Luke 23:26-31

content/bible_journal/luke_23:26-31.md

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+title = "Luke 23:26-31"
+date = "2023-02-17"
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+
+### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk23.26-31)
+
+Luke doesn't mention it, but condemned prisoners were scourged with a cat
+o'nine tails before being crucified. They also were expected to carry the cross
+beam from the city out to the place of execution. We know from John's account
+that Jesus started out from the city carrying His cross, but the blood loss
+from the scourging probably made Him too weak to complete the journey. The
+Roman soldiers press a Simon of Cyrene into service to carry Jesus's cross
+instead.
+
+I have often heard it said that the people of Jerusalem were fickle. One day
+they are shouting "Hosanna!" and welcoming their Messiah into the city and not
+even a week later they are shouting "Crucify Him!" It is apparently easy to
+forget (as I have done before) that Jerusalem is a big city. It's entirely
+likely that these two groups of people are entirely distinct. Even the few who
+might have been at both events, like some Pharisees, would hardly be changing
+their tune so quickly. Matthew and Mark describe a "crowd" calling for Jesus's
+blood, with the help of the chief priests and scribes to rile them up, but here
+Luke says a "great multitude" is lamenting and mourning for Jesus's impending
+death. Jesus had no friends present at His trial, but that doesn't mean no one
+cared about Him.
+
+On seeing the women weeping for Him, Jesus tells them to save it for
+themselves, because worse things are coming. I can't tell if He's referring to
+the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, or to the Great Tribulation that is still to
+come. It doesn't help that the other times Jesus talked about these events,
+they were described together then too.
+
+* * *
+
+We trust in Your mercy and Your goodness, which promises to keep us safe in
+Your hands through to the end.