Luke 23:24

The Bible says in Luke 23:24-31, “And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 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?”

There were several women who were faithful in their service to Jesus Christ. They were even faithful to Him in the dark day of His crucifixion. As Jesus was led through the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to these women who were weeping and lamenting, and He said to them, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” We know that the tragedy of the crucifixion would be quickly followed by the joy of the resurrection, but that’s not why Jesus told these women not to weep. Jesus warned them of a great tragedy that would befall all of them. He was probably talking about the destruction of Jerusalem that would eventually come at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

Life has its sorrows and some of them are very difficult to bear. There is a time to mourn and to weep, but there is also a time to beware of the sorrows that just may come your way. Those of us who believe are realists. We do not ignore the fact that the grave awaits us. We have thought about the shortness of life and therefore we have reached out the more earnestly for faith in Jesus Christ and for the hope that He alone can give. One of the realities of life is that great sorrow and tragedy can happen to anyone, and usually when it does happen, we least expect it, which makes the pain that much more difficult to bear. God does not want His children to be unwise concerning the pain and sorrow that it may be their lot to bear.

And so Jesus told these women who were citizens of Jerusalem to weep and wail for themselves and for their children because of what would happen to them as inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem. There will come another generation who will live in Jerusalem that must be given a similar warning. The nations of the world will come once again to destroy the holy city in the time of the antichrist that is yet to come.

Notice the source of the calamities in Luke chapter 23 that Jesus said would eventually come upon Jerusalem. Jesus said, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” “These things” that Jesus spoke of were His own arrest, torture, and crucifixion. If such horrible injustices could be carried out by religious and political leaders when the Son of God was in the flesh on the earth, then the evil deeds that they will do will be even worse when the Son of God is not in the flesh on the earth. Oh, man’s inhumanity to man: it knows no depths of depravity to which it cannot sink.

Jesus said to the women of Jerusalem who lamented Him, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” Then Jesus said that people would say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare.” The greatest sorrow possible for a human being is what a mother or father can suffer when watching some tragedy happen to their child. Those who have no children will at least never suffer the greatest of human sufferings. Jesus gave this warning to the women of Jerusalem. Perhaps at such times when a disaster befalls a child, humans understand just a little bit what God the Father must have suffered when He watched His Son tread the streets of Jerusalem on His way to a cruel death on a Roman cross.

The Bible says in Luke 23:32-34, “And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” This statement that Jesus made on the cross may have been the greatest thing that He did in His life. After He had been betrayed, forsaken, unjustly condemned, beaten, tortured, spit upon, mocked, and then crucified, the response that Jesus Christ gave to all of this and to those who had done these things was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Not many human beings have been able to forgive their enemies in the way that Jesus did. The teachings of Jesus sound good as a philosophy of life, but they can be extremely difficult to follow. It is a lot easier to say, “Yes, I will love my enemies,” when you do not have an enemy. But once someone has done or said something against you and thereby becomes your enemy, it is much more difficult to say, “I love my enemies.” The teaching of Jesus to love your enemies and to forgive those who trespass against you are some of the highest and most noble of all teachings given to mankind. They are also the most difficult. In order to obey this commandment, you will have to be empty of self and you will have to die to self, which is no easy task.

How valuable are the teachings of Jesus Christ and how wise! If only more people in the world did obey the teachings of Christ! How much better off they would be, and how much better off the world would be! When you hate someone or when you get revenge on someone, often you cause yourself more suffering than the person you hate. Of course, there is always the vicious cycle of each person getting revenge on the other, and the cycle keeps escalating. Many of the wars in human history and other quarrels and disagreements would have never happened if what Jesus said on the cross of Calvary was copied by more people.

Of course, the reason that Jesus went to the cross was for the purpose of the forgiveness of sins. He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The book of Isaiah was written about 500 years before Christ. Isaiah prophesied what the Messiah would accomplish and would suffer. The Bible says in Isaiah 53:2-12 concerning the Messiah, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He did not come to condemn. He came to save. Of course, those who were watching Him hang on the cross did not know this. The Bible says in Luke 23:35, “And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.” The wonderful truth is that because Jesus came to the earth to save others, He allowed Himself to be crucified. As the song says, “He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free.” But instead “He died alone for you and me.”

The Bible says in Luke 23:36-38, “And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Pilate ordered this sign to be placed above Christ on the cross. This passage says that the soldiers mocked Him, but probably Pilate was not mocking Him by having the sign placed there. Pilate was the kind of man who for his own career would allow an innocent man to be condemned to die, but Pilate was not the kind of person to mock an innocent man. Everyone has their own sins. But Pilate would mock the priests and the Jewish leaders. That’s why he had the sign placed there. Pilate was saying to the Jewish leaders, “If you did have a king, this is what Rome would do to him.”

Of course, nothing happens except that which is permitted by God. It appears as though God used Pilate’s sign as a witness to the Christ. It made people stop and think that maybe Jesus was the Son of God. It certainly bothered the priests that the sign was there. The Gospel of John tells us that the priests attempted to get Pilate to change the sign, but he would not do so. The sign said, “This is the King of the Jews.” It was written in Greek and Hebrew and Latin. That way everyone in Jerusalem could read it. The truth about Christ is for everyone in the world. There will always be some who will oppose getting out the truth, but God will always find a way to do so, even at time when His believers are too afraid to witness.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He had one last chance to witness to the lost souls of the world. The Bible says in Luke 23:39-43, “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” This situation of the two thieves being crucified with Christ and the conversation that they had together is a great picture of salvation. The two different responses made by these two men is an example of the responses that are also given by the rest of humanity to Christ. Everyone in the world is like one of the two thieves. Everyone is in the same spiritual condition that the thieves were in. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Notice the great promise that Jesus made to the first thief. Jesus said, “This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Why did Jesus make this promise to the first thief but not to the second? The first thief became humble and repented of his sins and admitted his errors. To be saved a person must repent. Elsewhere in the gospels Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” The first thief also turned to Christ and asked Him for help. The thief said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come to your kingdom.” The way to be saved is to turn to Christ and to say something similar to Him. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the door to heaven. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Call upon the name of Jesus, and you will be saved too.

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