Day 23-The Women of Jerusalem Weep for Jesus

Luke 23:27-31

A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.  But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the days are surely 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 this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

In this passage, Binz tells us that Jesus addresses these women with a prophetic message rather than a consoling one.  Because Jesus knows the destruction that will soon come to Jerusalem when it is attacked by the Romans in AD 70.  That time was a dark time for the Jewish people.  It was better to never have had children rather than watch them die in this horrible attack.  When he tells them "For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" he is comparing the destruction of himself (green wood) to the future destruction of Jerusalem (dry wood).  In other words, if the Jews can do this to their innocent messiah(green wood), how much worse will the destruction be for Jerusalem (dry wood)?

To tell you the truth, I never really paid a lot of attention to this scene.  It totally makes sense to me why these women are flipping out.  I would like to think that I would have been one of them.  They recognize who Jesus is and what is happening to him. And they mourn.  However, I never knew that Jesus' response to them was prophetic.  I did not put two and two together with regards to these words and the later destruction of Jerusalem. 

Have you noticed that women in the Passion account are portrayed in a mostly favorable light?  Why is that?  And while we are at it, lets jump forward to the hear and now.  Have you noticed that women are more likely to be at prayer groups, faith formation classes, retreats, etc..? At least that is the case in all the churches I have attended.  Why are the women out numbering the men?

I have thought about this for a while and I am going to go out on a limb and tell you my ideas behind this dichotomy.  Women seem to be just naturally more open to the spirit, while men seem to have thicker and stronger walls to overcome.  It seems to be much harder for a man to ask for prayer or even to approach God in a posture of surrender.  I am not quite sure why this is.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that men refuse to ask for directions.  Anyhow, since coming to these conclusions, I have fostered a deep respect for the men in my church.  They have overcome so much more than I have in regard to growing their faith.  I love to listen to them pray and hear them sing and worship next to them.  They inspire me.  I pray that their numbers will grow by leaps and bounds.  Our churches need more than a few good men.