#190 Lu. 23:27-31 THE CROWD THAT FOLLOWED JESUS TO GOLGOTHA Introduction: In our text last Sunday Simon the Cyrenian was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus to the place of execution. Perhaps you will recall that Luke said that Simon followed after Jesus. In our text today we learn that Simon was not the only one to follow Jesus. There were many others who followed Him also. I. The great masses who came to see V. 27, "And there followed him a great company of people..." This great crowd was made up of several different kinds of people. We can be sure that the chief priests and elders who made up the Sanhedrin Council were in the number. These were the ones who brought the false accusations against Him. They were the ones who kept insisting that Jesus be crucified even though He was found "not guilty" before the Pilate and Herod. They were the ones who incited the mob of people to cry out in a frenzy demanding the crucifixion of Jesus. They were the ones whom Pilate feared would go to Rome and complain about him to the Caesar if he did not give in to them. They were the ones who finally got Pilate to give in and order the crucifixion. They hated Jesus. So we can be sure that they were in this great crowd of people. They would follow Jesus to the place of crucifixion to make sure that nothing would interfere with the crucifixion. They would watch with glee as Jesus was crucified. The crowd was chiefly made up of the great masses of common people who had come from far and near to the city of Jerusalem to observe the Passover. Some of them, of course, were local people, but the majority were from distant cities and villages. Many of them had been in the great crowd of people who just a few days earlier had followed Jesus as He rode down Mt. Olives into the city of Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass. At that time they had enthusiastically proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, the future King of Israel. Now they just as enthusiastically cried out for His crucifixion. These people had no personal animosity toward Jesus as did the chief priests and elders. They were not at all bitter toward Him. They were just attracted by all of the excitement that was going on and were easily influenced to go along with the crowd. Yet there must have been some true believers in that great crowd. Their hearts were broken to see their beloved Lord treated in such a cruel and vicious manner. These would be eye-witnesses to His crucifixion and His death and would, therefore, be able to testify that He truly did die and that He truly did arise from the grave. II. The women who wept for Jesus Luke calls our attention to a special group, a group of women who were in this great crowd. (V. 27), "...and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him." Judging from verse 28, these were local women. They lived in or near the city of Jerusalem. It is very likely that some of these women were true believers in Jesus, but the majority were just women with a tender heart. They hated to see anyone so badly mistreated. Most of them were not grieved because the Christ was being abused, but just because a fellow human being was being abused. These women wept bitter tears as they followed along in the crowd. They had already seen enough cruelty to break their hearts as they watched the scourging and the mockery. They had watched as Jesus struggled to carry His cross. They had watched as the cross was laid on Simon. They had watched and their tender hearts were grieved. III. words of Jesus to the women V. 28, "But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." Now it is amazing that Jesus would say anything at all to these women. It would seem that He would be so absorbed in His own suffering that He would pay little heed to them. What is even more amazing is that He seems more concerned about them and their children than He does about Himself. Jesus not only knew what was ahead for Himself, but He also knew what was ahead for those women and their children. In fact, He knew what was ahead for the city of Jerusalem and for the whole nation of Israel. V. 29, "For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck." The time was ahead for the city of Jerusalem and for its people that people when it would no longer considered a blessing to have children. Instead, they would consider it a blessing to have no children at all. It can be a great blessing to have children, but if your very life is in danger and you must flee for your life then it would be better not to have children. If you have children at a time like that, you not only fear for your own life, but you also fear for the lives of your children. It's just better not to have any in a time like that. Jesus said to those women that the troublesome days ahead for Jerusalem would be so bad that the people would beg for the mountains to fall upon them. V. 30, "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us." V. 31, "For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" We may have difficulty in understanding just exactly what this illustration involves. We do know that when workers go into an orchard, they do not cut down the green productive trees. They cut down the dead, dry, unproductive trees. Some think that Jesus speaks of Himself as the green tree. They think He speaks of those who crucify Him as the dry unproductive tree. Others think that He uses the green tree to speak of good times and the dry tree to speak of bad times. Be that as it may, there is one thing that we do know. We know that He is saying that things are going to get worse for the people of Jerusalem and that they need to weep for themselves because of the danger that lay ahead. Jesus was speaking about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. Not many years after the death of Jesus the Jews would rebel against the Roman authority and drive the Romans out. But the Romans would return with an overwhelming army and devastate the nation and that great city of Jerusalem. It would be a terrible time for all who live in Israel and especially for those who would live in Jerusalem. IV. The things that Jesus had said at earlier times Listen to what Jesus had already said about this terrible time. Luke 11:49-51, "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation." Jesus said that God the Father would pour out His wrath upon the nation of Israel and upon the city of Jerusalem for all of the persecutions which they have inflicted upon His prophets down through the years. Luke 13:6-9, "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. The whole nation of Israel and especially the city of Jerusalem had become like that unproductive fig tree. God would be gracious to them for a little while longer, but after that He would use the Roman armies to cut them down. Luke 13:34-35, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Jerusalem would be laid desolate and would be left desolate until the time will come when the Jews would be ready to accept the Christ which their forefathers had rejected. As it is today, parts of the nation and parts of the city of Jerusalem has been restored into the hands of the Jews, but not all. Luke 19:41-44, "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." This is exactly what happened to Jerusalem when the Roman armies came upon her. The siege lasted for several years, and the city fell in 70 A. D. In Luke chapter twenty-one Jesus not only speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D., but He uses that event to picture another event which yet future. He uses the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. to picture the destruction that will come upon Israel and upon Jerusalem in the end-time. The armies of the world will march upon this city and seek to destroy it once and for all. Luke 21:20-24, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." But let me now back up to chapter twenty. In this chapter Jesus speaks a parable which includes just exactly what is taking place at the time that Jesus speaks to the women. Luke 20:9-16, "Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid." The Jews not only persecuted the prophets which God had sent, but when He sent His Son, they were now about to crucify His Son. By their actions they bring untold suffering upon themselves and upon their children. There would be great suffering in the invasion by the Romans and the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. There will be even greater suffering in the end-time when the armies of the world overrun Jerusalem. V. The greatest suffering of all Let me point out yet one more time of even greater suffering. The greatest suffering of all would come when those Christ rejecters and all Christ rejecters will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Let us get the picture again. Jesus was on His way to Golgotha to be crucified. He would be nailed to a cross and would suffer untold agony. Yet His greater concern was for those women and their children and for all the people of Israel. He was concerned for them that very soon they would suffer in the invasion by the Romans and in the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. He was likewise concerned for a future generation who would live in the end-time when once again Jerusalem will be surrounded and will fall to the enemy. But most of all He was concerned for all of the people of all ages who would all spend eternity in the Lake of Fire if He does not go to the cross. Jesus said to those women, "Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." I wonder what He would say today if He were here today to speak to us. I can only tell you what I think He would say. I think Jesus would say, "Weep not for me because I went to the cross. But if you are lost and on the road to hell then weep for yourself. Weep also for your children who are unsaved." Listen, my friends, I am afraid we take it all too lightly that some of the people of this congregation are headed for the fires of hell. I am afraid that we take it too lightly that some of the saved people in our congregation have children or grand children who are unsaved and headed for the fires of hell. We ought to weep for those who are lost. We ought to weep and pray for those who are lost and on the road to hell. We ought to witness to them and tell them about Jesus Christ. Conclusion: I will tell you what I am going to do. I am going to call for our musicians to come forward and we are going to have an invitational hymn and we are going to pray that somebody will come and trust Jesus Christ and be saved as we sing.