“ON THE ROAD TO THE CROSS”
LUKE 23:26-32

I. Introduction
Have you ever given someone a valuable gift and then watched as your gift was neglected, unappreciated, broken, or even thrown away? It hurt, didn’t it?

Have you ever offered a friend or a loved one the gospel of Jesus Christ and then stood by and watched as both it and you were rejected, ignored, disdained, and maybe even laughed
at behind your back? I know that hurts.

Have you ever offered someone your heart, your love, and the rest of your life in Christian marriage, only to have that person commit adultery, and turn their back and walk out of your life? I know that some of you have lived through that. I can’t imagine how that would hurt.

Have you ever offered your only son to evil sinners – sinners who hate both you and your son – so that they might have their bloodlust satisfied by mocking, torturing, and murdering him? And you did it to provide eternal salvation for those same murderers because you love them? None of us can imagine that, but that’s what our God has done. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not per-ish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).”

Today, as we continue our verse-by-verse study in Luke’s gospel, we have come to the place where Jesus will take that horrible journey to the cross. But is this moment in time, when Jesus is led away by the Roman soldiers, when His journey to the cross begins? No, it isn’t.
Jesus’ journey to the cross began some thirty years earlier when He came into this world. The OT prophesied it.
Isaiah 53:12b
12b …He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgress-sors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

Jesus said so Himself before His last journey to Jerusalem.
*Luke 18:31-33
31 And He (Jesus) took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
32 “For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,
33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

Jesus Christ fulfilled His purpose for being born. It was to die.
And in His dying He did for us four things that we could never have done for ourselves.
First, He became our substitute.
1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust (the righteous for the unrighteous), in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

Second, He redeemed us. (He paid a ransom we couldn’t pay).
Matthew 20:28
28 “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Third, He reconciled us to God.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 …God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their tres-passes against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Fourth, He made us righteous in God’s sight.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 He (God the Father) made Him (God the Son) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, (in order) that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Now, as Jesus is led away to the cross, all of these things – our substitution, our redemption, our reconciliation, and our righteousness – are about to be accomplished.

As we talked about in the weeks leading up to Christmas, this is why Jesus was born into the world. Therefore, we sometimes hear it said that the road to the cross began in a manger in Bethlehem. And from our limited human understanding and earthly perspective it did. But the reality is that Jesus’ road to the cross was designed and paved before time began. God’s plan to save you and me was conceived in eternity past.
Ephesians 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He (God the Father) chose us in Him (God the Son) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…

In v. 4 the word “world” is the Greek “kŏsmŏs” meaning the sum total of the material uni-verse, i.e., creation. Thus God’s plan for our salvation was in place before time began. So the divine reality is that the road that leads to Jesus’ cross, the road on which we find Him this morning, began not in the manger, but in the mind and heart of God in eternity past.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
II. Text
As we come to the text there is a great irony for us to consider. Those who have orches-trated Jesus’ murder – Jew and Gentile alike – have been driven by self-righteousness and hatred. Yet the One they’re crucifying is the source of true humility and unconditional love. They have lied, they have threatened, they have intimidated, and they have manipulated. And they have won the day; or so it seems. But what they do not understand is that the One they have judged and condemned is the One who will judge and condemn them.
John 5:21-22, 27
21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.”
27 “…and He (God the Father) gave Him (God the Son) authority to execute judg-ment, because He is the Son of Man.”

As we continue in Luke’s gospel we will be witnesses to a terrible thing – the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior – but through it all, difficult as it may be to watch, we need to remem-ber that we are witnesses to the greatest act of love in human history. Through the horror of it all, we are witnesses to our salvation and God’s gift to us of eternal life.
*Luke 23:26-32 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.
27 And there were following Him (Jesus) 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 bar-ren, 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?”
32 And two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

This crucifixion had to be carried out outside the city walls. The Mosaic Law required that capital punishment take place “…outside the camp.” (once in Leviticus; twice in Numbers) We know what sticklers the Jewish religious leaders were when it came to obeying the law.
*Luke 23:26
26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

Who was Simon and where was Cyrene? Simon was a common Jewish name. In fact, two of the twelve apostles were named Simon until Jesus changed one of their names to Peter (meaning “rock”). Cyrene was a Mediterranean port city founded by the Greeks in what today is modern Libya. It had a large Jewish population so Simon was probably one of many Cyrenians on his way to Jerusalem for the Passover feasts. Do we know anything else of Simon of Cyrene? Actually, we know quite a bit.
Mark 15:21
21 And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

Mark’s gospel, written to Christians at Rome, speaks as though the believers there knew Simon’s sons, Alexander and Rufus. When Luke wrote Acts he mentioned that among those who heard the gospel in their own language when the church was born at Pentecost were Cyrenians. Could Simon have been one of them?

