Luke 24:1-3

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1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ~ Luke 24:1-3

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in human history. It is the cornerstone and foundation of the gospel. The message of all of the Scriptures, from the start to the finish is: death is not the end, it is merely the doorway into eternity. And everyone goes through that doorway and everyone lives forever. Those who reject the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus will spend their eternity in hell, and those who believe in the Lord Jesus will spend eternity in heaven.

It is no surprise, then, that the first lie of the Devil was that the disciples came and stole Christ’s lifeless body (Matthew 28:11–15), but it is difficult to imagine how they could have done this. To begin with, the tomb was carefully guarded (Matthew 27:61–66), and it would have been next to impossible for the frightened apostles to overpower the soldiers, open the tomb, and secure the body. 

But the biggest obstacle is the fact that the apostles themselves did not believe that He would be resurrected! Why  would they steal His body and try to perpetrate a hoax?

The message of the gospel rests on the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–8). The apostles were sent out as witnesses of His resurrection (Acts 1:22), and the emphasis in the book of Acts is on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This explains why Luke climaxed his book with a report of some of the appearances of the Lord Jesus after He had been raised from the dead. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18), then to the “other women” (Matthew 28:9–10), and then to the two men on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–22). At some time later, He also appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34) and to His half-brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7).

That evening, He appeared to the apostles (Luke 24:36–43), but Thomas was not with them (John 20:19–25). A week later, He appeared to the apostles again, especially for the sake of Thomas (John 20:26–31). He appeared to seven of the apostles when they were fishing at the Sea of Galilee in John 21. He appeared several times to the apostles before His ascension, teaching them and preparing them for their ministry (Acts 1:1–12).

In v.1 of our text, we read,  “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” 

It was a Jewish custom to visit the grave for three days after the loved one had died. But by the fourth day, since the body had well come into the decaying stage, the spirit of the person left. That's Jewish legend and superstition.

These women came with spices because they did not expect the resurrection. They do not expect to find an empty tomb. They do not expect to find the Lord Jesus alive. They came looking for a dead man.

Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb first. The other women are somewhere behind her. John tells us that Mary Magdalene saw the open entrance and immediately left, she didn’t go into the tomb. She went directly to Peter and John, and she assumed that the body of the Lord Jesus has been stolen. The others come and discover the tomb as Mary reported.

According to Mark 16:2-4, “2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away?’“ 

They had been there on Friday night when the Lord Jesus was laid in the tomb, and Joseph and Nicodemus rolled the stone over the entrance. They knew it was there and they questioned who would roll it away.  

“And looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.”  

In v.2 of our text we read, "They found the stone rolled away from the tomb." In addition, the tomb was sealed with an official Roman seal, not to be broken. And a Roman guard was placed in front of the tomb. But, when they arrived, the guard was not there. According to Matthew 28:2, “Behold, a severe earthquake had occurred.” 

This was the second earthquake. There was one on Friday, equally severe, that split the rocks, and threw open tombs. “A severe earthquake had occurred, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came, and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.  And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.”

The angel did not roll the stone away to let Jesus out, he rolled the stone away to enable the people to see in. The Lord Jesus didn't need the stone removed to depart the tomb because He could walk through walls.

Mary Magdalene did not think for one split second of a resurrection. She assumed somebody had stolen the body of the Lord Jesus. After this, Peter and John ran to the tomb.  And John arrives at the tomb first. The fact is we have eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ with details.

To the disciples, the death of the Lord Jesus was disappointing. But, when it became obvious that He had risen from the dead, they realized that His resurrection changed everything. This explains why their lives were so different in the book of Acts. Only the resurrection of Christ enables us to see the genius in the cross of Christ.

Luke 23:50-56

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50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. ~ Luke 23:50-56

The burial of Jesus Christ is the topic of today's text. For those of you who may struggle with whether there’s a divine purpose in history, whether God is sovereign over everything, whether the Scripture is true, or whether Christ is really who He claimed to be, there is enough in His burial to remove those kinds of questions.

In v.50-52 we read, "50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body."

According to John 19:38–42, Nicodemus aided Joseph of Arimathea with the removal of the body of the Lord Jesus down from His cross. Joseph and Nicodemus were both members of the Jewish religious council and touching a dead body made them unclean and disqualified them from being on the council. This resulted in a dramatic life change in the lives of these two men.

