Tears

As he continued his journey Jesus came across some women – perhaps his mother and her friends, and others who had followed him. They were weeping as they watched him struggle.   But he said to them “Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.”  He knew that there were times of terrible suffering coming their way.

In the middle of his own terrible pain there was a moment of compassion, shared between Jesus and the women. Sometimes, even when we are hurting, we can share in the hurting of others.

Luke 23: 27-31

A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time, people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?”