In Acts 6:9 Luke tells us of a Cyrenian synagogue in Jerusalem. And in Acts 11:20 he says the church that was formed in Cyrene sent Christian missionaries to Antioch, and that one of those missionaries, Lucius, became a teacher in that city. All of that took place within 15-20 years of the crucifixion.

But there’s more. Years later, when Paul wrote Romans, he said this in 16:13 – “Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.” “His mother” would have been Simon’s wife, a godly woman who had rendered some motherly service to Paul.

So while it cannot be categorically stated that Simon became a Christian, there is sufficient circumstantial evidence for us to suspect that he did so. A cursory reading of Luke 23:26 where it says the soldiers “…laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene” might lead you to think Simon was just a random pick from the crowds that filled the streets.

But we serve a sovereign God who does not work in coincidences. Since both Luke and Paul make reference to Simon’s wife and sons, I like to think that when his work of carrying Jesus’ cross was finished that he stayed at the crucifixion grounds where he would have heard Jesus speak and seen what took place over the next six hours. I like to think that Simon returned to Cyrene and led his wife and sons to the Lord. What do you think?

In any case we do know that Simon carried Jesus’ cross. There have been many theories put forth as to whether a condemned man had to carry (drag) an entire cross or just the crossbeam (“patibulum”) to the crucifixion grounds. A patibulum weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds and was difficult even for a strong man to carry any distance. For someone who had already been tortured and had lost a great deal of blood it was probably impossible.

Most scholars believe Jesus’ cross was shaped like the letter “T,” and not like what we nor-mally think of with the vertical post extending above the crossbeam.
A man would have his wrists nailed to the patibulum after which it would be hauled to the top of upright portion of the vertical post, called the “stipes.” The stipes would be a semi-permanent fixture left on the crucifixion grounds for repeated use. So it’s safe to assume that Simon carried the crossbeam of Jesus’ cross out of the city and up Golgotha’s hill.
*Luke 23:27
27 And there were following Him (Jesus) a great multitude of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him.

It is only five days since Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. His so-called “trium-phal entry” had the crowds calling for His coronation. Now many of the same people are calling for His execution. Why? What had happened to cause such a drastic change in such a short time? Much of the blame can be attributed to the human heart. They wanted a king who would drive the Romans out of Israel and restore her to her former glory…and they wanted it now! Like spoiled children they didn’t get what they wanted “right now,” and so they turned on Jesus.

But there was another reason the multitudes turned on Jesus. They were persuaded to do so by their religious leaders. The people they trusted to speak for God actually spoke for the devil. The multitudes – most of them at least – didn’t have the spiritual discernment to see through the lies their leaders were telling them.

And as it so often seems to be the case in today’s world, the ones who are charged with caring for God’s people and turning them toward God, are the very ones who mislead God’s people and turn them away from Him. On that day in Jerusalem the Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy and said His power was from Satan, when in fact, it was exactly the other way around.

In Luke 23:27 the word “mourning” is the Greek “kŏptō.” It speaks of pounding one’s own chest as an expression of deep grief. “Lamenting” is translated from “thrēnĕō,” meaning loud crying and wailing. This kind of public display of sorrow and anguish is still common in the Middle East. You may have heard of “professional mourners” who are actually paid to provide such displays at funerals. But it is important for us to understand that this is not the kind of sympathy or emotion that Jesus wants.
*Luke 23:28-31
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 bar-ren, 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?”

The OT uses the phrase “daughters of Jerusalem” as a metaphor for all of Israel. He is telling them that they and their children will soon be facing a terrible judgment from God.

That judgment will begin barely thirty-five years after the crucifixion and will end with the complete destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Jesus’ point is that unless these daughters of Jerusalem (Israel), repents, she will suffer the torments of hell. Jesus’ suffering will be tem-porary, but theirs will be eternal. (v. 28 – “If you want to cry about something, cry about that!”)

