Intro

As Luke describes that first Good Friday, while Jesus is on the way to the cross and while he is actually on the cross, he speaks to or about four individuals or groups. The first is to some women who were mourning and lamenting for him while he is led by Roman soldiers to Golgotha, the site of crucifixion.

To these weeping women, Jesus says “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me.” This kind of sadness that the women were feeling, a despairing and hopeless sadness, is the way we respond to a great loss. We weep because something we love is slipping way, something we had hoped for is lost. We weep these kinds of tears beside the bed of a dying loved one, helpless to save their lives. We weep for them and we weep for ourselves, we who have no power in the face of the death. As these women follow along in that crowd to the place of Jesus’ execution, they weep. They mourn that an innocent man has been turned into a criminal, they grieve this injustice. What else can they do but weep? What else can we do but weep?