“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23:28b-30)
In the midst of His great physical pain and suffering as well as intense humiliation, Jesus was not thinking of Himself. His heart and thoughts were focused on those people who were weeping for Him as well as on those who were putting Him to death, Jews as well as Romans. He knew that were in grave danger. The judgment which His Father would bring on the nation of the Jews as a result of their actions against the Son of God would cause them great suffering and pain.
We should learn from Jesus’ humble suffering. When we suffer we often complain, cry and become filled with self-pity especially when we are falsely accused. As Jesus was suffering, His concern was not His own pain but the feelings and needs of others. He comforted the grieving women. He forgave His executioners, both the Romans and the Jews. He granted mercy and salvation to the repentant thief. And, no doubt, His thoughts were for us as well, for He bore the weight of our sins. He experienced the wrath of God because of us, so we too are to be counted among those who nailed Him to the cross. When we suffer then, we should seek the help of Jesus so we may offer our pain for His glory. Knowing that our suffering is somehow serving His eternal purpose will help us endure.