LUKE 23 (Part 2): FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS

Part 2 of Luke 23
brings us closer to the end,
or should I say - the beginning.
And while it’s sad to acknowledge
the crucifixion, death
and burial of Jesus,
I now know the end of the story,
and meaning behind "Maranatha."

Let us begin -
“As the soldiers led him (Jesus) away,
they seized Simon from Cyrene,
who was on his way
in from the country,
and put the cross on him
and made him carry it
behind Jesus.”

Simon was a man
who came from Cyrene,
which was a Greek-colonized town
in northeast Libya.
He was ordered by the Romans,
to carry the cross,
when Jesus was exhausted
and could barely walk.
He took the cross
when Jesus could not,
and walked closely behind Jesus
following His footsteps.
And behind them,
walked the daughters of Jerusalem,
saddened by what was happening.

“A large number of people
followed him, including women
who mourned and wailed for him.”
I sometimes wonder
who exactly was in the crowd,
was it the same people
who betrayed him
and casted Him out?
Or was it the ones
whose voices weren’t heard,
when the leaders of Jerusalem shouted,
“Crucify Him!”
“Jesus turned and said to them,
“Daughters of Jerusalem,
do not weep for me;
weep for yourselves
and for your children.”

Jesus called them,
‘Daughters of Jerusalem’ -
the same title
found seven times
in the Song of Solomon.
This must be a term for the beloved.

“For the time will come
when you will say,
‘Blessed are the childless women,
the wombs that never bore
and the breasts that never nursed!’

This is a warning
to the Children of God.

"They will say
to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”
“For if people do these things
when the tree is green,
what will happen when it is dry?”

Jesus could have said thank you,
or I love you for following me,
so I wonder why
these are the words
He chose to speak?

This says to me
that Jesus continued warn 
the daughters of Jerusalem
for what would come.

Perhaps we should stop whining and crying,
and put away our thoughts and feelings,
and instead, listen
to what scripture is telling us!

There will be a second coming
of the Righteous King,
but before that day arrives,
Jesus tells us that the land
will be barren and full of dry bones.

He says women will hope
they have NO children -
perhaps He is speaking
to the time of Great Tribulation?

People will plead with the mountains,
to fall on them!
They will pray for covering,
and wish the hills would roll up 
and envelope them.

“Two other men, both criminals,
were also led out with him -
to be executed.”

“When they came to the place
called the Skull,
they crucified him there,
along with the criminals -
one on his right,
the other on his left.”

The place called Skull
is actually a bald-headed hill
close to Jerusalem
that is called Calvary.

This is where Jesus
declared victory,
fulfilling the prophecy
of Genesis 3:15 -
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Amazing! Is it not?
The whole Bible,
from Genesis to Revelation,
is the unfolding and disclosing
of God’s glorious WORD -
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

And with a great love for humanity,
Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing.”

Can you imagine the compassion?
To pray for their forgiveness
of your very own murderers!

“And they divided up his clothes
by casting lots.
The people stood watching,
and the rulers even sneered at him.”
They said,
“He saved others; let him save himself
if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One."

Let Him Save Himself -
This is what they said!
Strike One!

“The soldiers also came up
and mocked him.
They offered him wine vinegar and said,
“If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

Again - Let Him Save Himself -
This is what they said!
Strike Two!

“There was a written notice
above him, which read:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
“One of the criminals who hung there
hurled insults at him:
“Aren’t you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us!”

Let Him Save Himself -
This is what he said.
Strike Three! You’re out!

Can you believe it?
Everyone around Him was mocking
and criticizing Him,
even though He was bleeding profusely
and barely conscious.
Yet, in the middle of the persecution,
Jesus continued to be a Fisher of Men.

Next to Him, hung a repentant heart.
“The other criminal rebuked him.
“Don’t you fear God since you
are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting
what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Wow!
This thief on the cross recognized Jesus
as the Son of God! And all because
he experienced the fear of the Lord!
With a repentant heart,
and a desire to be close,
the man said,
“Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. ”

Jesus answered him,
“Truly I tell you, today you
will be with me in paradise.”

Can you imagine?
Living a life totally wrong,
and then in the end,
with your very last breath -
experiencing God,
having it all turn around?

For some of humanity,
it’s not until we are facing death,
square in the face,
that we gain humility
and come to the end of of ourselves!

For some, this is when
hard hearted pride begins to slide off,
this is when the masks of rebellion
and stubbornness begin to pop off.

“It was now about noon,
and darkness came
over the whole land
until three in the afternoon,
for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple
was torn in two.”

Finally we see,
the destruction of the temple
that no longer held the truth!

Jesus called out with a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands
I commit my spirit,
and when he had said this,
he breathed his last breath.”

I wonder, where did Jesus go
when his mortal body died?

And how is that three days later,
His body became alive?

The centurion,
seeing what had happened,
praised God and said,
“Surely this was a righteous man.”

Again, in the midst of His death,
Jesus was still turning the hearts of men.

“When all the people who had gathered
to witness this sight saw what took place,
they beat their breasts and went away.”

What exactly does this mean?

At first I thought it was
their form of mourning.
But in the next sentence,
it says all who knew Him,
stayed, and stood at a distance.

“But all those who knew him,
including the women
who had followed him from Galilee,
stood at a distance, watching these things.”
“Now there was a man named Joseph,
a member of the Council,
a good and upright man,
who had not consented
to their decision and action.”

“He came from the Judean town of Arimathea,
and he himself was waiting
for the kingdom of God.”

“Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.
Then he took it down,
wrapped it in linen cloth
and placed it in a tomb
cut in the rock, one in which
no one had yet been laid.”


“It was Preparation Day,
and the Sabbath was about to begin.
The women who had come
with Jesus from Galilee
followed Joseph and saw the tomb
and how his body was laid in it.”

“Then they went home
and prepared spices and perfumes.
But they rested on the Sabbath
in obedience to the commandment.”
Luke 23:26-56

Isaiah 53:9-10 says this about Jesus,
the suffering servant,
“He was assigned a grave
with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will
to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life
an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring
and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord
will prosper in his hand.”

​Praise God for His Prophets