A Reflection on a Bible Study at
Second Presbyterian Church, Feb. 18, 2016, Chattanooga, TN.
The text: Luke 13:31-35 (Also the
reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for this Sunday)
Luke gives
us this passage exclusively among the synoptic gospels and it seems to achieve
several ends. We know Herod was curious about Jesus (he beheaded John the
Baptist) but this passage reveals the intent of his curiosity. This passage
also conveys a second and third message from Jesus, that neither Herod (or any
person) will prevent Jesus from reaching his goal. We do not know from the
first two verses what is its goal, but Jesus makes it clear he is bound to
another Higher authority. Finally, Jesus has an ominous lament for religious
leaders and followers who fail to acknowledge his authority.
Only when
Jesus laments over Jerusalem do we begin to understand what lies ahead. His draws
upon Jeremiah 22:5 and Ps 118:26 lamenting that he
came to gather God’s chosen together but they are not willing.
If
you read the preceding verses
22-30, sometimes called “the judgment of the nations,” you will see how our
verses are closely connected. Those verses describe the path to new life in the Kingdom of God as a
narrow gate and reflect to the leaders of the synagogue, and by extension to
the whole people of Israel, the reality placed upon them to accept or reject
the Messiah and discover their own reception or rejection in the kingdom of
God.
Reading verse 31 leaves one wondering, are the Pharisees trying by ruse to get Jesus to leave
their presence and avoid Jerusalem? Or have they for some reason joined
alliance with him against Herod, a theologically traitorous, Jewish king? One
thing is certain these verses validate that Herod’s preoccupation with Jesus has
a nefarious intent.
Hearing the word of Jesus
in verse 32 leaves us wondering is Jesus being literal or figurative where he
says, “…today, tomorrow and on the third day “I am finished.” .”) Since we are
“educated” readers who know the final outcome we know Jesus can mean “Until I
reach my goal,” rather than “I am finished
Yet
Luke presents an intentionally ambiguous account. Is Jesus referring to his
ongoing work of that will occupy his time until he reaches Jerusalem, or is
Jesus presaging his final hours on the third day when he ascends to heaven fully
completing his task seated at the right hand of God, saying in effect, no
earthly power being Herod or Satan shall short circuit his mission?
Whatever
the conclusion, verse 33 lets us know something ominous lies ahead in
Jerusalem. One
commentator (p. 743) suggested
that we can translate the irony in 32-33 as “if you, Israel and Judah, must reject those sent you by God,
then let’s have you do it properly, by doing it at the heart of all Jewish
affairs in Jerusalem.”
Verses 33-34
take a turn towards a lament. Jesus draw attention to prophets being killed in
Jerusalem. This is a vague sort of history. We do have events such as 2 Chronicles 24:17-23 where
a king induced the people in Jerusalem to worship other gods, and Zechariah son of the high priest called them out and was
stoned to death for doing it. We
also know Jeremiah was imprisoned for his prophesy about King Hezekiah, and was
thrown in a dry well. The theme in the preceding verses (Luke 13:22-30) and in v 35 draws
heavily upon the prophesy of Jeremiah
22:1-8. Here is the concluding part of that passage:
6 “You are like Gilead to me,
like
the summit of Lebanon;
but
I swear that I will make you a desert,
an
uninhabited city.
7 I
will prepare destroyers against you,
all
with their weapons;
they
shall cut down your choicest cedars
and
cast them into the fire.
8 And many
nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one to another, “Why
has the LORD dealt in this way with that great city?”
These five
verses pack a lot of weight. They pose and answer some core questions about the
rejection of Jesus by Jerusalem (a placeholder for the entire religious
establishment and those who fall under its sway?).
Can
Herod forestall or short-circuit the completion of the calling of Jesus? The
answer of course, as Jesus says, is entirely NO.
Is
the tragedy that Herod desires to kill Jesus who must flee? No. Jesus will not
flee. The tragedy is that Jerusalem for whom he has come will spurn him and its
leaders turn upon him. The companion tragedy is that Jeremiah’s prophecy will
be fulfilled.
Reflection:
The
challenge with texts such as this one is how should we as Christians read and
apply them? Do we read the judgment passage (v34-35) as judgment of the exiting
Jewish religious establishment, or as a yardstick for us, or our country and
its leaders?
In other
words is the lament of Jesus universally applied, or is Jesus talking especially
to God’s own special chosen people for whom he has a special bond, and has
always promised to send a Messiah?” Many times Jesus called the ruling
religious establishment to task for having turned from the call of the Law, to
hold the Law in one’s heart so that one’s way of life reflects it. That rebuke must also apply to those penitent
Jews who read and know the Law. I come away thinking this passage principally
is directed at Jerusalem.
However, if
we come away from our study of Christianity discovering only one message, it
might well be that the ministry of Jesus is a universal call to every believer
to “walk the talk,” that is to have one’s way of life reflects Christ’s walk
(presence) in the world.
A precept
of Reformed theology is that we are all ministers. Does this passage then also
by extension apply to us personally as it did to the scribes, Pharisees and
priests?
Are we ministers
giving lip service to the good news and the God of the Living by spreading
judgment not grace, or are we willing followers of Jesus who can reply gracefully
to any judgment against us, “I a living witness of
the good news by my words and deeds today and tomorrow, and to the day I have
finished my work and am called home”?
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