September 3, 2026 · David Farmer
Daughters of the Green Wood
“And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “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.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?””
Luke 23:27-31 →
## Daughters of Jerusalem
The Occupy Movement that started back in September of 2011 gathered swelling momentum. In time, interviewing random crowd members revealed they had no idea why they were there. A huge crowd came. They joined the march. The great multitude here may simply be a crowd caught up in the moment; following along without knowing why. But these women! They stand apart from the aimless crowds. Tradition claims the women of nobility in Jerusalem followed along with the criminally condemned offering drink concoctions of painkilling combinations. I grew up very confused about the Bible’s presentation of women. I thought they were put down or disregarded. I was a mama’s boy and adored women in general, so I held this against Jesus...until I got older and actually studied His Word for myself. Jesus was not a “lady’s man”, but women loved Him so! Why? He elevated them and treated them like the valuable human beings they are. These women march alongside Him mourning for the One who gave them equality in the world! Marching to His Death, He utters words of concern for them. He addresses them as “daughters of Jerusalem”; a phrase only showing up otherwise in the Song of Solomon. They are the king’s bride’s girlfriends. The phrase occurs 7 times, 3 times with an affectionate warning from her to them. The king’s carriage interior is said to be
“inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem”. Jesus uses this term of endearment to give them a strong warning of hard times to come.
## But how heavy the warning is!
## Mountain and Wood
Verse 30 quotes a pronouncement of judgment on Israel from Hosea (ch.10), and John’s Revelation (ch.6) reiterates it as the “Great Day of the Wrath of the Lamb” coming on the whole earth. The Greek word for “For” is a conjunction tying these two verses together. Most commentaries on this riddle understand Jesus to be the “Green Wood”, which is not meant for burning. This is an allusion to Christ’s condemnation. So what will happen to the dry wood (truly guilty)? They condemned Jesus, but they will cry for the mountains to fall on them when condemnation is returned in their direction.
## Self-Check
Now we are the “Daughters of the Green Wood”, and we stand apart from the aimless crowds of the world. We have a purpose. That is to serve the criminally condemned. They are the unsaved.
## How do we serve them?
We bring the heavy warning. We bring a drink of the Water of Life that kills the pain, and we carry the King everywhere we go. Our carriage is recognized by the love that is in inlaid there.
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