Often folks object about how a matter is handled, because of the innocent who suffer. What about the innocent suffering due to the judgment of God? How can we account for the love of God in such a thing? I don’t know why, but we seem to place the judgment of God on a different plane than the judgments we make about things. For example, The atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II killed thousands of innocent people, but doing so probably saved millions of the Allied military, to say nothing of the casualties Japan would have incurred. Similarly, the innocent of the Jewish nation suffered, because they placed their trust in their leaders—the mountains and hills they hoped would cover them (Luke 23:30).
By asking the hills to cover them, the people seek the protection of their leaders (cf. Luke 3:5). The Greek word for cover (G2572) is also used by Peter to say love covers a great many sins (1Peter 4:8). To desire the mountains to fall upon them, is another way of saying the people seek refuge in the great men among them (Revelation 6:16). It is better to take refuge in the Messiah, because he will protect those who do (cf. Psalm 2:12).
Luke points out that many followed Jesus, as he journeyed to the crucifixion site, and some of these included women who wept over him (Luke 23:27-31). These women, however, were not the same women who traveled with him from Galilee. They were women from Jerusalem (Luke 23:28) and didn’t necessarily believe Jesus was the Messiah. They wept for him, but they may have been weeping simply because the Romans were executing another Jew, or perhaps some of them had relatives or friends who had been healed by Jesus during the past few days. Nevertheless, tender feelings for Jesus does not constitute belief in him. Jesus doesn’t want our pity. Rather, he tells the women to weep for themselves and for their own children (Luke 23:28).
One needs to consider the scriptures at this point. If Jesus came to fulfill all things that occurred in the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), then whatever happened to the nation in the past had to happen or be fulfilled in the nation’s Messiah. Consequently, whatever happened to the Messiah also had to occur to the nation and had to be fulfilled in them. Jesus simply carried this idea to its ultimate conclusion and foretold the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the nation. If the King was taken away to be destroyed, it followed that the nation, too, would have to be destroyed (Luke 23:29-30). Jesus tells these women that, although children are a blessing from God (Psalm 127:3), the time would come when many of them would wish they had no children at all, and they would consider the barren woman more blessed than they (Luke 23:29). Jesus’ proverb, concerning the mountains and the hills, paralleled the utter defeat of the nation and death of its king (cf. Hosea 10:7-8).
These women were warned, precisely because they had not placed their trust in Jesus. Not doing so, meant they would not heed the warning of his prophecy to flee the city during the coming Jewish war with Rome. Therefore, their compassion for him was met with his own for them by way of warning of what was ahead.
Jesus’ concluding remarks, concerning the green tree versus the dry one, shows that he categorized himself as the green tree that had life in it. However, by categorizing the Jewish nation as the dry tree, Jesus showed the inevitable judgment that would come upon them Luke 23:31). Green wood is much more difficult to burn than dry wood. Therefore, if the Romans were enabled to condemn and crucify Jesus (the green tree), how much easier would it be for judgment to come upon the dry tree (the Jewish nation)?
Smoodock's Blog 