A Missed
Opportunity
Luke
13: 31-35
March 4, 2007
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 outside of 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.”
Luke the evangelist
provides us with some interesting information in this passage. I guess one
could say: “he takes us behind the scenes and gives us an insight into the
life of Jesus.”
Luke informs the readers that not all of the Pharisees were hostile toward
Jesus. In this passage, we discover some of
them finding Jesus and warning him about the
possible dangers that were awaiting him. They not only warned
Jesus about the danger but they also asked
him to discover a place of safety for himself and his followers. There
were good Pharisees who heard the word of God
and went about living their lives as Abraham lived his life. Remember,
Abraham was an obedient servant to God. His
life was a life of faith and charity. Some of the Pharisees lived out that
life style everyday. They knew in their hearts and souls that
Jesus was proclaiming the “Good
News” and they did not want him to be harmed by those who were
jealous or envious of him. It was that group of Pharisees that sought out
Jesus and warned him about the dangers that
were awaiting him.
Jesus knew his mission and ministry. He knew
that he was walking this earth to proclaim to all persons the gospel
story. He knew that he had been sent by God
into the world to offer the world a new covenant. He knew that he was the
new covenant. Thus Herod or anyone else did not frighten him.
Listen one more time to his response to their warning. He said:
“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 outside
of Jerusalem.”
His response was to call Herod a fox. It takes a brave man to call the
reigning King a fox. The term fox was a symbol for three things in that
society that Jesus was proclaiming the good
news to.
First, it was regarded as the slyest of all animals.
Second, it was regarded as the most destructive of all the animals. Third
and most importantly, it was the symbol of a worthless and insignificant
man.
It definitely took a brave and bold man who was sure of his mission to
call the king a worthless and insignificant man. That is exactly what
Jesus did that day. He knew Herod’s heart. He
knew that Herod was only looking out for Herod and that Herod would
sacrifice anyone’s life so long as he could take care of himself.
Jesus stood up to Herod and reminded the
people that he had been sent into the world to follow
God’s will not Herod’s.
Jesus knew that he took his orders directly from
God and that he would not shorten his mission
by one hour or one day in order to please or to escape from any earthly
king. Jesus knew that his faithfulness
belonged to God not to Herod.
An old seaman once said, "In fierce storms we can do but one thing.
There is only one way (to survive); we must put the ship in a certain
position and keep her there." Commenting on this idea, Richard Fuller
wrote: This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can
see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you. Reason cannot
help you. Past experiences give you no light. Only a single course
is left. You must stay upon the Lord; and come what may -- winds, waves,
cross seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers -- no
matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm and hold fast your
confidence in God's faithfulness and his
everlasting love in Christ
Jesus.
That is exactly what Jesus did that day when
he was told of Herod’s upcoming actions against Him.
Jesus remained focused upon God and
stayed the course.
Luke reveals another side of Jesus as he
shares His lament over Jerusalem with the readers. Some scholars believe
that Jesus made multiple trips to Jerusalem.
That makes sense to me. It was the “Holy City” and people did travel to it
often. Jesus developed a love for the city
and for the people as he traveled there to worship God
the Father. In his lament Jesus expresses a
love toward Jerusalem and the people that probably had grown after
multiple visits to the “Holy City.”
One can almost hear the sorrow in the voice of Jesus
as he spoke those words of lament. Nothing hurts more in life than to
offer someone your love and then have that person or persons reject that
love. It is life’s bitterest tragedy to give one’s heart to someone and
then to have it broken by that person. That is exactly what happened to
Jesus in Jerusalem. He offered them his love
and they rejected him and his love. Yet, Jesus
did not give up on them. He continued to go to them and offer them
God’s redeeming love. Luke informs the reader
that many continued to reject the offer from Jesus.
Luke also informs us that Jesus continued to offer God’s
love to the people of Jerusalem and to all who would and will hear his
word.
He said: “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!” As young boys, my brothers
and I were very fortunate to have parents who allowed us to try our hands
at raising all sorts of animals. We had the usual pet dog but we also had
pigeons, rabbits, alligators, turtles, snakes, ducks and chickens. I
remember a time when we had some chickens and dad allowed us to let the
chickens lay their eggs and hatch them out. Of course, I wanted to play
with those baby chicks the day that they were born, Every time that I put
my had into that nest, the mother hen would lay a pecking on me. She
brought blood a couple of times. She would gather those baby chicks under
her wings and start fussing at me and if I did not quit trying to pick one
up then she would peck me.
Jesus lamented because he
loved the people so much that he was willing to do anything to take them
into his arms and shower them with God’s
redeeming love. He kept going to the people to offer
God’s powerful love but they continued to walk away from Him. An
opportunity was presented to the people but due to their own desires they
missed it.
I have often heard it said that: “this person or that person was
successful because he or she was in the right place at the right time.” I
think it is more than luck as that statement proposes. Opportunities were
presented to those person and they did not hesitate they accept those
opportunities so that they could move forward in life.
Jesus was and is an opportunity for everyone.
His heart was broken by their actions yet he continued to reach out to
them. Now before we become too tough on the folks in Jerusalem or before
we say something like “I would never be like them”, we need to look deeply
at ourselves.
Jesus comes to us everyday. He comes offering
to us the awesome redeeming cleansing power of the incarnate
God. Yet, there are times in our own lives
that we are so busy that we do not have the time to enter into
conversation with him. We have one more job to get done or one more round
of golf to play. We have another basketball game or race to go to thus we
put him on the back burners of our lives.
Robert G. Lee wrote: How Would We Feel if God…?
Lets take a second and listen to a few lines. If God
gave us the same amount of time and attention that we devote to Him? How
would we feel? If God offered as many excuses
as we do, and if the excuses were no more justifiable than ours? How would
we feel? If God's promises were no more
certain than ours? How would we feel? If God
withheld His blessings from us as we withhold our offerings from Him? How
would we feel?
We would be heartbroken. We would be devastated because
God was no longer being attentive to us. In
life, we at times are not very attentive to our creator. We get caught up
in so many things that we forget to stay in contact with
God. Jesus was
heart broken because the people would not listen nor would they accept his
awesome words of grace and redemption. They had an opportunity before
them and they missed it due to their own agendas. We have an opportunity
before us. It is the opportunity to know and claim the Son of
God as the savior of the world. It is an
opportunity that stands before us with outstretched arms inviting us into
them. It is an opportunity that invites us to open up and allow
God into our lives to shape, alter and change
our lives. When we accept the invitation, we then become faithful
disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.
We have an opportunity to know the greatest gift ever given to the world.
What will be our response to God’s gift?
In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Amen
