#147 Luke 23:26-31 Do Not Weep for Me

On October 22, 2023 by


Amy:
Episode #147 Luke 23:26-31

Welcome

Amy:


Welcome to The Christgazing Podcast. We are so glad you are here! I’m Amy Burgin. Usually I’m here with my daughter Joy, but she’s unavailable this week. She’ll be back next week.

Christgazing, kind of like stargazing, is the act of looking steadily and intently at Jesus. If you are anything like us, you desire to fix your eyes on Jesus amid the distractions and troubles of this world. This podcast makes room for us to do just that. Amid a world of many words, we slow down and make space for the God-breathed Words, the best words, the ones that rightly comfort, correct, and lead us. Each week, we read a portion of scripture several times and create stillness after each reading so we might also be still and know God more.

We’re in a series that takes us through the book of Luke. 

Pour Out Your Heart to God

Amy:
Before we read, take time to share your heart with God. Maybe you have a list of questions for which you need answers—or a heart filled with sorrow, joy, desire, gratitude, frustration, peace, or a mix of all these things and more—whatever is on your mind, name it, and bring it to God in the next minute.

[Pause and pour out your heart to God]

What Does This Passage Say About God?

Amy:
As I read today’s passage, consider the question, what does this say about God?

Luke 23:26-31 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Again?

Luke 23:26-31 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Take the next few moments to consider what this says about God.

[Pause and know]

What Does This Passage Say About People?

Amy:
As I read the passage again, consider the question, what does this say about people?

Luke 23:26-31 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Take a minute to consider what this says about people.

[Pause and know]

Lord, What Would You Have Me Know Or Do Today?

Amy:
As I read for the last time, ask God, “Lord, what would you have me know or do today in response to this passage?” If it helps, put yourself in the narrative.

Luke 23:26-31 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Take a minute to ask God, “Lord, what would you have me know or do in response to this passage?”

[Pause and listen]

Blessing

Amy:
Christgazer, the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. And may you keep your face turned toward Jesus today and know him more.

One Response

Amy:
Would you like to peek into the mind of Christ when soldiers led him away to be crucified? After he had been beaten so badly, he didn’t have the physical strength to carry his own cross? This passage gives us a peek into at least one thing that was on the mind of Christ.

When Jesus  said to the mourning women, “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!'” he was referencing the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea is about the nation of Israel. The nation follows a pattern: First, the nation is blessed by God, then departs from God, next is disciplined by God, then cries out to God for help, then is blessed by God again and the cycle continues. The cycle applies not only to the nation of Israel, but to each of us personally—our individual stories follow this cycle.

Jesus specifically referenced Hosea 10:8. The chapter captures the phases of departure and discipline. 

Hosea 10:1-2 says (and I’m reading from the NLT), 

How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.

2 The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The LORD will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.

Dropping down to verse 8, we read

8 And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”

And if we keep reading and drop down to verse 8 of the next chapter, we see God’s beautiful heart for his people and I wonder if Jesus thought of these words soldiers forced him up the hill to be crucified?

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.

9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.

10 For someday the people will follow me.
I, the LORD, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.

11 Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.
Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And I will bring them home again,”
says the LORD.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Closing

Amy:
You can find a transcript of this episode and all our episodes at amyburgin.com. Joy and I will be back again next week to go Christgazing together. Until then, don’t forget, when you put your trust in Christ, you are one in whom he dwells and delights, a dearly loved child of God. You are royalty in his strong and unshakeable kingdom. Though trouble abounds, Christ prevails, and so do you.

 

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