Luke 13:31-35
Notes
Transcript
Handout
What moves you to the point of tears? Or what kinds of things cause you to groan with pain and sadness?
Is there anything that moves you so much - injustice, pain, suffering in others - that it drives you to do something about it?
For me, I get upset over the most ridiculous things:
Adverts (John Lewis Christmas advert about fostering got me a few years’ ago)
Films - End of Toy Story 3 gets me every time
I have been known to cry over The Simpsons.
Also more serious things - I’ll weep over my own sin, when life is particularly difficult, and when loved ones die.
On several occasions in Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus being moved to lament, grieve, and even weep over the unbelief of his own people.
And we also see how the pain he felt over their unbelief drove him on towards his goal - to die in their place that they might believe and be saved.
At this point in Luke’s account, Jesus is very much on mission.
Since Luke 9:51, he has been focussed on the primary goal of his mission...
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
And as he pursues the goal of his mission, he teaches his followers about theirs as well.
This brief episode in Luke 13:31-35 is showing us the drive that Jesus had towards his mission goals, and the motive behind that goal.
As he resists Herod’s threats, he shows us the importance of remaining on mission.
And then as he grieves over unbelieving Jerusalem, he shows us the value of lamenting the lost.
Remain on mission. Lament the lost.
REMAIN ON MISSION
REMAIN ON MISSION
Jesus receives some news that could change his plans.
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.’
We need to break this down!
“At that time.” - lit. at that very hour.
So the episode it directly tied to the narrow door teaching that precedes it, where Jesus taught about the need to put your effort into the right things (namely, believing in him).
“Some Pharisees came.” - The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that were opposed to Jesus, his teaching and his ministry.
So, it’s not unusual that they came to Jesus, but it is unusual that they seemed to warn him of a potential threat against his life.
So, were they warning him, or did they have another motive?
It’s not clear! Could be either. Or both!
On the one hand, they would have known that Herod was a genuine threat - he had already beheaded John the Baptist, and was known to be a violent leader.
Maybe they were trying to help Jesus, while also helping themselves - getting him off their patch.
Or maybe they were lying - Herod wasn’t really threatening to have Jesus killed. But the Pharisees wanted to get Jesus to move out of Galilee (Herod’s jurisdiction) into Judea (where other dangers lie).
Or, they wanted to discredit him - “Look, he claims to be Messiah but he runs away at the first sign of danger.”
Whatever their motive, Jesus saw a greater threat. The threat to be thrown off course, diverted from his mission.
He replied, ‘Go and tell that fox,
The fox is Herod Antipas. Foxes are thought to be cunning, sly, deceitful. Elsewhere, though, they are also weak. Can’t even take on otters!
Jesus not in any way concerned about Herod. He knows that Herod won’t be a big player in the final part of his mission.
But neither is Jesus for a moment tempted to be diverted away from what he came to do.
He replied, ‘Go and tell that fox, “I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”
This is his kingdom ministry - the clear signs that he is the Messiah - captives set free, lame walking, blind seeing etc.
He was carry on doing the kingdom work of the Messiah “today and tomorrow.” Relentless. Persistent. Regardless of obstacles and objections.
And then, “on the third day I will reach my goal.”
A very loaded phrase!!
Jesus, of course, was raised from the dead on the third day after his death.
Ultimately, Jesus knows that this is where he his going - to Jerusalem, to the cross, to death, to the grave, and then to resurrected glory!
Jesus is not in the least bothered about Herod, or any other worldly leader for that matter. He knows God’s plan for his life, he knows that this plan must and will be fulfilled, he knows that he is in the Father’s hands, not Herod’s, nor anyone else’s.
And so his mind is resolutely set on his mission - notice the phrases he uses - “I will keep on… today and tomorrow and the next day… I must press on...”
Nothing will sway him from completing his work.
In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
This is loaded with irony and a hint of sarcasm!
He’s saying, “It’s not Gentile (non-Jewish) Herod that will kill me, because Jewish prophets have a habit of being killed in Jerusalem by other Jews.”
He’s referring to the sad history of Israel, where God sent multiple prophets to warn his people to repent and turn back to him, but they refused and often put those prophets to death, many of them in Jerusalem.
Irony - the centre of Jewish religious life is a graveyard for God’s messengers.
Jesus knows that his grave will be in Jerusalem, at the hands of both the Romans and the Jews.
That’s his goal, the reason he came into the world, and he would not allow threats, warnings, temptations or anything else to divert him from his death.
We don’t have the same clarity about the exact details of our lives as Jesus. But we do know that it is he has called us to do as his people - make disciples of all nations, calling people to repent and believe and be baptised in his name.
We have been given a Great Commission.
But we also face great challenges in staying on mission in this world.
Other priorities shape our lives, take up our time, our thoughts, our energies.
Often they are good things - family, marriage, work, etc
But sometimes we are distracted by lesser pursuits, and we have no end of things vying for our attention, even our affections.
I’m not saying that we must only think about the task of making disciples and never about anything else! I’m not saying that we shouldn’t involve ourselves in other things, or even enjoy ourselves in the good gifts God has given us.
I’m saying that we must be careful to not allow these things to take the primary place in our hearts.
Neither should allow the voices of this world to sway us from living for Jesus and speaking for Jesus.
And, boy, some of those voices are loud, aren’t they?!
They might be friends, family, colleagues, making their views known, stating their cases for why Jesus shouldn’t be followed or believed.
They might be other personalities in books, articles, videos. Like Ricky Gervais cracking a joke about why the Bible can’t be trusted because it’s just fiction.
As someone said, “if you get your theology from a comedian, don’t be surprised if it turns out to be a joke.”
Jesus was 100% sure of his calling and mission in life. Ours is different, but we have the same assurance. We’re here to let others know about him, and to call them to believe in him.
When it boils down to it, that’s our calling and mission in life.
It will look totally different for all of us. But that’s what we’re here to do.
Jesus shows us here that we need to be careful to remain on mission.
And then he shows us why.
LAMENT THE LOST
LAMENT THE LOST
Mentioning Jerusalem seems to have stirred something in Jesus...
‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
That double-naming of Jerusalem tells us something about the intensity of the grief Jesus was feeling in that moment.
This is one of those occasions where Jesus isn’t speaking directly to anyone present with him, but is pouring out his heart, showing his true emotions. We see the same thing when he prays to the Father.
It’s revealing what moves Jesus to tears, what prompts him to feel intense grief.
And here it’s Jerusalem. As he thinks about that city as the place David set up to be central point of Israel’s worship, where the Temple was built under Solomon, and yet the place where idolatry, injustice and innocent bloodshed abounded under godless king and leaders; and as he thinks about Jerusalem as the scene of his own death, Jesus’ heart bursts in lament.
“How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”
Jesus clearly identifies himself with God here, as the one who sent numerous prophets to “gather” his people under his loving protection.
But “you were not willing.”
Multiple generations weren’t willing to listen, to repent, to turn back to God, to humble themselves and confess their sin, and find forgiveness in his steadfast love and mercy. They weren’t willing, and they still aren’t willing, even though God himself has come to them in fulfilment of Messianic promises.
That broke Jesus’ heart.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”’
The house is the Temple. What had previously been known as God’s House, his dwelling place in the midst of his people.
Now it’s “your” house. And it’s desolate. The glory has departed.
It’s fate will be sealed in the blood of Jesus, as they put him, the final prophet, to death.
“Your house will be left to you desolate.” The Temple will be destroyed, which is was in AD70 when it was burned down by the Romans.
“You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Seems to suggest that Israel won’t see it’s Messiah again until the day of his return, when all those who have repented and put their faith in him will say “Blessed is he who comes...”
The fact that Jerusalem won’t repent now is what causes Jesus to lament in these verses.
Unbelief. Rejection of Jesus. Refusal to confess sin. Denial of his death that brings forgiveness and freedom to all who believe.
That should move us, shouldn't it?
That should cause us well up with grief, overflow with lament, shouldn’t it?
And maybe it does, in some of us. (Amy?)
But maybe there are others who don’t feel much or anything when we see others refusing to believe, denying Jesus.
That could be because we don’t allow ourselves to think about it. We don’t want to think about what that means for them as enemies of God.
Or it could be because we feel too strongly about other things relating to life in this world.
In any case, Jesus is showing us that unbelief is serious. It mattered to him, personally, that people didn’t believe and accept his message of good news. It moved him. He cared deeply about those who were rejecting him.
And that deep-seated grief is what motivated him in his mission. He was unwavering in his determination to go to Jerusalem, to the cross, to die in place of sinners like you and me, like those who rejected him.
If we don’t feel anything about those who reject Jesus, or very little, I think it’s right that we pray that God would help us to see them as he sees them, from his perspective. Pray to feel real concern for the lost. Pray for lament to well up from within over those who deny Jesus.
And pray that our lamenting for the lost would drive us to remain on mission, bringing the message of salvation to all.
What moves you to the point of tears? Or what kinds of things cause you to groan with pain and sadness?
Read Luke 13:31-33, noticing that Jesus is determined to remain on mission despite threats and obstacles on his path.
Why is it so easy for us to get distracted from our calling to make disciples? What keeps us from focussing on the mission we have been given?
How can we help one another resist getting distracted and remembering what Jesus has called us to do? How can we balance our personal pursuits with our calling to make disciples?
Read Luke 13:34-35, and hear how Jesus grieved for unbelieving Jerusalem.
Do you feel a similar grief for the lost? Why, or why not? How can we cultivate a heart that laments the lost as Jesus did? (See Romans 9:1–5 for another example).
Pray that God would help us to see those who reject Jesus from his perspective. Pray to feel real concern for the lost. Pray for lament to well up from within us over those who deny Jesus.
And pray that our lamenting for the lost would drive us to remain on mission, bringing the message of salvation to all.
