638
The Desire of Ages
indifferent to the expression of grief. He looked upon these women
with tender compassion. They were not believers in Him; He knew
that they were not lamenting Him as one sent from God, but were
moved by feelings of human pity. He did not despise their sympathy,
but it awakened in His heart a deeper sympathy for them. “Daughters
of Jerusalem,” He said, “weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves,
and for your children.” From the scene before Him, Christ looked
forward to the time of Jerusalem’s destruction. In that terrible scene,
many of those who were now weeping for Him were to perish with
their children.
From the fall of Jerusalem the thoughts of Jesus passed to a wider
judgment. In the destruction of the impenitent city He saw a symbol of
the final destruction to come upon the world. He said, “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?”
By the green tree, Jesus represented Himself, the innocent Redeemer.
God suffered His wrath against transgression to fall on His beloved
Son. Jesus was to be crucified for the sins of men. What suffering,
then, would the sinner bear who continued in sin? All the impenitent
and unbelieving would know a sorrow and misery that language would
fail to express.
Of the multitude that followed the Saviour to Calvary, many had
attended Him with joyful hosannas and the waving of palm branches
as He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. But not a few who had then
shouted His praise, because it was popular to do so, now swelled the
cry of “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” When Christ rode into Jerusalem,
the hopes of the disciples had been raised to the highest pitch. They
had pressed close about their Master, feeling that it was a high honor
to be connected with Him. Now in His humiliation they followed
Him at a distance. They were filled with grief, and bowed down with
disappointed hopes. How were the words of Jesus verified: “All ye
shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.”
Matthew 26:31
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Arriving at the place of execution, the prisoners were bound to
the instruments of torture. The two thieves wrestled in the hands of
those who placed them on the cross; but Jesus made no resistance.
The mother of Jesus, supported by John the beloved disciple, had