The quick death of the Lord Jesus was a surprise to all, after all, He had only been on the cross for just six hours. The normal time for someone to die while being crucified was two to three days. There are some cases where there were those who stayed up on their cross for a couple of weeks. The two thieves crucified with the Lord Jesus were alive after He had breathed His last. According to v.54, the Jewish religious leaders demanded the removal of the bodies from their crosses before the Sabbath began at sundown on Friday. 

Due to the fact that the Lord Jesus was already dead, the Roman soldiers didn't need to break the legs of the Lord Jesus. This was the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy found in Psalm 34:20. In addition, in Exodus 12:46 we read that a Passover lamb could not have a broken bone. The Passover lamb was a lamb without blemish, and without spot, and without a broken bone.  

The breaking of the two thieves legs involved taking a huge iron mallet and splintering their legs in a horrible act which resulted in asphyxiation. The only way the crucified stayed alive was to push up their legs and pull up with their arms, aiding the legs pushing, to be able to catch their breath. And, once they could no longer push up with their broken legs, they would not be able to breathe any longer.  

It is likely that Joseph and Nicodemus had learned from the Old Testament Scriptures how the Lord Jesus would die, so they agreed to remove His body from the cross and bury it. The new tomb was purchased by Joseph, prepared in a garden near Calvary where the Lord Jesus was crucified. No rich man would prepare his own burial place so near a place of execution and so far from his own home.

When the Lord Jesus died, Joseph immediately went to Pilate for permission to have the body, and Nicodemus stayed at Calvary to keep watch. They took the body of the Lord Jesus down from the cross and carried Him to the garden, washed His body, and wrapped Him with the spices. It was a temporary burial; they would return after the Sabbath to do the job properly. 

When they laid the Lord Jesus into the new tomb, they fulfilled Isaiah 53:9, and they kept the Romans from throwing His body on the garbage dump outside the city. Condemned criminals lost the right to proper burial, but God saw to it that His Son’s body was buried with dignity.

There had to be a cross before there could be an empty tomb. The Lord Jesus died on the cross in order to be the ultimate sacrifice. He died in our place. At Christmas time, we put our gifts underneath our trees. God placed His greatest gift to mankind on a tree on a hill called the place of the skull.

Luke 23:47-49

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47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. ~ Luke 23:47-49 

We return to Calvary, the site of the cross of the Lord Jesus on that final Friday of His life on this earth. As soon as the Lord Jesus breathed His last, there were certain immediate responses from those who were present that day. One in particular was the unlikely response of one of the Roman centurion soldier. This is the focus of today's text.

In v.47 we read, "The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."' 

A Roman centurion was the commander of a hundred men which was called a century.  Thus, their commander was a centurion. There were, in the entire Roman army, about twenty-five legions. Each legion was made up of about six thousand men divided into ten units of six hundred men each. A century was the smallest unit in the roman system. Each century was commanded by a centurion. They were on the ground with the troops, had proven themselves, and earned their way to that position because of their effective soldiering. This centurion was a reliable witness.

This particular officer was in charge of the soldiers who were  guarding the crucified body of the Lord Jesus. It was these soldiers who mocked the Lord Jesus and gambled for His clothing. Most importantly, they were the ones who witnessed His entire crucifixion from beginning to end. 

They had seen crucifixions before, yet they had never seen someone respond as the Lord Jesus did that day. These were hardened men. Yet, they heard the Lord Jesus pray for His killers. They saw the noble way He suffered. They heard His cries to His Father. They heard Him promise paradise to the repentant thief who had been cursing Him just moments before. 

And then, they experienced the impossible: darkness in the middle of the day. The skies for three hours dark, then an earthquake violently shook the earth. They could no longer ignore reality. The darkness, the earthquake, and then the final breath of the Lord Jesus spoke a different story from all of the other crucifixions they had witnessed. And, it had an impact on this centurion.

It was at that moment the centurion said, "Surely this was a righteous man." It was at this point the centurion saw the Lord Jesus differently. He realized they had crucified a righteous man. Note, he didn't see Him as innocent, he saw Him as righteous which is to say He only did what was right.

In v.48 we read, "When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away." Here again we see the fickle crowd.  Earlier in the week they hailed the Lord Jesus as their King, as their Messiah.  This was the hope of their hearts. But now, they were entertained by the Lord Jesus' death and their faulty theology failed them.

