Daughters of Jerusalem, The Cross Mourners

I want us to look together to Luke chapter 23.

I want to read again verses 25 through 33. Now, I'm doing a three-week look at this, and last week we started it. And the reason I want to read the whole passage to you again is because there's three different stories in this passage. and it really shows how people matter to Jesus. And even in his last walk to Calvary, what was going on was phenomenal. And so I want to read that to you and then we're going to actually look at verses 27 to 31. So let's start with verse 25. And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder. Now this is Barabbas that he's talking about. But he delivered Jesus to the will. Now it's Pontius Pilate that's releasing Jesus to the will of the people. You can remember, if you think back in a sermon prior to this, I talked about how Pilate and Herod really did not want to crucify Jesus. But the pressure of the people and the Jewish religious leaders of that day, they manipulated the crowd until they were just crying, crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate finally yielded. You remember his wife said, you don't need to have anything to do with this man. And he washes his hands of the blood of Christ. Verse 26. And when they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene coming in from the country and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. And there were following him a great multitude of people and of women who were mourning and lamenting him. But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. 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. 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 tree, what will happen in the dry. And when two others who were criminals were being led away to be put to death with him, and when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

Lord, take these words and melt them in our hearts today. You know, last week I introduced to you guys this sermon series entitled People That Matter. Simon Serene, the cross bearer. Daughters of Jerusalem, the cross mourners. and criminals the right and the left of the middle cross Just the mention of their names or identity was enough to give evidence that they mattered in the story of Jesus' progression to the cross. It says to all of us that the historicity of these events, both the grueling emotional demonstration, there was that side of it and then also the prophetic message of crucifixion mattered not only to them but also to us as well you know when I wrote that statement I thought of the song were you there when they crucified my Lord were you there when they crucified my Lord. Oh,

sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? You know, I can honestly say that I was not there physically. But I was there and let me make this statement. I was there judicially.

Because of my sin. S-I-N singular in nature. And then my choice to commit sins. S-I-N-S plural. I was there. Romans 3.23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All is an inclusive term, meaning all. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to hear that, does it? That includes you and me. It was my sin that nailed him to the tree. You know, somehow we've tried to dismiss that in the church today, but it was all of our sins that nailed him to the tree. I was there. Maybe not physically, but judicially, I was there.

Their drama and his prophetic message mattered. It mattered to Simon because Simon mattered to him and thus became, in a picturesque way, literally, the first cross-bearer for Jesus. Jesus shows that we matter to him also when he said, if you want to come follow me, deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow me. His invitation is amazing to us. It shows his compassion and love for us. You know, I think the question all of us have to answer in life is, must Jesus bear the cross alone? Simon was literally the first cross bearer. Today, I want us to look at daughters of Jerusalem, the cross mourners. Once again, I ask myself the question, did they matter to Jesus? Well, I think they certainly did. If you look at Jesus' life, Now, this was probably the last public sermon that Jesus preached before his death Now on the cross Jesus made seven statements but we would not consider those sermons even though we build sermons out of those statements But here in verses 21 through 31 while walking to Calvary during his march to Golgotha inching the upward climb to the place of the skull to his destiny of crucifixion, barely able to stand, Jesus stops, looks at these women, and preaches a very straightforward sermon.

It was short, but it was straight to the point.

You know, I imagine most people think, And boy, preachers ought to learn a lesson from his short sermons. He could say a whole lot in just a little bit of time. In verse 28 here it says, But turning to them, Jesus said, Turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem. Daughters of Jerusalem.

Who were these women? who were these daughters of Jerusalem? Well, I can tell you who I think they were not. They weren't the women of Galilee that had been traveling with Jesus and the disciples and taking care of their needs.

These women are from the holy city of Jerusalem. the capital of Israel, the religious center of Judaism.

Perhaps they were professional mourners.

You know, that was a tradition in Jesus' day. I'm not quite sure where the money came from, but they were paid for public, loud expressions of wailing and lamenting and mourning.

But there was an example. They just exampled this. There was, through their community, it was a profitable business to be a mourner. How do you like to make money going to everybody's funeral and mourning and weeping and wailing? You know, I can remember this kind of dates back to older generations. My dad's mother, Aggie Hurst, when my Uncle Lance, who was a Methodist preacher, had died coming in from Boston and ended up getting sick and died in the hospital. And they brought him on in the spur and had his funeral. and I was I think 10 years old and I hadn't been to many funerals in my life and as Grandmother Hearst began to approach her son's coffin she began to wail and mourn and I'm freaked out I'm going what in the world is this going on that older generation went through that wailing and mourning when I was pastoring in Sudan, there was a lady in the church there who had lost her husband when he was about 50 years old. And at every funeral at the graveside, she would go into wailing and mourning you know and some of the guys in in the church said you think you could get her to quit doing that And I did get with her and sit down and we discussed all that. And then she finally got past that, but she thought it was her job to wail and mourn at everybody's service out at the graveside. And she was good at it. I'm telling you, she could literally prostrate herself on that casket and wail and mourn.

