Cry for yourselves and for your children.

 

Cry for yourselves and for your children.

 

Luke 23:28-31 『But Jesus turned unto them, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?』

This is recorded only in the Gospel of Luke among the four Gospels. Jesus said to the women, "Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." Jesus is the Messiah who came to save the world as the Son of God, and the path of carrying the cross was the path of glory to fulfill the mission given to him by the Father who sent him. He was to rise again after three days of being buried. The problem was not Jesus, but the women who followed him.

The Lord knew that the temple in Jerusalem would soon be completely destroyed by the Roman army, leaving not a single stone upon another, and that a terrible disaster would come upon the people of Jerusalem. The Lord was distressed because it would be a day of terrible disaster that would be unbearable for those in Jerusalem. Jesus said that on the day of disaster that would soon come upon Jerusalem, people would say, “Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.” Originally, being able to conceive, give birth, and nurse a child was the greatest happiness that Hebrew women could receive from God.

The opposite was considered to them a cursed life. But the coming disaster was so great and so terrible that they could not escape, could not hide with their children, could not feed them, could not bear the suffering they would endure, and it would be so painful for the whole family to suffer together that everyone would lament, “If only I had not had children,” and would be in such a miserable state that they would envy those who do not have children.

However, if translated literally, it may be thought that way, but if you look at it in terms of the law and the gospel, it has a different meaning. In Galatians 4:21-22, it says, "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, have you not heard the law? For it is written, 'Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman, the other by the free woman.'" The law and the gospel were not separate, but were together in one law. Therefore, the slave woman means Hagar (the law), and the free woman means Sarah (the gospel).

Ishmael was born of Hagar, and Isaac was born of Sarah. Those who follow the flesh are legalists. However, those who follow the promise are those who are born of the promise of the seed. A promise is a promise that is believed in the midst of hopelessness. Abraham was 100 years old when he believed in God’s promise in the midst of human power, which was impossible. In other words, he was born from heaven with the promise of the seed spiritually. However, Ishmael was born from the earthly people who did not have the promise of the seed. This metaphorically explains how spiritual beings and physical beings differ.

Galatians 4:24-26 "Now these things speak figuratively. They represent two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai, which gave birth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, who is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. "One of the two covenants is the covenant of law (old covenant) that God made with Moses at Mount Sinai, and the other is the covenant of seed (new covenant) with Abraham. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael at Mount Sinai.

Jerusalem on earth symbolizes the law. Jerusalem above symbolizes the kingdom of God, the resurrection life. In other words, it symbolizes Christ, the promise of the seed.

Mount Sinai and Jerusalem were the places where God was present. However, the people were not able to escape from the law, and they could not meet God. Those who fell into legalism were those who could not escape from sin because they did not have the promise of the seed. Therefore, they and their children became slaves to sin.

But the Jerusalem above is the temple of the promise of the seed. When Ho Logos (the Word Christ) is with the saints in their hearts, a new temple is established in their hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. This means that those who are born again through the work of the Holy Spirit are free from sin. The word “our mother” is a metaphorical expression of the Holy Spirit. This is because being born again means being born again by the Holy Spirit, and so the expression “mother” was used.

Galatians 4:27 For it is written: “Rejoice, barren one who did not bear; break forth and cry, you who did not travail; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.” The writing that is written is Isaiah 54:1. “Sing, you barren one who did not bear; break forth and sing, you who did not travail; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

This metaphorical statement is what Paul is trying to say about the law and the Holy Spirit. The barren are legalists. They are not happy because of the law, so they are to be free from the law and be happy under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It means that when the barren (legalist) realize that they cannot achieve righteousness through the law, enter the gospel of Christ, which is the promise of the seed, and are reborn into the life of resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit, they will be happy. The fact that God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars means that the seed of promise was planted in large numbers and that there would be many children of resurrection. A single person is a free person who is free from the law of her husband and is guided by the Holy Spirit. A married person thinks of the law as her husband. Therefore, legalists are expressed as being bound to their husbands.

In the last words of Jesus, “If they do these things in a green tree, what will happen in a dry tree?” the “green tree” refers to Jesus Himself, the Lord of life. And the dry tree symbolizes a tree that will be burned up immediately, that is, one who does not have the life of resurrection. “If they do these things in a green tree, what will happen in a dry tree?” In order to obtain the life of resurrection, one must die on the cross with Jesus. However, those who do not die on the cross with Jesus will not be resurrected. Then they will be subject to the second death. It is better to be subject to the second death (being united with the death of the cross) while living in the world.