Soveriegn and Compassionate

Introduction

A couple years ago, I had an encounter with a young man who was in rebellion against God. This young man was a camper at Word of Life the Coast for one week during the summer. He was not your average camper though. He was from a boys home, which is basically an orphanage in America. He had been rejected by his parents and the foster care system. While at camp he had heard the gospel presented, and it began to have an effect on him. At first he tried to harden himself and close himself off from the people who were showing him love. After a couple of days he began to soften up. Then something snapped in him and he began to rebel. He tried to fight another camper, myself and a couple other staff members had to restrain him from attacking anyone. Eventually we had to have the police come to remove him from camp. This young man had heard the truth, but at that point in his life he didn’t want anything to do with it, so he tried to destroy it and get himself away from it. He was able to get himself out of camp, but he had to face the consequences of his actions. To this day, it still breaks my heart to think about him. Someone who has never been loved. And when he finally heard of a God who loves him, he couldn’t stand the idea. No matter how much I wanted him to experience the love of Jesus in his life, I couldn’t make him. As we look to Scripture today, we will find that this experience is not unique to me. In fact, this is the very thing that Jesus experienced from His own people. Lets take a look at the text.

Passage

Luke 13:31–35 “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. 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.’ 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! 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!’ ””

V 31

In this first verse of today’s passage, we see that some Pharisees come to Jesus, appearing to be friendly as they warn Him about the threat of Herod. If we think back to Jesus other interactions with the Pharisees, we will remember that they were normally not positive nor friendly. The Pharisees had a growing distrust and hate for Jesus, so why the sudden change of heart for this group of Jewish leaders? I thought they wanted Jesus gone, so wouldn’t they want Herod to kill Him? As we consider this, it is likely that the Pharisees were warning Jesus of this threat because they wanted to scare Him into hiding. This is not the first time that the leaders of Israel have tried to push the men of God into a fearful escape. In Nehemiah we see Shemaiah give Nehemiah a message saying that some want to kill him. Nehemiah sees through this attempt and continues to do the work God has given him. We also see Amaziah give Amos a similar message and Amos responds that he must do the work God has given him. In both these instances, God protects His men so they can complete His work. It would seem that the Pharisees have a similar motive when they warn Jesus to flee for fear of Herod.

While the warning may not be out of genuine care, it is likely that it is a real threat. If we think back, Herod had killed John the Baptist, and later when he hears reports of Jesus he wonders if John had been raised from the dead. At this time Jesus is in Herod’s jurisdiction and so if Herod wanted Him dead, He should fear. In those days, the king’s wishes were carried out swiftly. If it were someone else in Jesus’ position they would have likely hid themselves to avoid being put to death. But how does Jesus respond?

V 32

In Jesus response we see something revealed about Him and the Father. First, Jesus sees Herod as he really is, a man who has used his position of authority for his own gain. Herod and other leaders in Israel fit the description that many of the Old Testament prophets gave to Jewish leaders, Zephaniah 3:3 “3 Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning.” The leaders of Israel at that time preyed on the people for their own gain instead of caring for God’s people as they should. Herod, being like those before him, is a predator, but Jesus calls him a fox, not a lion or a wolf. In this, Jesus is saying that Herod is insignificant and weightless. He may be wily, but he cannot do anything against the Son of God.

Jesus continues by saying that He has only a short time left to do the work that He was sent to do. He reveals that part of the work He is doing is caring for the needs of the people. He is doing what Herod and the Pharisees should have been doing instead of caring for themselves. This shows that Jesus is worthy of being the leader of Israel because He tends to the flock. Jesus is certain that He will soon finish His course. Here, Jesus reveals that He has complete trust in the Father and that He will accomplish what He was sent to do. This also reveals that God is sovereign over the ministry of Christ. Herod may desire to kill Jesus, but God has other plans.

V 33

In this statement, Jesus reveals more of the nature of the work He must do. Above He pointed to the miracles that give testimony to His identity as Messiah, now He says that He must die in Jerusalem. Jesus reveals what His works is and how it will be accomplished, through His own death. Jesus is certain of this. He must go, as it is not fit for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem. He also identifies Himself as a prophet who will face a similar fate as many other prophets before Him. He declares what is going to happen as a prophet of God. There is irony here, that the man of God is in most danger, not in declaring truth to the nations, but declaring truth in the place where God chose to set up worship and His redeeming work. The danger does not lie beyond the walls, but on the inside as the Jewish leaders feel the threat of Jesus ministry.

V 34

Now Jesus begins to lament as a prophet who sees the rejection of Israel and the fate that is awaiting them because of their rejection of God. For many years God called His people back to Him through the prophets, but as Nehemiah describes, it was to no avail. The people did not turn from their sins, but rather persecuted the prophets because they did not speak favorably to them. Just as the people did this to the prophets of the past, they do it to Jesus. Jesus mourns for them, a deep grief is shown in the repetition of Jerusalem, as if He is calling them even then to repent. He is moved in His heart with compassion and desire for their repentance, but they will not turn. The center of the nation, the place where God had made His dwelling among them, had become the center of their rejection of Him. This rejection would result in them killing the Messiah who was coming to save them. Despite this rejection, there is a real love that is seen. God is sovereign, yet He still loves those who reject Him. Jesus depicts His love for Israel using language similar to that of the Old Testament provision and restoration. He says that He desired to gather them under His wings. This imagery is unique to Yahweh, the one true God of Israel. Yahweh was Israels refuge and shelter, and Christ equates Himself with God. This means that in rejecting Christ, the people are rejecting God.