When my dad died, my grandmother, his mother lived to almost 199. And my mother told us six boys, if she starts wailing, if you hear this whoo, y'all just usher her on past that coffin. and I remember my twin brother and I were walking right behind her and that guttural sound began and we just walked grandmother past that my mother said I don't want that happening at your daddy's funeral I don't want that wailing and mourning but it was a profitable business back in Jesus' day I don't know how they made their money but there's many incidences where they talk about wailing for profit perhaps they were an organization that gave their voices to justice and they just cried out lamenting and mourning for the innocent Jesus was innocent of the trumped up charges against him Pilate inherited found no reason to crucify him and yet the religious leaders that be and the manipulated crowd cried out for his innocent blood they could have been sympathizers for a cause but they were not disciples perhaps they were just maybe they really were authentic mourners with misdirected grief because they were simply ignorant of our Lord's intentionality his willingness in his willful choice to be nailed to the cross. The best we can say about them was that they were from Jerusalem. They were public mourners and they were the last, listen to this, singled out group to hear his last sermon. They were singled out. It says turning to them and saying to them. I think it shows that they matter to Jesus.

He could have very well ignored them. I mean, imagine his physical state of being at this time. The man is beaten to death almost. He's bloody. He's ripped open. He's dying right there on the spot. Why on earth? I'm going to guarantee you, y'all come beat me up up here. I'm probably not going to stand up and preach a sermon to you.

I might preach something to you, but it won't be a sermon.

Mark 1, verses 14 through 15, describes what Jesus' first sermon was all about. It says, And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is at hand. Repeat.

and believe the gospel.

In Luke 23, 21 through 37, just think about what I just read to you. In his last sermon, the foundation of his message had not changed whatsoever. It remained the same. He preached repentance to these women of Jerusalem. That's what that whole message is about. First, it was a rebuke of correction.

Secondly, it was a challenge to conversion. His turning to them was an act of compassion. His turning was not an act of condemnation.

Here's the sermon points.

He turned to them. He said, stop weeping for me. Verse 28. Stop it.

Can you imagine that? Here's this man beaten to death, and these women are wailing and mourning and lamenting him. Maybe that should have brought some comfort to him. Or said, well, this is unjust what they're doing to you. We're going to yell and scream about it to all of society.

Jesus turns and rebukes them. Stop it. Stop weeping for me. Why did Jesus say that?

Here's how I answer that question.

They did not know who he was.

Their grief,

now this is my own thinking, but their grief was ritual over relationship. Does that make sense to you? It was ritual over relationship. these women had a fine-tuned ritual of lamenting, mourning, and wailing. They knew the business.

It was a ritual of sympathy and sorrow.

And they were directing this ritual towards Jesus. And he didn't want anything to do with it. Isn't that amazing? nor did he want their wailing to dominate the atmosphere of the crucifixion. He said, stop it. Don't weep for me.

Jesus knew who he was.

Jesus knew his divine purpose. And he wanted them to know who he was. and he wanted them to understand what he was doing. So he said, stop it. Don't weep for me.

You remember Peter's first sermon to the church in Acts 22 through 24. Listen to what Peter says. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. They weren't ignorant. They knew this. This man delivered up by the predetermined underscore those words predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God you nailed to the cross by the hands of godless man and put him to death And God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death since it is impossible to be held in its power. Church, listen to me. The onslaught of injustice, beatings, mockery, scourging, and the humiliation of the cross was no surprise to Jesus.

Sympathy was not necessary. Do you hear that? He didn't need their sympathy. He didn't want it.

He wasn't encouraging them to wail and mourn and wait for him. He rebuked it.

These wicked people were just an instrument of crucifixion. For it was the sovereignty of God his father that put him on the cross.

