Dear Reader,
Why am I telling you about the words of a man who died nearly 2000 years ago? What difference does it make to us?
You may not believe Jesus was the Son of God, born into this world. You may have another faith which does not include Jesus in His Divinity;
or no faith at all, or maybe you have picked up an attitude to Jesus saying He is irrelevant for today.
I still ask you to listen because these simple words speak a very simple Truth which would help all of us when we suffer.
Jesus, having been whipped and condemned to crucifixion, and so weak he needed someone else to help carry His cross, still He carried God’s Love for the world. He was aware of the women who wept for Him by the roadside as He passed, on his Way to be crucified. This awareness and compassion led Him to give them, and us a message.
Why them? - because they still had emotional sensibility to have compassion for His human suffering.
Why speak to them when He was himself in great agony? He had not forgetten the mission He had to save souls through God’s Love, and was inspired through that Love to speak to them. God wanted people to choose for Life, grow in Love and understanding for each other.
God knew our frailty.... and wanted us to grow in Trust in Him so He could bear our burdens, shame, bitterness, and we could learn to forgive, and even bless our enemies aswell as those close to us. Christ was bearing all the suffering that we deserved.
Christ was not singling out women to 'tell them off'.
He had spoken with women during His active time since His Baptism, some of whom He considered as friends. He encountered many women who came to him for help, and some of them travelled with Him and His disciples, providing for their needs. He knew the oppression many of them lived under, and the cultural and social norms which refused women freedom to take hold of the Truth of who they were in God.
But on this occassion He was speaking principally to the ‘Daughters of Jerusalem*’ and their children, those who knew God and had been following Him and His teaching.
(*Some commentators say this expression means everyone - because we are all made in the image of God (and therefore are His Children.)
Yet Jesus did not judge or rebuke the women but rather spoke with understanding of their hidden suffering.
He spoke principally from a Pastoral Heart - what could He say that would put all His teaching in a nutshell? Essentially He was encouraging those who knew how to weep and sorrow for suffering, to do the same for themselves. Why? What was so crucial about owning and FEELING our emotions?
Lets go back to the teaching of Jesus called the Beautitudes (Matthew. 5:4 onwards) - and listen to the one that says, ‘Blessed are those that mourn, for they will be comforted.’ Jesus knew that if they allowed themselves to face their losses, abandonment, suffering from cruel behaviour ; barriers to what they felt called to do; and the failure of the ‘institutions’ to recognise the grace alive in them..... if they faced all these things, one by one, and felt the pain in their Hearts, but allowed the wisdom, Word, Love and grace of God in them to give them Comfort, Truth, Strength, Forgiveness and Wisdom, they would join the movement of those alive for Christ in the Kingdom of God.
‘Weep for yourselves’…. The whole of you…. Because in facing your sorrow, the Comfort of God will come to you…the Holy Spirit will show you Who you are - and you will know the Divine Grace given to those who seek to be Whole and honour God with all their Heart.’
And if we don’t do what Jesus tells us?
The book of Proverbs is full of proverbs that show the effect of sorrow on the heart, and the heart turning to bitterness. But Christ is not condemning, he has understanding and compassion in Love, and wants to prevent them, and us, falling into the spiritual mess within because they cannot make sense of the sorrow.
Only through Faith, and trust in What Christ did for us through the Cross, can we truly face our pains and losses in prayer and ‘tell it’ to God the Father through the Holy Spirit of Truth.. He will always answer our cries from the Broken Heart - if we are facing our pain, and turning to Him for help. So be it. Good Courage to us all.
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