Luke is the only evangelist who recorded this incident. He apparently did so because the fate of Jerusalem was one of his special interests. He had already recorded several warnings that Jesus had given to the people of Jerusalem (cf. 11:49-51; 13:1-5, 34-35; 19:41-44; 21:20-24). If though innocent Jesus experienced such a fate as crucifixion, what could the Jews who had rejected their Messiah anticipate?
23:27-28 Luke's interest in Jesus' concern for women surfaces again. They were mourning His fate and were evidently sympathizers rather than mockers (cf. 7:32; 8:52). Evidently they were residents of Jerusalem rather than women from Galilee who had been ministering to Jesus since Jesus addressed them as daughters of Jerusalem. This is an Old Testament designation for the residents of Jerusalem that views them as typical Israelites (Mic. 4:8; Zeph. 3:14; et al.). He urged them to mourn their own fate and the fate of their children more than His.
23:29 Jewish women considered barrenness a misfortune and children a blessing. Jesus announced that in the future the opposite would be true. They would see their children suffer and wish they had never been born. The context of Jesus' quotation from Hosea 10:8 is a passage describing Israel's idolatry and God's consequent judgment of her for it. Jesus was predicting God's judgment here.
23:30 Probably the people would call on the mountains and hills to hide them from God's wrath (cf. Rev. 6:15-16). The Tribulation is in view in the Hosea passage. Probably the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the Tribulation judgments on Jerusalem are in view here. The destruction by the Romans would only be a foretaste of the worse judgment still future.
23:31 This was evidently a proverbial saying in Jesus' day. The green tree stands for good conditions resulting from God's blessing and the dry tree for bad conditions resulting from divine judgment. If God allowed innocent Jesus to perish in times of His blessing, what would happen to guilty Jerusalem when God judged her?
Jesus' words constituted yet another call for repentance. There was still time for individuals and the nation to believe on Him and escape God's wrath, but barring repentance God's severe judgment would certainly fall. Luke evidently recorded these words because of his interest in extending the call to salvation to his readers.
