#1447 Luke 23 Part 4 Don't Cry For Me

 

26 And when they led Him away, they took hold of a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

27 And following Him was a large multitude of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop crying for Me, but cry for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Now two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. Luke 23: 26-32 LSB

Luke 23: 26-32

Simon of Cyrene - A man that had come in from outside the city for the Passover celebration will end up being the one to carry the Passover cross for the Lamb. It is a very earthly, primitive drawing of taking up the cross, for like all who do so, they are taken hold of, chosen, and this was certainly an unexpected change in the wind, who would have ever imagined such a thing. A Roman soldier could stop you to carry his pack, and you were obliged to do so for a mile, which many of the Jews resented, but Christ's answer for dealing with this was to carry it two. Simon is one of the most intriguing characters because he shows up so briefly, and yet what a phenomenal and unfathomable role.

23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.… Matthew 16: 23-25

MacArthur on Simon - At some point Simon embraced the gospel of the Lord whose cross he had carried. His wife and sons also became believers and were known to the church at Rome. One of them, Rufus, was singled out by Paul as a choice servant of the Lord, and Simon’s wife ministered to the apostle (Ro 16:13). The church at Cyrene, in which Simon undoubtedly played a significant role, developed and grew strong, eventually sending out missionaries to preach the gospel to the Gentiles at Antioch (Acts 11:20). One of its members, Lucius, even served as one of the pastors at the Antioch church when Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries (Acts 13:1). (See Luke 18-24 MacArthur New Testament Commentary) In MacArthur's Matthew Commentary he adds "It may have been the carrying of Jesus’ cross that led Simon to faith in Him. What began as a forced and probably resented act of physical servitude became the opportunity for spiritual life. Not only Simon himself but his entire family came to salvation, and his wife became like a mother to the apostle Paul."

The lesson from Simon's life is to be ready to be used of the Lord when He calls, for when one is in the center of His will, the impact can be unimaginable. Only eternity will reveal what Simon's availability to carry the Cross of Jesus will mean, but clearly from MacArthur's comment above, it had far reaching impact. Don't refuse to carry His cross! (cf Mk 8:34-36, "daily" in Lk 9:23+).

In the excellent medical article on the crucifixion Dr William Edwards gives us some background which helps understand why Simon of Cyrene was called to carry the cross - The severe scourging, with its intense pain and appreciable blood loss, most probably left Jesus in a preshock state. Moreover, hematidrosis had rendered his skin particularly tender. The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep, also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus’ physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical. (Please take time to read the full article). - Precept Austin

V. 27 And following Him - There was a crowd, many who probably laid down palm branches prior, some women who were possibly professional mourners (apparently a thing back then). His disciples which extend beyond the twelve were probably crushed by this, and those that beat their chest later were also greatly disappointed, seeing their hopes of Messiah and His kingdom die upon that tree. We must be brought to God's perspective of this, our scope of the truth is very limited, we see blood, wounds, bruises, defeat, but God has prescribed this as His glorious gospel of redemption, the summation of every Old Testament promise. In this we escape Egypt, we walk through the sea as on dry ground, the Seed of the woman prevails, crushing the head of the serpent. Here we find the Ram in the thicket, the scarlet thread outside of Rahab's window, and here the kinsman Redeemer, the spotless Lamb of God, the only One Who can take away our sins and purchase us back from death. 

…4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.… Hebrews 10: 4-6

V. 28 Daughters of Jerusalem - Similar to references of Israel in the OT. 

9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.… Zechariah 9: 9-10

Cry for yourselves and for your children - Even through His suffering shines forth compassion, teaching, warning. He sees what's coming for Him and embraces His destiny, and He sees what is coming for them in the events of 70 A.D. and laments, warns them to cry not for His agony, but Jerusalem's own fate, the wages of their deeds. If only our sins brought us so many tears as our pain and discomfort. We don't hate the original cause so much as the effect. 

Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed - Jesus' point is that in these coming days, it will be better to have never had any offspring, so horrible will be this time! What bitter irony! Normally barrenness was considered to be like a divine curse (Luke 1:25; Ge 30:23; Isa 4:1) and childbirth a joy and blessing (Lk 1:57–58; 11:27; Ge 21:6–7; Isa 54:1) but in this time of destruction it would be a "blessing" (relatively speaking), for women would loose their offspring and even some would be forced to cannibalize their offspring to stay alive! (Cannibalism had been prophetically promised as one of the curses on Israel for breaking covenant - see Lev 26:29, Dt 28:53, Jer 19:9, cf 2 Ki 6:28-29, Lam 4:10. Josephus tells a dreadful story of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. see this account in Josephus War 6. Chapter 3. Paragraph 4)

Notice the irony once again as Jesus is predicting judgment coming on the Jews and their holy Temple - Jesus is not so much as the judged as He is the Judge (Acts 10:42) in full control of the situation, even His last steps prior to His crucifixion! - Precept Austin

V. 30 Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us - They want to be put out of their misery, afraid to take their own lives, but begging for God to make it fast. Going back to Hosea we can see that this is a clear reference to their judgment. Jerusalem missed the time of her visitation. She could not discern it.

…7Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water. 8The high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” 9Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?… Hosea 10: 7-9

V. 32 Two others also, who were criminals - Some believe them, and I find it highly probable, to be the associates of Barabbas, the thief, murderer, and insurrectionist who was released instead of Jesus. 

…17No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel. 18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.…

20When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat. 21Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. 22The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.… Leviticus 16: 17-22