Six Trials

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Six Trials

Luke 23:27-31

27 And [de] there followed [akoloutheo] him [autos] a great [polus] company [plethos] of people [laos] , and [kai] of women [gune] , which [hos] also [kai] bewailed [kopto] and [kai] lamented [threneo] him [autos] .
28 But [de] Jesus [Iesous] turning [strepho] unto [pros] them [autos] said [epo] , Daughters [thugater] of Jerusalem [Hierousalem] , weep [klaio] not [me] for [epi] me [eme] , but [plen] weep [klaio] for [epi] yourselves [heautou] , and [kai] for [epi] your [humon] children [teknon] .
29 For [hoti] , behold [idou] , the days [hemera] are coming [erchomai] , in [en] the which [hos] they shall say [ereo] , Blessed [makarios] are the barren [steiros] , and [kai] the wombs [koilia] that [hos] never [ou] bare [gennao] , and [kai] the paps [mastos] which [hos] never [ou] gave suck [thelazo] .
30 Then [tote] shall they begin [archomai] to say [lego] to the mountains [oros] , Fall [pipto] on [epi] us [hemas] ; and [kai] to the hills [bounos] , Cover [kalupto] us [hemas] .
31 For [hoti] if [ei] they do [poieo] these things [tauta] in [en] a green [hugros] tree [xulon] , what [tis] shall be done [ginomai] in [en] the dry [xeros] ? KJV-Interlinear

27 And there were following Him a great multitude of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 'For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' 30 'Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' 31 'For if they do these things in the green tree, what will happen in the dry?' NASB

Jesus has been beaten thoroughly, yet now as He proceeds to the hill of His crucifixion, He stops momentarily to speak to those who were following along, and to those with great sorrow in their hearts. Matthew refers to 'women' for their actions are representative of the feminine reaction to great anguish. Both men and women were following and will stand near the Cross throughout the remainder of the day. All who cared for Him are grieving. Many others are of course shouting insults and curses and such.

A great multitude has now assembled. But the proceedings against Christ have already been completed. In the space of a just a few short hours, Jesus was run through several trials, has been sent before all the leadership of the region, and has been condemned to death. A typical trial against any other 'normal' person would take days or even months to complete. Paul was under arrest for many months and in prison for years before he was finally executed. And Paul was a high profile person of whom the chief priests wanted to get rid of as well.

The crowd is wailing and mourning with great grief, but their grief is of a worldly nature. Again, they lack understanding of the events that are unfolding. What everyone is doing is acting like they are losing someone whom they will never see again. Jesus has been with them for over three years and did nothing but good. He performed some very miraculous things which helped numerous people. Remember that the crowds that followed Jesus numbered 20,000 or so at times. He cured and healed many tens of thousands of people over those many months. The people loved Him. The chief priests detested Him in their jealousy of His abilities and of the attention He was gaining from the general population.

But Jesus could not simply go to some nearby tree and hammer some nails into His own hands and hang Himself on the tree and then pound on His own back to satisfy the penalty of sin and death. This whole conflict was between Satan and God. Satan challenges everything.

Recall that Satan challenged the prosperity of Job, and proposed that Job would reject God if prosperity were removed from his life. So here Jesus Christ had to go to the Cross, sent there by mankind, hated, detested and utterly condemned by mankind, the very creature for whom, He, Jesus Christ, was going to the Cross to save. One of the ultimate tests of Jesus is to go through all of the various temptations, pain and suffering, physical, mental, and verbal, and without committing even the slightest of sins.

Jesus has so far passed all of these tests. There are still more tests to come.

Christ goes to the Cross to purchase our freedom and to give us all a chance to have an eternal life. One which is far beyond our imagination. So, these folks who are following Him should not have been crying, but should have been in prayer and thankful for all His work in this matter of salvation.

Jesus addresses them in a calm voice. He has been beaten to the point of exhaustion. Any other person would be overwhelmed with grief and anxiety with the prospects of dying in just a few moments, after having nails pounded through their hands and feet. But Jesus is calm. He knows what is on the line. He is losing nothing in all of this. He is, in fact, gaining a great victory and those who are persecuting Him, will eventually come up the losers.

The tree which is green is Jesus Christ. Here mankind has the very Son of God walking amongst them. Tremendous opportunities avail themselves because of this. But what is happening? Jesus is rejected.

Now what will happen when doctrine is virtually non-existent. The life of the green tree, when it becomes dry, is gone. The tree is dead. And out of a dead tree, no life can sprout. When will this occur? Well, most commentators look to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but there was tremendous doctrine available in those days.

But in the days of the Tribulation, there will be an all out attack against God, and that will be the ultimate day of dead wood. It will not be a time to be pregnant or with a child of nursing age. It probably will not be a time to have any children of any age for that matter, because with children comes the burden of responsibility and support. To run off into the hills to escape persecution will be difficult enough for a single person. How much more difficult will it be for someone who is pregnant, about to give birth, or for those who need to care for their loved ones for an extended number of months (42 of them)? That will test that generation to beyond their limits, and many will fail.

People will cry out for death just to get away from the tremendous suffering they are under from crying and hungry children, from women who have temper tantrums because of their situation, from the endless days and nights of hiding and just trying to survive until the Second Advent. Many will no doubt lose their minds.

These people who are following along right now, are under no such pressure. They can openly grieve for Christ. But in the future (Tribulation), anyone who even acts like they are remotely interested in Christianity will be marked for death. Far worse times are still ahead for mankind.