US. That while we still have breath on this earth it is never to late to repent and turn to Him. So to mom's and dad's when you are at your physical limits you will be amazed at what your spiritual limit is. Because no matter how good or bad my daughter behaves I will always do everything in my power to help her. And we have the Good Father That is the type of caring that Jesus continually has for us.
So when life isn't fair and you are physically and emotionally spent...rejoice in the trials and let family, friends, and co-workers know why you can rejoice. Let them know about the hope that is in you. The reason is, it may be the only way someone finds out that JESUS NEVER STOPS CARING ABOUT US.
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