Jesus was rejected by the Jewish leaders, like a perfect block is rejected as a cornerstone by architects. The reason was not that he was God’s chosen Messiah. The reasons Jesus was rejected were that he was either not the kind of Messiah they wanted or because they wanted the job. Jesus said so in The Parable of the Tenants (20:9-19), and when he told them the exultant seat of the Messiah was greater than the highly praised King David (20:41-47).
While being led to the place of crucifixions, a large crowd, including women, followed Jesus. The women mourned and wailed for him. Some say they were mostly the general citizenship of Jerusalem who usually mourned for the men the Romans crucified. Others say they remembered his words and miracles and were generally sad that he was going to die. A mixture of both is probably true.
Jesus turned around and addressed the women. He said that they should weep for in less than 40 years the Romans will surround Jerusalem and lay it to waste to such an extent that they will want themselves and their children to die in a terrible natural disaster. He concludes, “For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (31)
Will a day come soon that, because of a grave misunderstanding of Scriptures and selfish thinking people will be like the crowd that followed Jesus? On that day, many who now say, “Lord, Lord,” will reject Jesus and mourn for the wrong reasons. Many refuse to carry their cross now will reject Jesus’ cross on that day.