They begin this day with screams of “Crucify Him, Crucify Him. We will not have this man to reign over us.  His blood be on us and on our children.” This is why many will spend their eternity in hell, they would not allow such a one to rule over them. They experienced a mortal wound to their souls that would not be healed.

In v.49 we read, "But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things." In John 19:25-27 we learn that present at His death was His mother Mary, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. There was also John, "the disciple whom the Lord Jesus loved." They didn’t speak because they were trapped in stunned silence.

John was the only disciple who was at the cross when the Lord Jesus was crucified, all the others had run away, including Peter, the one who said he would die for the Lord Jesus. John was there because he was the only one who reclined against the heart of the Lord Jesus. That moment during the last Passover meal was symbolic. John was the one who was more defined by the Lord Jesus' love for him rather than his love for the Lord Jesus.

Luke 23:44-46

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44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. ~ Luke 23:44-46

The Lord Jesus was crucified at 9:00am on the Friday of Passover week. For the first three hours, the scene was dominated by the lesser characters in the story. At noon all of this changed. The most significant event in the history of this world took place when God split into time and paid the penalty for the sin of mankind.

In v.44 we read, "It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon."  The Jewish day began at approximately 6:00 a.m. Since they didn’t have clocks or watches, they didn’t tell time in hours and minutes and seconds, the hour varied in length at different seasons of the year, but the sixth hour was always when the sun was at its highest point in the sky.

At the beginning of v.45 we read, "for the sun stopped shining." Those three hours of darkness was not an eclipse, because that would have been impossible during the Passover season when there is a full moon. It was a God-sent darkness that shrouded the cross as the Son of God was made sin for all who would ever chose to believe that His death on the cross paid the debt for the sinfulness of mankind. It was reminiscent of when Israel was in Egypt, three days of darkness preceded the first Passover. When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, three hours of darkness preceded His death.

Both Matthew 27:45–46 and Mark 15:33–34 record the Lord Jesus' cry at the close of the darkness. This was a quotation from Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The second law of thermodynamics in a relational sense came upon the humanity of Christ in that moment. He was left in isolation, separated from His Father and all that is substantive and good as He who had never sinned took sin squarely on.

According to John 19:30, the Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!” This was the sixth of His seven sayings while on the cross and it was a declaration of victory. He had finished the work the Father gave Him to do. His work of redeeming mankind from the stronghold of sin was complete. The types and prophecies of the Old Testament were all sustained and fulfilled.

Then, according to v.46, "Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last." 

Of the seven statements of the Lord Jesus while on the cross, two of them were heartfelt prayers. In each of them, he addressed God as Father. His words from the cross began and ended with a prayer to the Father. He started by praying to the Father for the sake of those who were killing Him. He ended by praying to the Father in a radical statement of trust.

When the Lord Jesus breathed His last, the veil of the temple, according to Mark 15:38, was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The tearing of the veil announced the way into God’s presence was and is open for all who would come to God by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. No more do sinners need earthly temples, altars, sacrifices, or priests, for all of God's requirements have now been fulfilled in the finished work of the Son of God.

The ninth plague of Egypt was a plague of darkness for three days on the land. According to the Jewish Talmud darkness is a judgment reserved by God for human wickedness. This darkness was pregnant with meaning: it was a darkness of secrecy, wickedness, and judgment. The veil was sixty feet tall, thirty feet wide, and the thickness of a man's palm. Another gospel tells us it was ripped in two from top to bottom, not from bottom to top. No man could have tore such a veil. 

The saddest part of it all is that many will spend FOREVER in hell. They will do so because they have refused God's free gift of salvation through His Son who in just three hours, paid in full all the sins of everyone who have and will have existed on this earth. In just three hours an infinite amount of wrath was absorbed by the only infinite man.

Luke 23:39-43

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39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” ~ Luke 23:39-43

Today, we return to the cross of the Lord Jesus at Calvary on that Passover Friday in the spring of A.D. 30. Different from the other Gospel writers, Luke includes the story of the one thief who shows remorse for his sin. What results is none other than a major miracle. The miraculous conversion of this thief hanging on a cross next to the Lord Jesus is the center piece of today's text.

In v.39 we read, "One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" This first thief implored the Lord Jesus to do what the religious leaders and the people who were standing around the cross had asked the Lord Jesus to do ... "to save yourself." 

This request goes to the heart of all sin, the preservation and the proliferation of self. No matter how much we do for ourselves, we find ourselves miserable when we do. The reason is: we were not created to put self on the throne of our hearts. We are best defined when the Lord Jesus is on the throne of our hearts defining us. This is in line with the God-created order we find in His word.