Jesus first warned Israel of impending doom back in Luke 13.
*Luke 13:34-35
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!
35 “Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

Just five days earlier, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday, He spoke of the city’s destruction in 70 A.D. in more detail.
*Luke 19:41-44
41 And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
43 “For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side,
44 and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Only three days earlier, Jesus, teaching in the temple, warned them what would happen as a result of their failure to repent and receive Him as their promised Messiah. In this prophecy God’s Word does something that it often does. It presents us with a prophecy that has more than one fulfillment. That is to say, it has both a “near” fulfillment, one that will be realized by those to whom it is given; and a “far” fulfillment, one that will be fulfilled in the future.

In Luke 21 Jesus’ prophecy about Jerusalem speaks to both those near and far fulfillments.
*Luke 21:20-24
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand.
21 “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city;
22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are writ-ten may be fulfilled.
23 “Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people,
24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (…at the Second Coming)

“…the times of the Gentiles” began in 587 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians overran Jerusalem. Those times will not end until “…the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” at the Second Coming. The horrors that will come upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D. are merely a prelude to what will come upon the whole earth during the Tribulation.

In Luke 23:29 Jesus says something that would be incredible to any Jewish woman. Any Jewish woman who did not (or could not) give birth to children carried a great social and
religious stigma. He tells them it would be better for them not to have their own children because when the destruction comes it will be complete. There will be no compassion on the part of the conquerors. The sick, the infirm, the elderly, the littlest of children, and even the babies will be murdered without mercy.

Jesus’ prophecy had its first fulfillment (“near”) in 70 A.D. And today we see the rise of the same kind of godless and merciless destruction going on and increasing, don’t we? This time it is not being done by Romans in the name of Caesar. Now it’s being done by radical Islamists in the name of Allah. But God’s chosen people are still at the center of it.

The great lesson for us in this morning’s passage in Luke’s gospel is that unless a person repents and receives Christ he will suffer the fate that Jesus is describing to the women who are weeping and wailing as He goes to the cross. “Don’t cry for Me. Cry for yourselves!”

The divine judgment that is coming on this earth will be so thorough, so horrendous, and so appalling that it will be preferable to be crushed to death than to suffer God’s wrath. This is precisely what the Apostle John would later talk about in the Revelation.
Revelation 6:15-17
15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

Jesus’ statement in Luke 23:31 (“…if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”) applies directly to Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 A.D. He is saying, “If the Romans will do this to Me (the innocent), what do you think they will do to you (the guilty)?”
But the larger truth applies to every unrepentant sinner on the face of the earth. The meta-phor is that if even green wood can be made to burn, then dry wood will burn and be com-pletely consumed. John Calvin explained like this: “…dry wood is generally thrown into the fire first; but if what is moist and green be burned, much less shall the dry be ultimately spared… (and so) the lamenting of the women is foolish, if they do not likewise expect and dread the awful judgment of God which hangs over the wicked.”
*Luke 23:32
32 And two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

We will soon see that these two criminals are an illustration of all men everywhere. They are both guilty of a capital offense. They have both been convicted of their crimes. And their sentence is about to be carried out. We’ll pick the narrative here next Sunday morning.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III. Conclusion
In these few verses in Luke 23 we have seen something chilling. But it’s not something our Lord Jesus has said; it’s something He hasn’t said. Whenever Jesus taught or preached, He would invite His hearers to Himself. He, like John the Baptist before Him, would call for repentance; He would preach the gospel. But here, now, on the road to the cross, He does neither. There is no invitation; there is only the pronouncement of pending doom and judg-ment to come.

Why? God had offered Israel the gift of His Son, their promised Messiah, but they failed to recognize Him and He was rejected. That’s why there was no invitation on the road to the cross. Back in Luke 19:44 He said “…because you did not recognize the time of your visita-tion.” That sobering statement applied to the Jews who rejected Him then. It applies to everyone who has heard the gospel and rejected it in the last two thousand years. And it applies to you and me right now right here in Lake Geneva today.

Have you heard the gospel? Have you felt Jesus’ tug at your heart? Has He “visited” you? If you’ve heard the gospel, He has! Don’t reject Him. The day will come when He will no longer invite you to receive Him. Repent, that is, be willing to turn around and follow Him. Then trust in Him and Him alone for your salvation and you will be saved.
Romans 10:9-10
9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

~ Pray ~