If that's not worked in your theology, you need to put it in there. It was his sovereignty. It was the father. In Galatians 4, 4 and 5, let me just summarize it to you. When the time had just gotten right, God sent his son God sent underscore that word God sent his son to redeem to save the lost and to make them sons and heirs of the kingdom God sent his son God was not surprised there was a cross in Jesus' destiny Jesus was not surprised he was marching to the cross in Luke 9 51 if you think back to sermons that we preach while I've been walking through Luke, 9.51 says, when the days were approaching for his ascension. Now, what ascension is talking about there is there's going to be the process of getting to Calvary, crucified at Calvary, dying, being put in the grave, being resurrected, and then spending numerous more days on the earth proving his resurrection and then ascending,

approaching for his ascension, it says that he resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew exactly why he was walking up that hill to Golgotha. He was the atonement for mankind. He knew that the price had to be paid there, that he had to finish the walk. In Matthew [16], 21 through 23, it says, From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things for the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Oh Peter said, oh Peter, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Can you imagine that?

Peter was so full of it sometimes full of himself saying God forbid Lord that shall never happen to you But he turned and said to Peter, now this is after his great profession of faith, he turns and says to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on God's interest but man's. You see what he's saying there? Peter I have set my face toward Jerusalem I'm ready to make that walk to Calvary to be crucified, to be slain listen to me stop your weeping for me your actions of sympathy for me are misguided your demonstrations of grief are misdirected stop this spectacle of ignorance you don't know who I am they didn't know who he was the second point I think is refocus verse 28 we for yourselves we for yourselves and your children what we're not the ones being unjustly crucified our actions seem right and good to focus on you and your injustice you know I'm going to tell you something and this may not connect with you but I call that the sin of social do-gooders they have a Messiah complex they are controllers they always want to control the moment when I was pastoring in Childress and we had a lot of people going on a walk to Emmaus and really getting touched by God In fact, I was the first one to go on a walk in Childress in 1992.

And when we left there in 96, a thousand people had gone on a walk.

And churches, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, and Second Baptist and Central Church of Christ, all these churches young people getting on fire and older people getting on fire for God there was just a rival we got to see a revival take place and so you know all of us preachers are going how are we going to disciple these folks we need to gather them in and disciple them sometimes preachers think they want to control this thing and direct all of it. Get out of the way and let God direct it. That's what I said. But maybe we do need to give some information and disciple. And at that time, there was a great thing out by Blackaby, experiencing God. And it was a wonderful lesson. And so all of us started in our churches experiencing God things And I remember I had I don know three or four different class times during each week when we were walking through this experiencing God. And it was, I don't remember how many weeks it was, 13, 15 weeks or something. And you did your actual biblical readings and then you had your meditation time and your prayer time and then you listened to God and then you came to your group meetings and you shared what God had done in your life that week. And I remember being at a meeting one night and a young couple that week had introduced to Jesus and then they went on a walk to Emmaus and they got on fire for Jesus and were active in our church.

This young mother, she had a teenage son. this young mother shared with us I might have told you this story when we were in our sharing time she said I want to share something with y'all and she took us back to her childhood where she had been sexually abused and she had buried it so deeply in her soul So during, during, during her silent time with God, God took her back. And took her back to that moment and walked her through a process of healing. And she talked about God healing her from her damaged emotions. now she put it in such graphic detail and there's 25 to 30 of her closest friends in here hearing this and as she begins to tell this and weep and share with us you know I'm going I had no idea God was going to do something like this and there was weeping and mourning and wailing going on in that room. And I said to everybody, we've got to get on our faces before God.

James, you can hear me say this. Take your shoes off.

We're in front of the burning bush.

Take your shoes off.

I'll never forget that. everybody shucked those shoes and we got down on our knees and our faces before God.

And the Holy Spirit fell, did more healing in that room than what I could ever imagine.

But in one of those sessions, with a group of older ladies,

I'm talking about from, You know, I'd be in that group today.

60 to 90 years old. You know, probably 25 of them. Boy, some of them were saints of God, I'm telling you. And there was one in there that grew up very distinctly Baptist. And she married a Methodist, so she became a Methodist. and she liked the leniency of Methodism.

And so had tagged all her Baptist experience as just being legalistic and bondage. And so she wasn't really

She was really excited about me using a Baptist vehicle to disciple people in the Methodist church.

And so she just uncorked on one of the things Blackaby taught that day on the video series. And I thought, where is this coming from? Where is this coming from? And I'll never forget. an older lady 15 years older than this lady, Janet, who was a Bible teaching guru.

And she addressed her.

What's the matter with you?

What's really going on with you? and then she walked her from law to grace and from Old Testament prophecy to Jesus in about 15 minutes she basically said get in the spirit get over yourself now she's addressing a 60 year old woman she's 80 get over yourself I'm going to tell you you could have heard a pin drop in there and the reason the 60 year old she wanted to control all of us she wanted to control our thinking our experiences she wanted to dismiss all of this that was taking place in our church and here's this 80 year old she laid the word on now it was a rebuke and a challenge to her to move on and get over all that bitterness and that resentment and seeing her friends come alive in Jesus You know, I think that's a lot of what is going on here.

