Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!

 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

Yesterday we read that Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them as he presented Jesus before them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Now as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on hi they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.   Simon means "obedience," my study bible says.  This faithful man, Simon of Cyrene, stands for all who desire to follow Christ and carry the cross He places on them (9:23; 14:27).

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."    A note tells us here that weeping isn't appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross.  But it is suited for one's own sins and for the suffering of others.

"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!"'"  Jesus is referring in these verses to the events that are to come in Jerusalem, which will manifest in AD 70 at the Siege of Jerusalem.  This blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgment, my study bible says, of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  St. John Chrysostom writes of this passage:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Hosea 10:8, giving spiritual reference to the outcome of this time.   See also the reading in which Jesus wept over Jerusalem before entering the city at the beginning of Holy Week, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."

"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"  The green wood, my study bible notes, is Christ -- who is full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for this population destitute of spiritual leadership and the virtue it would encourage, barren of life and righteousness.  If the Romans will eagerly destroy the righteous, then what horrifying things await the unrighteous?

Jesus knows what is to happen in Jerusalem within the current generation. A great destruction will come that will level the temple and destroy the people, leading to a time of exile and dispersion.  Hence, His warning words about what is to come.  Many of His followers survived the destruction, due to His warnings to the Church.  But His words, "If they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" serve as warnings to us now.  Indeed, there is nothing in the Gospels that stands simply as a lesson about the past.  Everything teaches us about ourselves, our present, our choices, our faith, our weaknesses and temptations.  What decisions do we make today?  Do we find ourselves, in some sense -- even in the most tangential of ties -- connected to decisions to harm those who are righteous or who have done no harm?  Do we take accountability for prayer for those who are innocent and need protection?  Do we concern ourselves with righteousness, and doing and seeing righteousness even when it is masked behind a popular dislike or manipulation against an unpopular cause or person?  These are the tough choices Christ calls us to make.  Indeed, in John 16:2, He tells His followers that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."  He assures us that the cause of the righteous is never lost with God, although it is true that the outcome of terrible choices may lag and be delayed, so that those who commit such errors as we find in His story remain unaware of the lessons they failed to learn at each choice offered.  Never is coercion offered by God, as repentance is voluntary.  This is a great mystery, and one with which we all may struggle, as we understand and know the mercy of God.  How is mercy compatible with the outcome of bad choices, of unrighteous behavior -- of a refusal to acknowledge the places God calls us to, even the conscience with which we're bestowed?  Let us be assured that Christ is with us, and so remains also the unrighteous behavior we read about in the Gospels.  Over and over again, Scripture calls us to awareness that the presence of the righteous among the unrighteous may save a city, a country, a group of people, some population in the world.  We may read the stories and find them quaint, or simply ancient.  But we must take it to heart that the importance of righteousness is not diminished -- not by time nor by fashion.  And the presence of God's love remains real for those who find it, and seek it, and return it, so that what they practice may also be a part of this world.  There are no rules that substitute for this living love nor for participation in God's energies of mercy, of grace.  We don't know how they may affect others.  But from Jesus' story, we do know they make a difference -- even in ways unforeseen by those who reject them with hard hearts and selfish choices.   He has taught us that even those who offer such a one so much as a cup of water will have his or her reward (see Matthew 10:41-42).  Let us remember His words.