V 35

Because of Israel’s rejection of Christ, judgment is coming upon them. Their house is forsaken. There are real consequences for the choices people make, and so Israel will face theirs. Later in Luke, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple, which takes place in AD 70 when the Romans sack Jerusalem. The place where the Jews worshiped and found their identity would be made desolate because they had turned their backs on God. Now does this mean that God is cruel and unkind? Not at all! When God gave Israel the Law, He warned them that disobedience would lead to this. In the prophets, the people are warned once again by a gracious God to turn back to Him. As we noted earlier, the people did not turn back to God despite the warnings, so destruction came. Hosea 3:4–5 “4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.” A time was coming when the people would be without a place, a king, worship, but a time is coming when they will turn back to God. We see this fulfilled first when Babylon takes Judah into exile. Later, the exiles are led back to Jerusalem and they rebuild it. For a time the people seek God, but we see that they have wandered away from Him again. Because of their wandering from God, their city will not only be destroyed, but the Messiah is leaving them. Jesus says that they will not see Him until He returns in glory as king. When He comes they will say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” This will not be a forced declaration, but one of faith and praise. As Paul says in Romans 11, a time is coming when many Jews will believe in the Messiah.

Consequences of Sin

And so we see in this passage that the opposition of Israel continues to grow. Despite this, Christ is determined to finish the work He came to do and nothing, not even a king is going to stop Him. As Jesus speaks of finishing His work, He knows that this means Israel is going to reject Him and kill Him. He laments over this because He knows that it will bring judgement upon them as a nation. Although there is judgement, there is also hope. Jesus earlier said that if anyone is to enter the kingdom of heaven, it must be by the narrow gate. We have come to know that this narrow gate is faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. This faith is required because God gave us His Law, but we each break it by worshiping things other than God. Because we do this, we deserve the penalty of death. We see that the sin of Israel had real consequences, both in this life and for eternity. Since we all have sin, we cannot please God in any way, therefore the only way we could have relationship with God is if our sins are forgiven. Jesus lived a life without sin, fulfilling God’s law in every way. Then He was put to death not because He did wrong, but because God had a plan. In Jesus death, He took mans place as a substitute to atone or pay for their sins. This substitution allows for God to forgive sinners of their sin and still be holy and just as the penalty is paid. He could not overlook our sins if they have not been paid for because of His nature. Since, Christ has paid for our sins by dying in our place,we can be forgiven when we place our faith in Jesus. Then Jesus rose from the grave proving that He was the Son of God and that He has power over death. This means that anyone who believes has eternal life and does not need to fear death.

If you believe this message, we are called to follow in Jesus footsteps and declare this truth to those around us. As we seek to do this, we should consider some of the truths taught in the passage we studied today.

God is sovereign

This truth gives us comfort as we seek to share the gospel with the world around us. God is in control of our lives, and as we see in Romans, He is working all things together for our good and His glory. This does not mean that hard times will never come in our lives, but as Jesus did, we can trust that God has a plan for the trials that come our way. We can also find comfort in the fact that the work has been completed. Jesus has accomplished the work of redemption on the cross, now He is using us to spread this message to the world. If God is sovereign, and He says the work is complete, then we can trust that it is done. This takes the weight off of our shoulders in some respect as we understand that salvation is in God’s hands. He did the work, our responsibility is simply to proclaim the message He has given us. God is going to do what He is going to do, so we can proclaim truth with boldness and sincerity. When we face opposition, we can be confident that God is control and so we do not have to back down for fear of man. Just as Jesus knew that Herod could not stop God’s plan, so we can be confident that no man can stop God’s plan in our lives. Earlier in Luke 12, Jesus taught that we should fear God who can kill body and soul and not fear man who can only kill the body. We know that we are redeemed by Christ’s finished work so we do not need to fear man, for even if they kill us, we will live forever with Christ. This gives us a confidence that cannot be stopped by schemes of men or the devil. This does not mean that we are to go around telling others that they are going to hell, but rather it should remove our fear of sharing the gospel, even when it feels awkward or people push back. This brings us to our next point.

God is compassionate

We know that we can be bold because our God is in control, but that does not mean that we should be without compassion for the lost. We don’t need to create posters and stand at street corners seeking to scare people into belief. We need to be bold, but we need to be driven by compassion. There will be times when there are people who oppose us for some reason or another, and as Christ did, we should grieve over their hardness towards God and pray that He would soften them. This is not easy to do, as our pride will often feel attacked as people reject Christ. They are not really rejecting us but God. We see in Christ that God’s heart is broken over the rejection of Israel. Just as God’s heart breaks for the lost, so we should have broken hearts for the lost. This is not something that will happen naturally in our lives, but as we look to Christ we will be transformed by the gospel and our hearts will feel as God’s does. Brokenness paired with boldness will lead to a genuine presentation of the gospel, imploring people to believe in Christ that they might be saved from their sin and restored to relationship with the God of the universe. This is what we should strive for, but we must remember that it is Christ who gives us the strength and the character to do so.

Closing thoughts

My hope is that we are reminded by this passage that God is in control and He cares for people. Because of this, Christ completed the work of our salvation on the cross, it is finished! May this fuel us as we seek to live out God’s mission throughout the coming days, weeks, months, and years.

Prayer

Father, we thank you for Christ and the finished work of the cross. We thank you for our salvation that we do not deserve. God, I pray that you would empower your people to be your witnesses. I pray that you would mold our hearts after yours, that we may love people as Christ did. Even in the face of rejection, you walked in love. God, we confess that we often fall short, we cannot do this on our own. We are dependent on you and trust that you will accomplish your will in us. Amen