Wherever Jesus went He had faithful women following Him but on the way to being crucified, the unbelieving women of Jerusalem were there, mourning and lamenting. Despite the violence Jesus had suffered and facing imminent agonising torment, He had the presence to turn to them and address them:
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which 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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:27-31 NKJV).
The last sermon Jesus gave was to these women. He warned them that God was about to bring judgment on Jerusalem that would be so bad that they will despair of ever bringing children into a world so terrible. He told them not to weep for Him but to weep for themselves for the things that were coming.
Jesus knew He would die and rise again in 3 days but these women were about to suffer and die and spend eternity under the judgment of God. Rejecting Jesus as their Saviour would bring them endless suffering. Jesus made the point that since He was a righteous man who didn’t deserve the torture of crucifixion, what do you think will happen to those who actually deserved punishment? Without the covering of Jesus, we face a far worse situation than what Jesus was then facing.
Jesus’ words came true in the first instance when Jerusalem was besieged by Rome in AD70. The events of that time were horrific: women were eating their own children, such was their hunger.
But His words still apply to those who reject Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Those people won’t face the wrath of Rome over 5 months, they will face the wrath of God eternally. “When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, He did not spare Him; and when He finds the unregenerate without Christ, He will not spare them.”[1]
The fact that Jesus had to die is proof that future judgment will be real. Trust in Jesus as your Saviour so that you will escape future judgment and live eternally with Him.
[1] C.H.Spurgeon from https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/spurgeon-sermons/read/devotionals/spurgeons-morning-and-evening/morning-and-evening-48-am-551658.html accessed31.08.21