Rev. Arturo Mendez

Luke 13:31-35

Theme: Jerusalem Jerusalem

 

     Peace and Grace from our Lord and Savior be with all of you Amen!

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Jesus was in Galilee, and he continued to do what the father had commanded him to proclaim the good news of salvation, Jesus even healed the sick and freed the demon-possessed. At a certain moment some Pharisees approach Jesus, who apparently want to be friendly with Jesus, saying, get out of here because Herod wants to Kill you, here in this verse We can notice two things, first some Pharisees approach and tell Jesus to go, because if you do not leave Herod will kill you, maybe these Pharisees were waiting for Jesus to see more Miracles of Him. Or Either they expected some other answer from Jesus so they could believe if Jesus was the promised Messiah, or it is also that these same Pharisees were Herod's henchmen so that they could complete their ill-fated plan to kill him just as John the Baptist was killed by Herod. Always Our sinful Nature can lead us in these two ways, wanting to play if I am a friend of Jesus, saying look I came to help you, but to reward that favor let me see more of you to be able to believe in you, if you are really the Promised Messiah, and we play a role of benevolent people,  To try  receive something in return, on the other side of the coin, we are mean people and enemies of God.  like these Pharisees.  And we know Herod Antiphas,  killed  John the Baptist. for fear of his popularity. But mostly because He accused them of their sins, Certainly Jesus was killed for us and for our sins, but these Pharisees did not understand who Jesus is, and them are cooparticipers of Herod so we only rejected to believed in Jesus. our sinful side only causes us to reject the blessings of God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.

Far from Jesus being frightened by the fact that they wanted to kill him, he answers them in this way. “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Despite the advice of the charitable Pharisees, Jesus announces that he would continue with his ministry of healings, exorcisms and teaching because his father had decreed so. Jesus will not be executed before the day the Father had decreed. It is the will of the Fathers and not of the Antipas fox as he planned.

 

In the folklore of many peoples and the fables of many renowned authors, the fox is a symbol of a very cunning or disguised person who seeks to take advantage of others. In many cultures the appearance of a fox is also an omen of evil or bad luck. In China while the dragon is a symbol of happiness and good luck, the fox is a symbol of something evil. Jesus is not frightened by what Herod Antipas is or what He represents. It is made clear here that Jesus is not under the authority of the fox or the demons. Jesus is under the authority of the Father. The fox and demons are under the authority of Jesus.

 

According to what the evangelists write about Herod Antipas in other parts of the New Testament we know that the tetrarch was a very superstitious person, because he believed that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead and that is why they act in him and be able to heal the sick and cast out demons. Because of the fear he felt hearing of the works of Jesus, the tetrarch sought to take advantage of the Lord's powers for his own benefit. On the other hand he recognized that Jesus' popularity among the people posed a danger to the tetrarch and his dynasty. The beheading of John the Baptist by order of Antipas was in part the reaction of an insecure man hated by his people and especially by the Zealots and other groups of revolutionaries. We se often in our society in todays world, more and more hate to Jesus and to the Chrsitianity.

 

³³ Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 

Jesus lets the Pharisees know that his time has not come, that his Death did not happen in Galilee, Jesus knew that his Death will be in Jerusalem as it had been Prophesied before with the prophets of the O.T. and that he would not die in the hands of Herod but in the hands of the high priests,  although Herod had the opportunity to order his Death, because Pilot sent him to Herod, but Herod probably knew or recognized that he was innocent and the only thing he wanted from Jesus was to see one of his Miracles. We know how many time god Sent messengers to Jerusalem and always were rejected and stone.

 ³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 

I do not know you, but this lament of Jesus, maybe some see we have also done it with some of our children when they are behaving badly, the first lament is of reproach and the other is of love, it is a lament of wanting to put them on the right path again, but they continue to reject the Guidance of us or our advice,   the words that come out of the Lord's mouth constitute a prediction of judgment by their rejection. This sad lament is provoked by the rejection of the divine messenger who was sent to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to offer them salvation, just as he is sent to the whole world but for rejecting that salvation the inhabitants of Jerusalem and anyone who rejects this salvation through Jesus, will be like the chicks that refuse to seek refuge under the wings of their God who like a mother hen wants to save their chicks in the moment of danger.

 

What  strikes me in this text is the metaphor chosen to describe the Messiah – that of a hen taking care of her chicks. This lament is launched because the scribes, high priests and rich Sadducees refused to identify with the poor, weak chicks, unable to save themselves from the fox. So before we all are like them. Thankfully we believed in Jesus Christ, and we are not condemn in our sinfulness, we believed what a wonderful gift of salvation we had in Jesus Christ we take refuge in his Wings. Jesus here is  comparing himself to the mother hen, Jesus invites his listeners to seek their refuge in a God of mercy and love who has come to be sacrificed to save his children. He has gathered us within his wings and keeps us in them so that on the day of Judgment we may have that assurance that through Jesus we are rescued we give thanks to God that through Faith in his Son Jesus. It shelters us inside its wings and we can enjoy that refuge when we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the Fierce Foxes and the enemies of Jesus.  Those who rejecting their Messiah like the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be left without protection from the foxes that will come to swallow them.

 

³⁵ Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

The goodwill that Jesus had always shown to all who wanted to believed in Him: "How many times did I want to gather your children, like the hen to her chicks under her wings!"  With the same tenderness that a good mother displays toward her little children, giving them shelter and warmth, Jesus had done everything possible to benefit the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

But to no avail. To the "I wanted" of Jesus, so repeated "How many times!", the city had replied with stubborn resistance: "And you did not want to!"  Christ's saving eagerness tremendously aggravates the sinner's resistance. Jesus wants in His patience love to gather us, how many times? But only received rejection from his people, it is our sinful condition that doesn’t let us believed in promised Messiah.

Therefore "your house" (Jesus no longer knows it as his own); that is, the city itself, including the temple "is left deserted to you", desolate A house is always desolate, when Jesus leaves it.  "Or it is left abandoned" that is, "do what you want out of it; I will no longer prevent its ruin."

 Christ withdraws justly from those who do their best so that He may withdraw from them. Since they refuse to be gathered by Him (v. 34), He assures them: "I tell you that you will not see me in any way."

 Only the judgment of Jehovah's great day will convince the Jewish unbelievers who now do not accept their Messiah, but for many (Jews and non-Jews) it will be too late: "Until the time comes when you say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Let’s pray Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that he has pour in us the Gift of Faith in Him. By the means of the Sacraments, confession and absolution, Holy Baptism, the Lord Supper, and His Word Proclaimed to us, and keep stir in our hearts to faith in Jesus Christ. and all of us can we be gathered and be secured in His Wings forever. So now all can we said to God be the Glory in His Son Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior Amen!

 

May the peace of God who surpasses all understanding keep your mind and soul for the life everlasting Amen!