For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?

 

 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, "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 has 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 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."  My study Bible comments that weeping is not appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross, but is suited for one's own sins and for the sufferings 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!' "  The blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  Let us once again observe Jesus' particular sympathy with women, so often given us in St. Luke's Gospel.  My study Bible quotes from the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who writes, "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?"

 

"Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' "   Jesus is quoting from the prophesy of Hosea.  See Hosea 10:8.

 

 "For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"  My study Bible explains that the green wood is Christ, full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for those who have rejected Christ for their corruption, barren of all life and of all righteousness.  If the Romans eagerly destroy the righteous, it asks, what horrifying things await the unrighteous?  

 

 Jesus speaks with a warning to the women of Jerusalem in particular, about what is to come at the Siege of Jerusalem.  We note the deeply sympathetic tone that distinguishes Jesus, perhaps particularly in His addresses and interactions with women.  His empathy extends to maternal feelings that make it impossible to separate from a child being nursed, with an understanding that is striking.  As Jesus quotes from Hosea 10, He's making allusion through analogy to the similar circumstances, because the people have rejected their God.  They have rejected the Christ, and so the same scenario, by interpretation of His quotation, plays out.  That is, it will play out to its terrible, fiery, fierce combustion in the Siege of Jerusalem one generation hence.  A murderer and rebel has been chosen for release over Jesus the Christ (see yesterday's reading, above).  False accusation and lies have claimed the day, at the hands of the religious leadership of of the nation, and carried out through the Roman authorities by such persuasion as was mustered.  Those acts are hallmarks of what it means to reject God and to embrace the works of the spiritual enemies of God.  However, the main story here is precisely and simply what Jesus has said as He wept over Jerusalem in chapter 19, 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 . . . because you did not know the time of your visitation" (see Luke 19:41-44).  It is really the rejection of God and God's way, when there has been enormous preparation for the coming of the Messiah, that constitutes not knowing the things that make for the peace of Jerusalem.  Today, and in all times, it is up to us to consider what remains "the things that make for our peace."  For we are always offered this choice.  Do we choose our Messiah, the Christ?  Do we seek to follow His way for ourselves and in our lives?  Do we choose to seek His will?  Will we also miss the time of our visitation, and it come upon us like a snare?  (See Luke 21:35).   Will we be conformed to the world or to Christ?  In a time when the world is bent on consuming every new thing technology can afford to us, let us consider what Jesus tells the disciples about the food they don't know.  Let us learn our own lesson, and seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, and remember what manner of spirit we are of.  For behind all things is a spiritual battle that rages for our hearts and our minds, and it truly matters where our treasure is.  In today's reading, Jesus alludes to the opposite of what makes for our peace, the spirit of rage, if you will, that responds even to the green with crucifixion.  And what will it do in the dry?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children

 

 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 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 

 

 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to 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 him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. My study Bible notes that Simon means "obedience."  It says that this faithful man stands for all who desire to follow Christ and carry the cross He places on them (Luke 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 your children."  My study Bible comments that weeping is not appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross.  It is suited rather for one's own sins, and for the sufferings of others.  But Jesus is also referring to events to come in Jerusalem.

"For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' "  The blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  My study Bible cites the words of St. John Chrysostom:  "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' words here seem to continue in the same vein in which He prophesied the destruction to come in Jerusalem, manifest at the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.  See see Luke 21:20-24.

 

 "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?" My study Bible says that the green wood is Christ, full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for the Jews, barren of life and of all righteousness.  It asks, if the Romans eagerly destroy the righteous, what horrifying things await the unrighteous?

One hallmark of an evil time seems to be that life reflects qualities we might experience as "upside down."  This is a time when lies are taken for truth, when manipulation and hearsay become "justice."  It's a time when the religious leaders are unjustly prosecuting the One known as a holy Man, and whom His followers call the Messiah, the Christ.  Jesus Himself calls out the upside-down nature of the time here, when He says to the women who mourn for Him, "For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!"  For this upside-down time is one characterized by Jesus in His prophesy of the destruction to come as "the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled" (Luke 21:22).    Jesus says, "Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'"  St. Cyril of Alexandria explains, "In extreme miseries, those less severe misfortunes become, so to speak, desirable" (Commentary on Luke, Homily 152).   What is considered a blessing becomes a curse -- and what is considered a curse becomes a blessing.   St. Cyril also explains Christ's remarks to the women as befitting a time that is "upside-down," for His death is not to be mourned, but celebrated, as He lives -- and He goes to His Crucifixion in order to destroy death itself.  In an upside-down and evil time, evil seems to have the upper hand by all appearances.  But the truth is that the action of God can use even this great evil to God's purpose -- meeting the upside-down action of evil with God's own logic and the power to defy it.  For the greatest blessings will come out of this greatest of evils.  In this way, some Church Fathers have indicated, evil is blind and stupid.  The trickster the devil is tricked into believing that Christ can be destroyed, and thereby we are all given the Resurrection.  And this is the good news of this upside-down time, for with God all things are possible!  If there is a time in life when one looks around, and sees all kinds of things that seem upside-down, when false is true and true is false, consider this scene and find what faith can do.  Perhaps especially at such a time, we have no idea what God may be doing.  Let us quote St. Paul, who draws upon the prophecy of Isaiah that we might understand:  "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written:  'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).  Let us consider the power of faith, as Jesus goes to His death.  With the women who mourn we may want to weep, but with the eyes of the Spirit, we might understand a greater truth that evil can't defy.  It's in Luke's Gospel that Jesus declares, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18).  Let us hold fast to His teaching and vision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.