Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"'

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?"

- Luke 23:26-31

In yesterday's reading, we read that Pilate has found no fault in Jesus, despite the repeated and increasingly emphatic accusations on the part of the temple leadership. He offers to have Jesus scourged and released; it is Passover, and the custom is to release one man to the crowd. But those who are with the leadership call for Barabbas, a rebel and a murderer -- and to crucify Jesus. Three times Pilate repeats he finds no evil in Jesus, and three times he is rebuffed. In the end, he gives in to their demands, sentencing Jesus to crucifixion and releasing Barabbas. Those with the leadership shouted, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"

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. Cyrene was a city in Libya, where there was a settlement of Judean Jews dating from approximately 300 years earlier, according to Wikipedia. So Simon is no doubt in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. He's mentioned in all of the Synoptic Gospels. Mark states that he is the father of Rufus and Alexander, and so, we conclude, this is the beginning of Simon and his family's Christian faith and participation in the early church. At any rate, Simon serves as a "model of humble service for every Christian" as my study bible puts it. "What a great privilege to carry the cross of Christ," it notes ... and we can but marvel at what it was to be the one who would do this. And I think it is a tremendous image to remember of our Lord, that we who seek to serve can fulfill a role of love and mercy even for Him, and with Him. This is a marvel - to help the incarnate God to carry His cross!

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. Luke's Gospel emphasizes the popularity of Jesus. He is the only Evangelist to mention the women of Jerusalem specifically. It's important that we note the separation between the leadership and the common people, for whom Jesus was a popular figure, just as was John the Baptist.

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!"' Once again in Luke's Gospel, Jesus alludes to what is to come in Jerusalem, during its siege and conquest in A.D. 70. The quotation refers to prophesy in Hosea 10.

"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" My study bible says, "This is a proverb comparing the fate of Jesus and the fate of Jerusalem. If the innocent Jesus (the green wood) suffered so, the sufferings of the guilty Jerusalem (the dry wood) will be incomparably greater." We think about the violence and injustice, and the passage of time: this green and thriving wood, also implying an "early" time is treated thusly -- with a failure of both the Roman and Jewish systems of justice. What is to come when the wood is ready for burning, when there is no life left in it? And a terrible calamity it will be.

It's a very hard and sad thing to think about -- how the choices we make in our lives add up, and build up down the road to consequences we simply may not foresee. They may be obvious to others, what paths we've chosen, while we remain blind to our own stumbling. It's hard sometimes to choose well, blinded by our own failure of repentance and changing. But we choose a road, and we go down it, and sooner or later we change and avoid suffering, and start a new one -- or we don't. Let's not forget Jesus' path was called the Way by the early church, and it is a Way. We have a choice. But the power and importance of repentance is illustrated here. It really doesn't matter how far we've gone down a bad road: we always have a chance to turn around, to think again, to rethink our options and make another choice. As long as we have life -- the green wood comes to mind -- we have a choice. But if we don' t make it, we dig ourselves in deeper and deeper. Think about Peter's betrayal, and eventual return to the flock. It's important that we reconsider, before a disaster (or even after!). It's never too late to help Him bear His cross; all we have to do is choose, and be willing to face our own imperfections.