Here is the One who gives life, who is life, who is about to physically die, so that those who are spiritually dead might be made alive to God. In not saving Himself, the Lord Jesus was able to save others, exactly opposite their assumption that He couldn’t save anybody because He couldn’t even save Himself. Life comes out of death. Knowledge comes out of ignorance.  Light dispels the darkness. 

In v.40-41 we read, "40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

What a contrast between these two. The first is a great host for sin and the other has been broken by his sin. As the hours passed on the cross, one of the two once devoted to violent robbery, changes his tune. All of a sudden, he turns to his friend and rebukes him for speaking out against the Lord Jesus. He then openly acknowledges his own sin. Then he confesses the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus, affirming His claim as the Son of Man. 

In v.41, like the prodigal, this man once ruled by sin came to his senses. This is where true repentance begins, when we come to our senses. He’s guilty, he’s aware of his sinfulness, he’s saying I am a sinner. This is the picture of true repentance. He’s not blaming the evil influences in his life. And, he had no way of bridging the gap between he and God.  He needed mercy and grace and he knew it. 

In v.42 we read, "Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." The thief was begging for forgiveness from the only One who could give it. This man had just heard the Lord Jesus pray, “Father, forgive them.” He knew enough about God to know that God was a forgiving God and now that he is clear on who the Lord Jesus is as the promised Messiah, he begged for forgiveness. He recognizes Jesus as the source of forgiveness and grace and mercy. The lure of self is strong, but the forgiveness of God is strongest. 

Then, in v.43 we read, "Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Like the father running and kissing his prodigal son, the Lord Jesus guaranteed this man full reconciliation, full acceptance as a son of God. This thief hanging on this tool of condemnation was liberated by it for it was not until he hung on that cross that he entertained the most important question of all. This is where all prodigals ultimately end up, the fork between the Lord and self. That day this man encountered God for the first time in his life and it resulted in "today you will be with me in paradise." What a promise!

This was a man whose whole existence qualified him for hell. And, we are no different than he. I know, I know. We have not acted on our sinfulness in the same ways that he did, but we have the same corruption within. Like this man, in one moment the sovereign God swept down and gave us complete clarity on our wretched condition, and by the power of the Holy Spirit rescued us from ourselves and His divine judgment. The only way the Lord Jesus could save sinners like us was not to save himself.  

Luke 23:32-38

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32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. ~ Luke 23:32-38

In Isaiah 53:12 we learn that the Messiah would be “numbered with the transgressors.” As our text indicates in v.32, "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed." Two criminals were crucified on each side of the Lord Jesus. These men were robbers who used violence to rob people. Again, it was not that the Lord planned it this way. He knew that these men would choose to do these things beforehand, so He told us in advance.

In v.33 we read, "When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left."

The Lord Jesus was crucified at about 9 a.m. and remained on the cross until 3 p.m. According to Mark 15:25,33, from noon to 3 p.m. there was darkness over all the land. From our comparison of the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus spoke seven times during those six terrible hours. Luke recorded only three of these seven statements, the first, the second, and the last. The Lord Jesus' prayer for His enemies, and His ministry to a repentant thief, fit in well with Luke’s purpose to show Jesus Christ as the sympathetic Son of Man who cared for the needy.

According to v.34, while they were nailing Him to the cross, He repeatedly prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Not only did He practice what He taught, but, according to Isaiah 53:12, the Lord Jesus fulfilled prophecy by making “intercession for the transgressors.”

At the end of v.34 we read, "And they divided up his clothes by casting lots." When the people at Calvary cast lots for the clothing of the Lord Jesus, they fulfilled Old Testament prophecy as noted in Psalm 22:18. In addition, when they  mocked Him, Psalm 22:6–8 was fulfilled. And, when they offered Him vinegar to drink in v.36, they fulfilled Psalm 69:21. The word of God has never been proven false, in fact, every attempt to prove the Bible's veracity, it has proven to be true.

In v.35 we read, "The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One."

The people mocked the Lord Jesus for his claim to be the Messiah. Notice they don’t speak directly to the Lord Jesus.  In fact, there’s no record around the cross that they ever spoke to Him. They spoke to the crowd about Him. Their intention was to stir up the crowd, so they never address the Lord Jesus for themselves. This is the tactic of the Devil himself. He has always attempted to keep us from direct conversation with the Lord Jesus. This, in fact, is the answer, a personal relationship with God.

