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