Amy C Walters

The Crucifixion | Luke 23:26-43

On his way to the cross, Jesus has one final public lesson. He tells the women who mourned for him, “Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.” Jesus calls them not to be sorry for him but to be sorry for their own sin. Because when we weep for our sin, we acknowledge that we are complicit in what he suffered.

Jesus’ last public teaching happens on his way to the cross. He’s on this death march through Jerusalem. Simon of Cyrene is carrying the crossbar for him, and Jesus is followed by a large number of people, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 

Their response makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, this group of women probably included those from Galilee who had followed him and supported him. They’re mentioned in the next story as standing at a distance watching Jesus’ execution (Luke 23:49). They would be absolutely devastated to see Jesus go through this. And Jesus by this time is so disfigured by his beating and the scourging that he’s barely recognizable. So their mourning and wailing is a natural response to what is happening. 

In the midst of all this chaos and suffering, Jesus stops to teach them this lesson. He says, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed is the childless woman, the womb that never bore and the breast that never nursed.’ Then ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us” and to the hills, “cover us!”’ For if people do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it’s dry?” 

So much is packed into these few sentences. To begin, Jesus calls these women “Daughters of Jerusalem,” but he’s not just talking to women who live in that city. It’s actually a term used several times in different prophetic books to refer to the people of Jerusalem, and then by extension, all the people of Israel. 

In fact, one of those times that “Daughters of Jerusalem” appears is in Zechariah 9:9, the same chapter that the crowds quoted from on Palm Sunday when they welcomed Jesus as their king. So the use of this term signals to the mourners that what’s happening right here is tied to prophecy. 

Next, Jesus tells them, “Don’t weep for me.” What?! How could they not weep considering his condition and sentence? 

Notice, though, he’s not saying this as in, “Keep a stiff upper lip.” It’s not, “Don’t let them see you cry. Don’t let them know they got you.” And it’s not about being strong ‘cause it’s all gonna be ok. 

Instead, Jesus redirects their weeping. Don’t weep for him. Weep for themselves. Weep for their children. Why? 

Because there’s a time coming when it would be better to not have children at all so that you won’t have to watch them suffer. Because the time will be so bad that people beg for the mountains to bury them. 

Jesus quotes here from Hosea 10:8, where the prophet Hosea warns about God’s coming judgment for Israel’s sin. In one sense, this judgment has already happened. In 722 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria, and the people were carried off into exile. 

But why would Jesus quote that here if that event had already happened? Because God’s Word is robust, and some prophecies have a near fulfillment, close to when it is delivered, and a far fulfillment, further in the future. So one prophecy can refer to several different events. 

Jesus here is talking about judgment that’s still to come. In one sense, it’s a judgment for Jerusalem specifically. Kevin DeYoung points out that this is the seventh time in Luke where Jesus warns that judgment is coming for Jerusalem. 

Some of the people present with Jesus when he says this will be in Jerusalem 37 years later when the Romans destroy it. Some of the people in that very crowd might experience that judgment that’s coming. We know from historical accounts that time was particularly brutal.

But I believe that Jesus is looking even beyond that. For instance, Hebrews 9:26b-28 says, “But as it is, he, Jesus, has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” 

Notice that these verses do tell us that Jesus put away sin by sacrificing himself. And he bore the sins of many.

But also notice that right in the middle, it tells us that people are appointed to die once, then face judgment. Every one of us will die and face God. Are we ready? 

Judgment didn’t just come for Jerusalem for their murder of Jesus. Judgment comes for everyone who has not trusted in Jesus’ sacrifice. 

Dick Lucas summarizes Jesus’ message like this, “Don’t weep for me, don’t pity me. Weep for yourselves, for your sin, because judgment is coming.” Judgment at the fall of Jerusalem and judgment when you meet God.

Jesus goes on to say that if people do this while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Kevin DeYoung writes, “If Jesus is not spared the cruelty of the cross, how will the nation of Israel escape divine judgment? Don’t cry for the Son of Man doing the Father’s will, cry for those who will face God’s wrath if they do not repent.” 

Our key truth for today is that we must weep over sin.

Jesus found this message so important that he stopped on his way to the cross to deliver it. It’s the last lesson that he teaches to the crowd. 

It can be easy to go to a Good Friday service or watch movies about Jesus’ life and death like “The Passion” and have an emotional response to it. Jesus did endure so much. But until we recognize and admit that our sin put him there, our weeping is worthless. 

Sometimes our weeping for Jesus can become a substitute for us repenting of our own sin. This religious fervor becomes something that we use to distance ourselves from having to make any change in our own lives. We make the judgment about Jesus, ignoring the stark truth that our sin is what caused his pain. When we weep for our sin, we acknowledge that we are complicit in what he suffered.

This Hosea 10 passage is referenced one more time in the Bible. It’s in the book of Revelation. And in this description of the end times, of the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation 6:15-17, it says, “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?’” 

Everyone who has not trusted Jesus, from great kings and generals to lowly slaves, will call on the mountains to fall on them and hide them from God’s wrath. 

The thought of God’s wrath is scary. We don’t like to think about it. 

But Jesus points our attention to it, because there’s also good news. There’s escape from that wrath, an escape that Jesus is in that moment providing. Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” 

Jesus’ sacrifice saves those who accept it. Have you?