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Daughters of Jerusalem…Weep!
(Luke 23: 26-31)
(A Sermon preached April 1, 2007, Palm Sunday, at University United Methodist
Church, East Lansing MI by Kennetha Bigham-Tsai)
“Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for
your children.”
Who were these women, and why were they weeping? Who were
these daughters of Jerusalem? Some commentators would have us believe that they
are simply professional mourners, carrying out their duty? Some would have us
believe that they are simply doing their job--singing a dirge for the suffering
of an innocent man?
I do not think that this describes the identity of these
women or explains the reason for their weeping. I believe that their weeping was
not just an expression of cultural duty but an authentic expression of love. For
you see in Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus, it is always women
who are most faithful and loving to Jesus. A woman anointed him before his
death. Women stood watch at the cross, and later women would rush to the tomb to
anoint his body with spices. So, friends these women, in their weeping, were
doing more than their duty. I believe that they were truly bereft and their
compassion and love for Jesus real.
But still, Jesus redirects their weeping. He tells these
women not to weep for him, but for themselves and for their children and indeed
for all humanity. For the days are coming, says Jesus, when people will say,
“Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed. Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills,
‘Cover us,’” (Lk 23: 29-30).
These days of which Jesus speaks are days in which life
will become so precarious that the people will not wish to bring children into
the world. These days of which Jesus speaks are the days of judgment, yet not
the judgment of some punishing God—but judgment as a consequence of human
action.
Look at the action they are about to take and have taken.
They have condemned an innocent man and are about to crucify the Lord. And so
Jesus says, “And if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen
when it is dry,” (Lk 23:31)? If they do this in the midst of springtime,
what will they do in the barrenness of winter? If they do this in a time of
plenty, what will they do in a time of scarcity? If they do this when they have
a great prophet among them, what will they do when there is no one to provide
them prophetic witness? And if they do this when their savior is with them, what
will they do when he is not?
Who else will they deny? Who else will they betray? Who
else will they accuse falsely and imprison? Who else will they crucify? Jesus
predicts that it is human action and human sin that will judge humanity. Jesus
predicts that it is human failure and human sin that will indict us all.
And so Jesus redirects the weeping of these women to the
human condition of sin—for only in weeping for humanity does their mourning have
a purpose. For, as professional mourners who represent and embody communal
grief, the weeping of these women becomes the corporate expression of human
repentance.
Indeed, these women, in their weeping, embody the
repentance of all in this story. They embody the repentance of Herod and Pilate
at their injustice and at their lack of courage and leadership. They embody the
repentance of Judas who betrayed a friend. They embody the repentance of Peter
and the rest of the disciples at their faithlessness. They embody the repentance
of the crowds that shouted, “Crucify him!”
And, these women don’t just embody the repentance of the
people in this story, but they also embody our repentance at our own sin—at our
own injustice—at our own inability or unwillingness to love our neighbor and to
love God. Indeed, Jesus calls these women to weep for themselves, for their
community, and also for us—to be the corporate embodiment of repentance to which
God calls the entire human race.
This message of the human need for repentance is the
message of much of Holy Week. During Holy Week, we recount the story of Jesus’
suffering and death so that we can identify with the people in the story and get
in touch with our own need for repentance. And so we identify with the faithless
disciples and with the murderous crowds. We identify with human injustice in
this story. And, we identify with these weeping women, and we weep. And, in our
weeping is our expression of true remorse at our own sin. In our weeping is our
own sense of repentance.
Yet the good news is that God meets our repentance and our
weeping with grace. For Jesus still went to the cross, as an expression of his
willingness to forgive—as an expression of his unconditional love for us—as an
expression of divine grace.
Friends, even in our weeping, we can receive this gift of
grace, and we can anticipate the joy which comes in the morning. For on this
Palm Sunday, we lean toward Easter. We anticipate resurrection. We anticipate
the time that will come when there will be no more pain or injustice or death.
And on that day we will be raised with Christ—we will live in reconciliation and
peace—we will love God and our neighbor with an everlasting love. And if we
weep, on that resurrection day, then we will weep with gladness and with tears
of joy. Children of Jerusalem weep in anticipation of Easter! Amen.
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