Luke 23:26-31 (NIV) As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”‘ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
In the greatest miscarriage of justice in history, Jesus was condemned to be tortured and killed by crucifixion. The charge was blasphemy, claiming to be the Son of God – which is only blasphemy if you aren’t the Son of God! The means of securing the death penalty was not a reasoned criminal case, but political pressure and false testimony.
Jesus received the traditional scourging before being led out to be crucified (Matthew 27:26). The scourging with metal-tipped whips was designed to cause massive shock and blood loss. The scourging was not limited to 39 lashes. That rule was based on a Jewish law, designed to not bring degradation to a brother (Deuteronomy 25:3), and the Romans did not observe Jewish law. If the flogging was too severe and killed the person, that was simply one less job for the soldiers to do. But even if it didn’t kill the person outright, the severe beating usually shortened the length of time that the person was on the cross before they died, a benefit on this Sabbath eve, when all of the victims had to die and be taken down from the crosses by sunset, a Jewish law that the Romans DID honor.
In addition to the normal flogging, Jesus was also subjected to ridicule by the solders, who put a scarlet robe over His shredded shoulders, a crown of thorns on His head, and a staff in His hand. He was then “honored” as the king of the Jews for a short time, before they began to slap Him, spit on Him, and beat Him over the head with the staff (Matthew 27:27-31).
The beating and abuse had been so severe that Jesus’ strength utterly failed Him on the way through town carrying the 70-pound crossbeam lashed across his shoulders. So, the guards impressed Simon from Cyrene, who was in town for the festival, to carry the crossbeam to the execution site.
Some executions garnered very little attention from the general public. But Jesus had quite a crowd following Him through the narrow streets of the city, many of them women, who wailed in grief over Him. Jesus’ word to them was a warning that looked forty years into the future, to the time of the siege and fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome. In that day, those who did not have children that they would have to watch slowly waste away from starvation and disease would be considered fortunate. In that day, unlike the day Jesus was being led out of the city to a cross, when one person would experience God’s punishment to pay for sins, all who were left would experience God’s punishment, and there would be no place to hide.
Father, Jesus lived one moment at a time, just like us. But He always had His eye looking forward, and His mind and heart were always focused on the big picture. And He warned and warned all of those around Him of what was coming so that they, too, could be prepared. I’m sure that it was frustrating to Him that so few paid attention and turned away from the sin that was leading them to a moment of judgment. I know that it is often frustrating to me when I find the same lack of response from my family and friends. But He kept on warning and encouraging. Help me to be as faithful with the people I have contact with as he was with those He could speak to. Amen.