Luke 13: 31-35
Perhaps Jesus was more of a country bumpkin than a city
slicker coming in from the Galilee but he was not stupid. When he caught sight of the big city of
Jerusalem, a place that he had traveled to often for the Passover and other
Jewish festivals, and when he thought of the havoc that the tyrannical Herod’s
throughout the years had imposed on this tiny spit-spot in the vast Roman
Empire, Jesus lamented greatly.
Jesus is well into his ministry by now and he is setting his
face toward Jerusalem. It’s that
time. He has been up in the Galilee, primarily an agrarian culture where farming
and fishing were the norm and his parables drew upon that context from which he
grew. He calmed storms and
gathered thousands of people on the side of large and rolling hills and talked
about flowers of the field and the birds in the air. Now he is winding his way “through one town and village
after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.” (Luke 13:22)
This is where we find him in this morning’s reading from the
Gospel of Luke, the 13th chapter.
At
that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for
Herod wants to kill you.’
He
said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons
and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.
Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is
impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers
her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to
you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’
The fox in literary history is rarely connected with warm
and fuzzy roles. In the world of
the brothers Grimm and other fairy tales and fables they are usually depicted
as unpredictable, cunning and sneaky red-coated critters that become involved
in the story yet lurk in the margins waiting for the right time to pounce on their
prey. So it may (or may not) be a
surprise that Herod Antipas, direct descendant of Herod the Great, aka Herod of
the Nativity, and our Christmas pageants, was analogous to a fox prowling in
the alleys of Jerusalem, waiting and watching to get Jesus.
And Jesus. It’s
hard to imagine Jesus name-calling, isn’t it? I mean, really Jesus come on! Name-calling?
And a fox? Herod Antipas is
still in charge of the Roman Empire and still the Herod’s have not reconciled
their relationship between Jesus the King and the Herodian dynasty. Still the Herod’s were out to best him,
to outfox him at every juncture.
This is one uncomfortable text on several levels and Lent is
the time for uncomfortable questions and hard truths and so we need to hear
this text and make sense of it for our lives if we are to journey with Jesus
into Jerusalem. We were never
promised an easy trip if we follow Jesus to this holy city. Jesus never said to his disciples, come
follow me down Easy Street to that glorious kingdom.
Jerusalem is no ordinary city. The moment you set foot within the boundaries of the city
you know that you have entered a place where prophets, priests, and ordinary
people compete for sacred space and that the presence of God is palpable around
every corner built of golden Jerusalem stone. It is thrilling, sacred, humbling and certifiably crazy to
be and live in Jerusalem.
Not much has changed in this very ancient city, the axis
mundi, the center of the world where heaven and earth meet. Divinity and humanity at its best, and
at its worst. As Barbara Brown
Taylor notes, “When Jerusalem obeys God, the world spins peacefully on its
axis. When Jerusalem ignores God,
the whole planet wobbles.”[i] Jerusalem is wobbling! And Jesus
laments.
‘Go tell that
fox, that sly guy Herod that I’m busy casting out demons and performing cures
and on the third day I’m outta here!’
Jesus expresses his sorrow over the destructiveness of Jerusalem and
their inability to repent and follow the teachings of God. He also knows that in just another
forty years the temple will be destroyed.
While we might want to wag our fingers at Jerusalem for not being
faithful to God we need to think through this because who among us has been
able to completely follow every teaching and command that God has issued? Who among us has not fallen short of
God’s expectations for our lives?
We, like Jerusalem have the ability to squander away the
precious resources that God has bequeathed to us, depleting our warehouses of
earth’s riches and goodness. We,
like Jerusalem don’t always listen to the call that God placed upon our lives
as stewards of our time, our talents, and our treasures. We, like Jerusalem sometimes just plain
old forget that we are called because God wants us just as we are to advance
God’s kingdom here on earth, that our mission is not ours, but God’s mission,
that we exist for others just as much as we exist for ourselves. That we as a church will implode if we
are only self-focused and not other focused.
And when we loose sight of God, the foxes of power, of
avarice, of hatred advance.
Gemutlichkeit:As A Hen Gathers Her Brood
Yet, there is so much redemption in this passage to find reassurance
in. The hen enters and it is her
instinctive loving nature to gather her chicks, her brood no matter their
behavior, in her protective care.
She outstretches her wings to expose her own vulnerability only to
protect and preserve her young, her impressionable and vulnerable, her wayward. The hen does all that she can to
protect her brood, her beloved young from the fox. No matter how far we may stray and cross paths with the fox,
God is there with wings of mercy outstretched.
A fox, a hen and her brood. It sort of sounds like a lewd joke or maybe the beginning of
one of Grimm’s fairy tales. But it
is not a fairy tale. It is a story
of redemption. It is a story of
God’s love for us. It shows us
that when we sin God still loves us; that even though we fall short, God’s
deepest desire is to protect us from harm and danger and unhealthy living. The truth in this passage is that Jesus
laments, intercedes, and grieves for us and in doing so God gathers us closely
in forgiveness and grace.
May these words reassure and enrich your living as you
journey into Jerusalem with Jesus during Lent.
Amen.
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