INTRODUCTION:

1. This morning I preached on our Lord s last sayings from the cross.

• Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).
• Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).
• To his mother: Woman, behold thy son! To the disciple (John), Behold thy mother! (John 19:26, 27).
• My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).
• I thirst (John 19:28).
• It is finished (John 19:30).
• Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46).

2. But tonight, I am not going to preach on our Lord s last sayings from the cross; I am going to preach on His last recorded words before the cross.
3. These words are only found in the Gospel of Luke. The other Gospel writers record our Lord s conversation with Pontius Pilate, and then go straight to the cross.
4. A group of sympathetic followers were weeping for our Lord as He was being brought up to Mount Calvary (23:27). Our Lord addressed these women as, Daughters of Jerusalem (23:28).
5. John Phillips wrote: Luke s gospel is full of women s portraits Elizabeth and Mary, Martha and her sister Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. We meet the widow of Nain, the woman who was a sinner, the woman who was bent, and the woman who was sweeping her house Note that no gospel records any instance of any woman who opposed Jesus Among the Gentiles, women were often degraded. Among the Jews, the rabbis in their liturgy actually thanked God that they were not born women. It is Christ who gives women dignity (Exploring the Gospel of Luke).
6. And, according to Luke, these women were generous. Luke 8:3 says, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
7. It has been pointed out that our Lord s example, His teachings, and most of all, His redemption, have done much to dignify and elevate women (Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary).
8. In Muslim countries, women are treated as property. Men are allowed to have several wives, and they are permitted to beat their wives. Fathers are allowed to kill their daughters if the daughters do things the father disapproves of (such as talk to non-Muslims, or dress a certain way, etc.). This is called shariah law.
9. A while back, the Washington Post ran a story entitled, In Pakistan, 1,000 women die in honor killings annually.
10. Our Lord told the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for Him, but to weep for themselves, and for their children (23:28).

 

I. OUR LORD S WORDS ARE PROPHETIC (23:28, 29).

1. For behold,  the days are coming.. (23:29) This prophecy refers to the invasion of Jerusalem by the Roman army in AD 70. The city and the temple were destroyed; over one million Jews were killed; and there was a severe famine and plagues (cf. 13:34, 35; 19:41-44; 21:20-24).
2. I recently read an article: Uncovering Jerusalem s Ancient Walls," Israel Today, April 2017: Workers were breaking ground for a new campus of the Bazalel Academy of Arts and Design ... when they stumbled upon the very spot where Roman soldiers breached Jerusalem's city walls 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists were summoned to examine the evidence of the Roman breach which occurred at the end of the Second Temple Period. They found the remains of a tower jutting from the city wall and scores of catapults and huge stones used by the Romans to sling at the Jewish guards defending Jerusalem from the top of the tower. ... 'This is a fascinating testimony of the intensive bombardment by the Roman army, led by Titus, on their way to conquering the city and destroying the Second Temple,' the archaeologists said in a statement. 'The bombardment was intended to attack the sentries guarding the wall and provide cover for the Roman forces so they could approach the wall with battering rams and thereby breach the city's defenses. (David Cloud, April 7, 2017, Archaeologists Identify Jerusalem Wall Breached by Rome in AD 70).
3. Warren Wiersbe wrote, The Romans attempted to starve the Jews into submission; and their hungry men, defending the city, took food from their suffering wives and children and even killed and ate their own flesh and blood (The Bible Exposition Commentary).
4. This is why our Lord said, 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 (23:29).  It would be unbearably painful for a mother to see her child die such a horrible death.
5. As we see often in Scripture, our Lord was looking beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 all the way down to the great tribulation (cf. 21:20-28).

 

II. OUR LORD S WORDS REMIND US OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE (23:29; cf. Luke 21:23; Matt. 24:19; Mark 13:17)

1. Our Lord s words are actually the converse (that is, reversed in order) of those in the Olivet Discourse.  In Luke 21:23, our Lord said, But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! (21:23).
2. Here in Luke 23:29, our Lord says, 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.
3. Because of the terrible suffering, it would be better to be childless.  Women would see their babies starve to death.  Babies would be snatched out of their arms.  Things would be so bad, that many babies would be eaten (cf. Deuteronomy 28:15, 53-58; II Kings 6:26-29).
4. Normally, children are a tremendous blessing from God.  Psalm 127:3-5 says, Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.
5. But during the coming judgment, Jesus said, 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 (23:29).

 

III. OUR LORD S WORDS REMIND US OF THE SIXTH SEAL (23:30; cf. Rev. 6:16, 17)

1. Actually, we first see these words in Hosea 10:8 and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
2. But the most detailed prophecy is found in the book of Revelation (6:16, 17).
3. As He walked up to Mount Calvary, our Lord was looking past AD 70 to the coming tribulation period the great day of his wrath (Rev. 6:17).
4. This is the day of grace. Soon it will be the day of God s wrath.
5. The Bible teaches that if sinners refuse the salvation that God offers to all who come to Him in faith, then they must face His wrath.  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).
6. Romans 1:18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
7. Romans 2:5 says impenitent sinners actually treasure up (hoarding up, accumulating) wrath for themselves.
8. Luke 23:31 seems to be a proverbial expression. A green tree is not easily set on fire, but a dry one is easily kindled and burns rapidly.
9. Jesus said in Luke 23:31, For if they do these things in a green tree (that is, when Christ walked among them), what shall be done in the dry (fit only for the fire; that is, the judgment of God)?

 

CONCLUSION:

1. H.A. Ironside spoke of a poor old Christian woman who was taunted because she believed what the Bible said about a literal lake of fire and brimstone.
2. Scoffers laughed at her and said that no such an amount of brimstone could be found in one place.
3. She replied, Everyone takes his own brimstone with him!
4. That is the best illustration I know of for Romans 2:5, 6 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds.