Luke
23:26-31 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a
Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that
he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people
followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning
to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming
in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and
breasts which 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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” NKJV
When I consider all of Your Prophecies from the
Scripture Dear Lord, I am shown how You used sinful men to speak forth Your
truth. The things that were going to happen in the future You see as if it were
the present and You made them known to the human instruments You chose as Your
mouthpiece. The vivid picture of this entire scene we are witnessing by faith through
the faithful eyes of Dr. Luke were first shown to a man named Isaiah over 700
years before they were to ever occur. Now we receive by faith the description
of the real scene playing out just as You told Isaiah it would and he faithfully
spoke forth what You told him to the people of Israel. Now we find You coming
to the dramatic climax or conclusion of Your earthly ministry as You make Your
way to the top of that mountain to die and redeem all who will come to You in
repentance and faith. You Dear Lord have
been beat beyond recognition by these evil, cruel, and hateful Roman men all at
the desire of the wicked hearts of the Jewish Religious rulers, but it all is
by Divine Design, Determination, and Destiny.
Dear Lord Jesus when the heart of a mere man would
have been spewing out profane cursing of every sort, Your heart paused to turn
to the many Jewish women that followed along the path or street that led to the
top of that mountain to comfort them as they wept for You in Your physical
agony after having lost so much blood. The very blood that washes every sinful
heart clean from sin (Revelation 1:5).
You Dear Lord Jesus after receiving help in carrying Your cross from Simon the
Cyrenian turned to these weeping women and said, Luke 23:28 “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep
for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” NKJV You
Dear Lord Jesus in such physical agony in Your humanity, but in Your Divinity
You Prophesied to them what the result of the Nation Israel’s rejection of You
as Messiah and King would bear for them and their descendants in just 40 shorts
years from that very moment in time. You Prophesied warning them of the pending
brutal destruction of the Jewish Temple and all of Jerusalem at the hands of the
Roman Emperor Titus in A.D. 70 as he would so devastate the nation by encamping
the city all around and prevent the Jewish people from harvesting their crops
and destroy all of their livestock.
This would drive the Jewish people to such a low
state in trying to stay alive that they would resort in killing their babies
and eating their flesh in order to preserve the lives of the adults. To the
Pharisees, Scribes, Chief Priest, Elders, and the other religious rulers of
Israel it appeared to them that they were saving their people from Roman
judgment by killing One Man so that the others would be safe (John 11:47-50). Dear Lord Jesus we now
know what they did not see that just the opposite happened just as You Prophesied
it would and we can so clearly see Your broken heart over the entire city even
before You were bound, beaten, and brutalized as You are at this very moment
that caused You to weep over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 13:34). Because they did not want You Dear Lord to reign and
rule over them, the result of their rejection will be the tragic events You
foretell that will occur 40 years later. Dear Lord rejection of the truth (and
You are the Only Truth) always always ends in tragedy.
Now Dear Lord You move on to Prophecy the far far
worst tragedy than what occurred with the Jewish people in the year 70 A.D. and
that is eternal destruction at the time/hour You come to pour out Your Wrath on
the entire sin loving population that rejects or resists You and Your offer of
free forgiveness and deliverance from sin (Luke
23:30). You Prophecy of the fearful, horrible, and dreadful time on this
earth when those sinners who are alive will flee from Your Presence seeking a
hiding place, seeking even death, and they will find nothing to hide them from
the Wrath of the Lamb who sits on the Throne. Dear Lord this is the dry wood (Luke 23:31). These are the very words
that You gave latter to the Apostle John to write for us in the Book of the
Revelation of You Dear Lord Jesus (Revelation
6:12-17). Dear Lord Jesus when You came to this earth You created the first
time You did not come to condemn this world, but through Your death, burial,
and resurrection to save all in it that would recognize their helpless,
hopeless, and horrible enslavement to sin and depravity and in so doing turn
from their sin and trust You Only and completely for freedom, forgiveness, and
faith. Dear Lord Jesus in Your first coming You came with an endless well of
grace, mercy, and compassion for every sinful soul that would see themselves in
that sinful and dreadful condition (Psalm
32:1-2). Dear Lord that was the green wood (Luke 23:31).
1
Peter 4:17-18 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house
of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of
those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
NKJV
Gracious, Compassionate, and Merciful Father I
beseech You that You would draw sinners to Yourself recognizing their tragic
condition of sin and depravity and grant to those who see themselves undone in
their sin Your Gift of repentance to life, whereby they would be born again of incorruptible
seed by Your Word which lives and abides forever and ever. For Dear Precious
Lord it is not by any souls good deeds or actions that You will save them from
sin, but by Your Mercy Dear Father as You Dear Holy Spirit wash them by
regeneration and renewing in Yourself and Dear Lord Jesus You then will make
them new creations in You. I pray this for Your Glory and Honor. Amen!
“Our Lord makes use of a proverbial expression,
frequent among the Jews, who compare a good man to a green tree, and a bad man
to a dead one: as if He had said, If an innocent person suffer thus, what will
become of the wicked? Of those who are as ready for destruction as dry wood for
the fire?” John Wesley
“If God deliver me up to such sufferings as these
because I am made a sacrifice for sin, what will He do with sinners
themselves?” Christ was a green tree, fruitful and flourishing; now, if
such things were done to Him, we may thence infer what would have been done to
the whole race of mankind if He had not interposed, and what shall be
done to those that continue dry trees, notwithstanding all that is done to make
them fruitful. If God did this to the Son of His love, when He found sin but
imputed to Him, what shall He do to the generation of His wrath, when He finds
sin reigning in them? If the Father was pleased in doing these things to the
green tree, why should He be loath to do it to the dry? Note: The consideration
of the bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus should engage us to stand in awe of
the justice of God, and to tremble before Him. The best saints, compared with
Christ, are dry tree; if He suffer, why may not they expect so suffer?
And what then shall the damnation of sinners be?” Matthew Henry
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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