In v.36-37 we read, "36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." Wine was offered to the Lord Jesus three separate times. The gospels indicate the first time He was offered wine it was mixed with gall. The second time Christ was mocked as a king, and the third time wine was offered to Him as sour wine. The soldiers mockingly offered this wine to the Lord Jesus making fun of His kingship. 

In v.38 we read, "There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews." Historically when criminals were crucified, their crime was posted above them. And, since the Lord Jesus committed no crime there could be no crime posted over Him. According to John 19 Pilate decided an inscription would be put above the Lord Jesus. When the narrative from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are combined, it actually said, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.” 

Finally, at the end of v.37, the soldiers requested of the Lord Jesus to "save Himself." The Lord Jesus did not come down from the cross, because, if He had, we would have no forgiveness for sin. According to Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death” and, according to Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” 

The Lord Jesus came that He might be the atoning sacrifice for sin, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God sent his Son into the world to be the propitiation, the satisfying sacrifice for our sins. If He had come down from the cross, we would still be under the curse and Law, and separated from God, deserving wrath for our sin against Him.

Luke 23:28-31

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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?” ~ Luke 23:28-31

We come to the portion in this narrative that the Lord Jesus speaks to the weeping women who were not the women who had followed Him so closely over the past few years. These were professional mourners. Their role was traditional, they mourned professionally. They were hired to do their duty. They were always counted upon when someone was going to be crucified by the Romans.

Their mourning included the pounding of their chests. It was their cultural way of showing the agony of death. Their weeping included verbal wailing. The scene was quite tragic. There was the bloodied body of the Lord Jesus, struggling to get to Calvary, assisted by a man who was confused to be caught up in this unjust moment. Then, there were the wails of these women who were beating their chests profoundly.

Clearly, not everyone hated the Lord Jesus, and these women represented the feelings of those who felt sad for the Lord Jesus, those who who found in the Lord Jesus a uniqueness who didn't deserve this moment. 

In v.28 we read, "Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children."

The title "Daughters of Jerusalem" is found in Zechariah 9:9 which reads, "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 

The Lord Jesus speaks to those who had just a few days before this were shouting "Hosanna" from the hope that they were experiencing in their hearts. Now, they were finding that their joy had turned to mourning because they lacked the biblical understanding to recognize that the Messiah must suffer for the sins of the people. 

Very often, if we give the Lord just a little more time to reveal truth to us, it is then that we begin to get it. If Israel had just as much been aware of Zechariah 9:11 as they were Zechariah 9:9, the outcome would have been different. Zechariah 9:11 reads, "As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit."

The Lord Jesus implored these women to weep for themselves. Their sympathies were misdirected for they were the recipients of the wrath of God for their sins were not forgiven them. 

Notice the Lord Jesus did not give a final invitation to the people who were along the way. He rather pronounced a final doom on them. Their perspective was totally skewed. They didn’t get it. They needed to shed tears not for Him, but tears of terror and tears of fear and tears of remorse and tears of repentance for themselves in the light of the coming judgment of God.

In v.29-30 we read, "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!"

When the Romans invaded Israel a few years after this occasion, the terror was so bad that they begged the mountains to fall on them. This was a reference to the invasion of the Romans in 70 A.D. And so, the hours of grace had gone fleeting away. There would be no more invitation to grace but only judgment. It was in John’s gospel that Jesus said, “Whoever believes not in me is condemned already because he does not believe.” 

The phrase in v.29, "Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed" was a strange beatitude that was the opposite of all Jewish hope. In their culture, the worst thing that could happen to a Jewish woman was to be barren. This was like a divine curse in their culture. Jesus was saying, "When the judgment of God falls, the destruction will be so vicious that those who have no children will have the least suffering." 

The words, “They will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” This is a quotation of Hosea 10:8. The prophet Hosea prophesied to the wayward northern kingdom which never had any good kings. From the outset, they were idolatrous, adulterous, and apostate. And so God pronounced judgment on the northern kingdom and it was in 722 B.C. that the Assyrians came and slaughtered them.

In v.31 we read, "For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" These are the Lord Jesus' final words as He stumbled to the cross. The green tree symbolizes life, fruitfulness, and blessing. If the Romans could do this to the giver of life, imagine what they will do to the nation of Israel which is like a dried twig, ready for judgment.