The Second Sunday in Lent ---- 21 February 2014

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 He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' ³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵ See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 

v In the Gospel reading, some Pharisees have come to warn Jesus about Herod’s plots against him. Commentators are not sure if these people were friends of Jesus trying to save him, or manipulators their own political agenda, or enemies of Jesus trying to stop him from fulfilling his mission in Jerusalem. We’ll never really know.

v What we know is that Jesus refused to change his mission and his desire to go to Jerusalem despite any warnings about Herod and his plots.

v Jesus knows full well that he faces opposition. Herod and the Roman authorities see him as someone after their power. The Temple authorities see him as a threat to the moral leadership they see as their right. Some of his followers see him as the right man to lead the people in revolution and to restore the Kingdom to Israel (and themselves, of course.)

v Yes, Jesus knew and expected to be opposed. After all, what he had to say was opposed to everything that the powers of the world stood for and still stand for.

v As followers and disciples of Jesus will can expect to be opposed as well. The really surprising thing – to me anyway – is the attitude among some people that the Christian life should lead to health, wealth, and the pinnacle of daily happiness.

v Being a Christian is no easy thing. Jesus was quite clear that to follow him means to take up your cross and follow him. There is very little that is clearer in the Gospels, especially when we are speaking about discipleship.

v It would be great to think that faith in Jesus would make everything find and dandy, but we’d be kidding ourselves with that. It’s been said that the promise of all bogus religion is the promise of a peaceful life without pain. We’re all adult enough to know such promises not to be true.

v The opposition we face can be the same sort of persecution, ridicule, or misunderstanding that Jesus faced. The opposition might also be internal – temptation, fear, or doubt, for example. When we’re in the midst of these, there is no need to lose heart. We can remember that Jesus faced these as well.

v Jesus is intent upon going to Jerusalem, even if it means his death. In a way, this might be the reason that the Pharisees warned him of Herod’s plots; if he was warned, he might avoid Jerusalem. This would not be the case. Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and complete his work there and only there.

v At the end of the passage that was read today, Jesus goes on to say I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' " which is exactly what was said as he entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. His ministry and his travels throughout Judea are all tied to his final work, which can often be seen as the sacrifice of the Cross.

v There is more to it than that. Even the opposition he endures shows his message. If the message of Jesus opposes what all the powers of the world uphold and stand for, then the message of Jesus exposes all that the powers of the world stand for. To preach justice exposes the injustice around. To really preach concern for the poor and the oppressed shows the poverty and the oppression that people endure.

v In a similar manner, to preach about forgiveness requires that sin be realized and acknowledged.

v Finally we come to the greatest opposition – the opposition of life by death. Jesus preached new life and to preach life acknowledges that death exists. This, of course, is fresh news to no one at all. Death is the constant companion and constant opposite of life. It is the great leveler and the destroyer of all our dreams and hopes… or so we think. Jesus is thinking otherwise. His casting out of demons and performing cures today and tomorrow shows his constant concern for and opposition to all that could bring death to the human family.

v Jesus says that his work is finished on the third day - and on the third day I finish my work.  Whenever the Gospels speak of “the third day”, the Gospels are telling the Good News of one thing and one thing only – the day of Resurrection. With the defeat of death, Jesus final work is done for all time… and for us.