Weep for yourself and your children. That's what she's saying. Quit focusing on these and focus on yourself. In other words, get to know your own depravity, your own wretchedness, your own willfulness, your own selfishness, your own sinfulness.

Not only did they not know who Jesus was, but they did not know who they were at the very core of their being.

Their ritual of sympathy was simply a deflection of truth about themselves or a defense mechanism to protect themselves It was a camouflage for authentic conversion

Jesus knew what they needed. They needed to repent.

These daughters of Jerusalem on the road to Calvary, Jesus is giving an altar call to the first,

to invite them to genuine conversion.

Weep for yourselves and for your children.

You know, if there's one thing I've learned being a pastor, you don't move into grace until you get honest about yourself. and you deal with your sin problem.

When you start dealing with that sin problem, the grace of God flows and ministers.

Stop weeping.

Weep for yourselves and your children. Third point would be escape the coming calamity. or if that wouldn't be motivation verses 29 and 30 for behold the days are coming when they will say blessed are the barren and the wounds that never bore and the breasts that never nurse then they will begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us here Jesus is outlining the consequences of rejecting him as Messiah there was an absence of repentance the calamity the judgment of God is so severe that they for themselves and their children's sake would wish they'd never been born their plea was to earthquake us to death this judgment fell on Jerusalem in 70 AD Jesus is prophetically saying this is the coming calamity. Rome completely destroyed Israel. The temple was taken to the ground. Millions of Jews were killed or dispersed to other regions of the world. But let me say this to us today. Prophetic theologians also say this is the prophecy about the end times for those who reject Christ. You cannot erase judgment from Scripture. you know what one of the words of Methodism was Wesley wanted to work there run from the wrath of God turn and flee from the wrath of God it's coming you know he used to preach hell before he preached grace go back and look at his sermons in one incident he was preaching in an upper room and it was probably hot up there, but this guy got up after Wesley was preaching about the torment of hell and destruction and the wrath of God This guy got up and started shouting hot Tis hot Tis hot I got to get out of this room And he round down stairs to get out. And John Henry Jewett, on his analysis of what was taking place, said, oh, if he'd only stayed and heard the rest of the sermon, he would have heard grace and forgiveness. you know sometimes folks we get caught up with those Turner Burn preachers well Turner Burn is okay to march toward the cross of forgiveness you hear what I'm saying when I finally recognize my own sinfulness that's when Jesus walked into the room and put his arms around me you know I even said in my prayer Lord I don't know if I'm worth saving and he put his arms around me and said you're worth saving verse 31 fourth point embrace life. For if they do these things in the green tree, green tree, life, what will happen in the dry? Most biblical commentators say the green tree is referring to Jesus here and the dry is referring to the rejection of Christ Israel. The proposition here is life or death. these of Jerusalem were not past the point of embracing life. These ladies. Do you hear what I'm saying? When Jesus preached this last sermon it was an invitation.

Don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves. Look at your own depravity.

The green tree's right here. I'm right here in your presence. Jesus said for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. There are two propositions here concerning eternity. Belief, eternal life. Rejection, eternal perishing and death.

You have never passed the invitation to salvation until you die. you hear what I'm saying 2 Corinthians 6 1 through 2 says and working together with him we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain for he says at the acceptable time I listened to you and on the day of salvation I helped you behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation daughters of Jerusalem they had a choice to make that day or a day before they died to embrace the green tree life before the calamity took place in Israel.

Did the daughters of Jerusalem matter to Jesus?

Do you matter? to Jesus?

Here's how I'd conclude this sermon.

Are you weeping for yourself?

Are you weeping for yourself? you know the psychologists the new ager movement would say that's an awful negative sermon that's awful talk about sin that you have to really come to the place of looking at yourself before you move into experience of grace?

Well, I'm pretty practical.

I understand that God woos us into his presence, but he also brings the conviction of sin and judgment.

Don't ever run from that. when God says, hey, I want to talk to you about this going on your life,

let him talk to you.

Because you know what's coming? Grace.

Healing.

Forgiveness.

Weep for yourselves.

I did a little bit of weeping this week. and every time I wept He brushed away those tears and brought healing Amen let's pray Lord we thank you for this day and for your mercy and your grace but Lord we also thank you for your honesty and your truth Lord we believe in complete salvation where we're moving from sin and death to life promise forgiveness wholeness healing thank you Lord Jesus for marching to Calvary for us. In your precious name I pray. Amen.