“Weep for Yourselves”..the Wayfarer. 2/12/16

    

“Weep for Yourselves”

2/12/16

“And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For, behold, the days are coming, in the 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?”

(Luke 23:27-31)

Even as Jesus was led, already bloodied, beaten, mocked, reviled, tortured by the very people he had come to return to the love given them by God, His concern was still not for himself, but for those feeling the pain of knowing he was being sacrificed for themselves, for whom he went willingly to the place of his crucifixion, and more, even for the tormentors taking him there.

Those who followed, wailing, wailed at what was to be the physical loss of a beloved master, teacher, miracle worker, prophet, and mentor that had provided hope to the hopeless. They wailed at what they perceived as the loss of that hope that they had been given.

Jesus remarks to them not to wail for Him were given in the knowledge of the absolute evil done that day when that hope and love still took breath among fellow human beings.

This He followed with the statement that instead, they should weep for themselves and their progeny yet to come... He did so also in the full knowledge that that evil would only continue, woud be compounded as time progressed until the final Day of Judgment.

Every time evil rears its ugly head among us, and is finally recognized for what it is, despite all the allure provided before being recognized, that wailing once more increases among men.

When speaking of the green tree, He signified that the very tree of life stood among them, only to be rejected, mocked and sacrificed in favor of teachings of mankind taken over what was and is required by God.

In that day and time much evil occurred; both prior to the crucifixion and even as he was being led to that cross.

Peoples were subjugated, enslaved, tortured and killed en masse by those conquerors strong enough to invade and demolish whole societies.

The Romans were far from the first of these that ruled by conquest and brute strength, by killing and maiming and by forcing their will on others, never conceding that there was any higher power that they would answer to for having done so. It began with Cain, and is far from being yet ended.

As time has progressed, so have the capabilities of both individual men and governments created by men to promote that evil that still would supplant the very love given in sacrifice that day.

Mass killings done by governments, mass enslavement of God’ chosen, mass rape and pillaging of that same people holds prominent place in the history of the century into which I was born, and continues well into the century I now find myself in, one that appears far dimmer, far more insidious, far more prone to ignore God’s laws for the continued allure of an evil that often goes unrecognized until that recognition dawns too late upon those to do the suffering.

The justifications of those promoting that suffering and evil appear, on the surface, as alluring as all the previous evils propagated over past centuries.

 Touted then as now, as progress, with the benefit and improvement of the state of man as their goal, they only  fall short of a goal already established and accomplished, that long ago day through the sacrifice of the One giving solace to those who wailed for Him, and His circumstance at that time.

Those were without recognition of the Power and Glory, and the gift to be given only though that very evil crucifixion which needed to first be endured to assure salvation from that evil being eternal instead of temporary.

Rule of law still remains prominent among all nations of the earth, but it is the rule of law as defined by each of those nations, and by people still in denial of the Higher Power and Authority, Whose law they continue to ignore, because they still find it inconvenient to their own desires.

That law will take precedence over theirs; its requirements will be met despite all denial of its very existence.

The dry that Jesus spoke of that long ago day is the season in which each of us lives constantly from birth until recognition dawns on the few still in recognition of the green, and the continued hope and promise provided us that day.

The worst of the dry is yet to come, and, as with any drought, many will of necessity perish because of the lack of water taken in, though unlike with a natural drought, the water is plentiful for those with roots deep enough to find that precious sustenance.

That sustenance will not be found openly in a world that continues to deny its existence, much less its necessity.

Jesus  knew this, and while praying prior to the events of that day  asked for special and significant help for those he knew would be left  to abide in the dry time to come, and those willing to follow even as the dry worsened over time as he knew it would.

“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

That they all may be one; as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

(John 17:13-21)

The sustenance is still there, the truth is unchanging, the gift offered then is still available, and the price is still the same as it was the day it was provided one of the malefactors crucified beside Christ… redemption for repentance.

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Just as Christ instructed those who followed that day not to weep for Him, there is no need to weep for any that is His.

There is much wailing daily for many, much weeping done, and yet to be done.

With each evidence of the evil that daily rears that same ugly head shown the day of the crucifixion, that wailing increases, but still not for the ones for whom the weeping and wailing is most needed; those still refusing to recognize the need to weep first for themselves, and the children they continue to birth, continue to populate the earth with, to whom the hope was given, the promise given, that most precious of gifts given, because they refuse to accept that gift, or to teach the simple truths only to be found in my Lord Jesus.

I pray that all come to that recognition; of first the need to weep, then to find the hope and promise given, accept that gift that replaces all weeping and wailing with the joy that will take its place only for the asking and belief in its existence.

I remain as always, a simple sinner saved by grace through faith who long ago found the reason to weep first for myself, and all others of my kind, then accepted that gift and joy promised in its stead.

I remain also soldier on a battlefield, a battlefield itself dry of the love and faith needed to replenish far too many souls whose roots are not deep enough to find the water of life that stands so readily available through better roots only found in that truth of Christ Jesus.  

Others may choose instead to wallow in the mire of the blood and the tears that are required in payment for having chosen their own laws, their own ways, and their own lies over that truth and love.

We must still attempt to reach those reachable, and teach those teachable to establish those roots.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer