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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!’”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Personal threats are one thing, but what do you do with secondhand threats? The Pharisees come to Jesus saying, “King Herod has it out for you and is going to kill you.” There is no question that Herod was a ruthless individual. He had the gall to lop off John the Baptizer’s head. But Herod doesn’t appear to be seeking Jesus’ life (see Lk. 23:7-11). When he finally meets Jesus on Good Friday, Herod mocks Jesus and treats Him with contempt, but Herod doesn’t sentence Jesus to death.

The Pharisees here aren’t suddenly being friendly toward Jesus and protecting Him. They had been seeking Jesus’ life (Mt. 12:14). Instead, it appears they want Jesus to get out of town, and so they lie about Herod’s threat. But Jesus doesn’t take this second-hand threat seriously. Even if Herod was threatening Jesus’ life, “Jesus gonna do what Jesus gonna do.” He will continue His ministry of releasing the captives from disease, demonic powers, sin, and death as He said He would when He preached in Nazareth (Lk. 4:18-21). Jesus says, “Go and tell that fox Herod, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish My course.’”

Now, we need to pause here for a moment. The phrase that gets translated here, “I finish my course,” is a really bad translation. In Greek, that phrase is only one word, and it is a passive verb. But the English translates it as active, “I finish.” But a more literal translation would be, “On the third day, I am finished,” or “I am completed.” Jesus knows that He is going to die, but it won’t be at the hand of Herod, the fox. Instead the Lion of the tribe of Judah will be killed in Jerusalem. Jesus is saying, “I will continue on my journey to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the place for a prophet to die.”

Jesus’ life is not in danger anywhere but in Jerusalem, but that doesn’t scare Jesus. Instead Jerusalem is precisely where He is going to go, resolutely and unwaveringly. Jesus knows knows that going Jerusalem will cost Him His life, but amazingly He is not angry about it. In fact, Jesus laments this. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Because Jerusalem refuses to listen to God’s Word, she is her own worst enemy. Jerusalem continues to reject God’s prophets. Now Jesus – the Prophet (Dt. 18:15) and more than a prophet, the Savior – is about to be rejected and killed by Jerusalem, but still Jesus longs to shelter and protect those very people.

There are stories about barns being burned down in a fire. When the fire is finally out, a hen will be found burned to death, but her brood of chicks are safely alive under her charred wings.

This is the picture Jesus wants us to see. All our suffering is caused by sin – either ours or someone else’s. As the fiery consequences of sin engulf everything around us, there is Jesus frantically seeking to rescue you from God’s wrath against sin and give you shelter under His wings. You can hear Jesus’ frustration, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”

You can see that mother hen trying to get her chicks to stand still and be sheltered, but those chicks keep running frantically around the barnyard. We are just like those chicks. Rather than seeing Jesus’ wings as our place of refuge, we see them as smothering and confining. We don’t want to be stifled and cramped under His wings. Because of our sinful nature, our wills are hell-bent on remaining free and unfettered to run around rather than being protected in repentance under the wings of Jesus. We see the fire, and we are scared. But rather than trusting Jesus to protect us, we keep running around kicking up sparks, spreading the fire, and making things worse.

This is what most often happens with us sinners. A gracious and merciful God seeks us sinners, but we think that He is coming to destroy us. So we refuse to repent. Adam and Eve tried to create their own refuge from their sin. They tried to cover their sinfulness with fig leaves. David tried save himself by covering up his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. But all he did was fall into more and more sin. Peter was even told beforehand by Jesus that he would deny Jesus. But rather then repenting before he sinned, instead of seeking shelter under Jesus’ mercy, Peter defiantly boasted that he would go to death with Jesus rather than deny Him.

Jerusalem was unwilling to be gathered under the wings of Jesus, and so are we.

Thankfully, Jesus’ will is stronger than yours. Jesus knows what it will cost for Him to spread His wings over you. And Jesus still resolves to go to Jerusalem. Jesus will continue to run His course. He will cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day will be finished. This is exactly what Jesus says on the cross. He cries out, “It is finished,” (Jn. 19:30 same word as in v. 32), and He gives up His spirit.

Jesus sees the fire of God’s wrath coming upon you, sinner. But He chases you down, and He smothers you under the safety of His outstretched arms on the cross. The fire of God’s wrath completely consumes Him, but you, sinner, are kept safe and secure under His wings. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.