‘But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.”

And Jesus, bloodied and broken, hardly able to keep moving without support, saw their weeping and His heart was moved. For it brought home to Him a day that was coming, a day of which He had previously warned, when they would be weeping not for Him but for themselves. And His tender heart went out to them. He thought not of Himself but of them. And through His cracked lips He warned them not to weep for Him, but to weep for themselves and for their children. He wanted them to know what was coming on them so that they might be at least partly prepared for it, and even take the opportunity to escape it (Luke 21:21).

Note that He is speaking to the daughters of Jerusalem. He is aware that the festive crowds have not yet gathered. Compare here Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 13:1.

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