Page 105 - laten-08-06-2020

Women Who Wept

Double Subjects

Luke 23:26 - 31
Introduction

his passage has a palpable picture of women who wept as a
Twailing band following Jesus on his journey till Calvary. The
Suffering Jesus finds his suffering in their tears. The hope behind
the wailing of the women in experiencing and encountering
cross becomes a hope of resurrection.
Wailing women at the Cross of historical Jesus: In
Jeremiah 9:17-22, the wailing women were called to lead the
people to express grief in response to the national tragedy that
saw the destruction of Zion. These women were skillful women,
who were trained to mourn. Jeremiah 9:20 also demands them
to teach to their daughters a lament and each of them learn the
course of dirge, the crying before the dying. This agency and
victimization in the Jewish cultural background makes the
women “double subjects”. Firstly, they learn weeping so that
they get used to it and thereby learn not to revolt and resist.
Secondly, they practice a weeping skill so that they are considered
as wise women or prophetic women in this professional trade of
selling their tears.

First stage
According to Ellicott these women that wept at the
journey with the cross of historical Jesus were perhaps one
of the sisterhoods formed in that city to efficiently mitigate
the sufferings of condemned criminals by narcotic drinks.
According to Deutcsh, Mary and Martha were also in the band
along with Galilean women till the end of crucifixion (Luke
23:49). At this instance of Jesus’ crucifixion, this band might
have not followed Jesus for a payment while Mary and Martha
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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People