God Moves Past All Barriers

Road Closed

The road of life is full of road closed signs and barriers. Barriers can stop us in our tracks, and delay or even stop our progress towards our destination. The people of God through out the old testament come up against barriers. They find themselves pinned between Pharoah’s army and the Red Sea stuck in a seemingly impossible situation. God parts the Red Sea and moves them past the barrier.

In our scripture for today Jesus is confronted by the barrier of Herod Antipas. One of the sympathetic Pharisees forewarned Jesus that Antipas wanted to kill him. From Jesus response we can see God moves past all barriers. Jesus faces political barriers, even death itself, to the work God has sent him to do. Whatever barrier this world throws at Jesus, or us today God moves past all barriers. The work of the Kingdom, the mission of God to redeem all creation to himself will continue. Why? Because God loves us and gave himself for us and nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ.

As God continues to move to the barrier of the cross, lets move with him through the barriers we face.

The barriers

The passage we wrestle with today comes after three parables on the Kingdom of God. The parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the yeast, and the narrow door. God’s kingdom work grows from small kingdom acts. Like yeast the work of the Kingdom rises up everywhere. The door to the Kingdom is narrow, and difficult to find.

Luke 13:22–30 NRSV

22 Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. 29 Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

It’s on the heels of these Kingdom illustrations that Jesus is confronted by three barriers to the work God has sent him to do. Those three barriers come in the form of religion, political, and even death.

Religious

In Luke’s gospel Jesus is always making his way up to Jerusalem. As he is on the way some Pharisees said to him “Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!” Now there is disagreement over whether or not this was yet another trap set by this religious group, or sympathetic pharisees genuinely trying to warn Jesus. We know of at least one member of the pharisees that would be sympathetic to Jesus, that being Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night in John 3. He also helped another member of the religious elite, Joseph of Arimathea, bury Jesus in the tomb. So there are some in the religious order of the day that would be sympathetic to Jesus.

Whatever the intent Jesus faces the barrier of religion here. If the intentions were good or not the warning was an attempt to throw him off the work God has given him to do.

Political

The Pharisees warn him of a threat from those who hold political power. Herod Antipas wanted to kill him. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great. Yes that Herod that ordered every baby boy two years old and younger in Bethlehem to be killed because he felt his political power was threatened by Jesus. His son is trying to do the job his father could not.

Death

The third barrier presented in the threat is that of death. Herod wants to kill you! Jesus response was “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons, and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.”

Jesus response says to the religious barriers “I must proceed on....” with the work God has given me to do. Jesus response says to the political barriers that be, that despite their threats “I must proceed on...with the work God has given me to do. Jesus reference to the third day says the barrier of death, “I must proceed on...with the work God has given me to do.” In this statement God moves past religious barriers, political barriers, and even the barrier of death. Along the way to the cross he is healing people spiritually by casting out demons and removing spiritual barriers. He is physically healing the sick, and removing physical barriers along the way. Nothing in all of creation can stop the Kingdom work of God.

Jesus is heading to Jerusalem because of his great love for all of us. He is ripping down and parting barriers that have blocked our way to him. At Jesus death another barrier was torn from top to bottom. At the moment of Christ death the veil to the Holy of Holies was torn in two. The barrier between God and humanity was gone. Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, had been sacrificed for us.

Matthew 27:45–53 NRSV

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Three days later God moves past the final barrier of death. God moves past all barriers. There is nothing in all creation that can stop the work of God. As we continue to move with God out of the tomb, lets follow him past all of our barriers. Whether they be barriers to faith in Christ, physical barriers that seem impossible, barriers to spiritual growth, financial barriers, barriers of addiction, the list could go on. God moves past all barriers and wants you to follow him through them.

What is your barrier? Write it down and trust God will move you past it.