Luke 13:31 – 35
GAP: We sometimes see God’s wrath and
punishment as something He relishes or executes with glee and excitement. (Fact: Jesus wept at this point… strong
emotion)
TENSION:
1. Pharisees come to Jesus… warn Jesus
(threat? Or pretend to be friend?)
2. Jesus calls Herod a “fox.”
Fox: not an alpha predator but very dangerous.
a. Our expression: “Fox in the hen house.”
b. Foxes will kill for the excitement of
killing (unlike most alpha predators that kill for
necessity).
TENSION:
1. Jesus delivers then delivers THREE
prophecies:
a. [v 32] “on the third day I will reach
my goal.”
b. [v 33] “no prophet can die outside
Jerusalem.”
c. [v 35] “you will not see me again until
you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
2. What is Jesus saying?
a. [v 32] Driving out demons and healing
people… three days… goal….
1.) This is a prophecy of the three days
Jesus would be in the grave.
2.) Two key ideas of what He would be doing
those days:
a.) “Driving out demons” (destroy the works
of the devil)
b.) “Healing people” (Isaiah: “by his
stripes we are healed)
REALITY:
1. God must break the power of the “Law of
sin and death.”
a. On the cross Jesus provided the
perfect, full, and sufficient atonement (covering, payment) for our sin.
b. At the resurrection Jesus shattered the
power of “sin and death.”
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" [56] The
sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Corinthians
15:55 – 56]
2. We often mistake salvation as JUST a
legal matter.
a. Forgiveness in the court of heaven…
legal standing before God.
b. HOWEVER, there is the practical matter
of right now… how we live…
c. Healing is a reversal of the damage of
sin,
a
restoration of the image of God in us,
a
revival of the soul toward our Maker and Savior!
EXPLORATION:
How was Jesus going to accomplish this?
1. The image of the mother hen…
a. Our expression, “they want to get out
from under their mother’s wings.”
b. Problem: chicks like to wander:
1.) There is a big world they want to
explore… BUT they don’t know what cats, or hawks, or
foxes will do to them. They are easy
prey.
2.) They want to fight on their own… BUT
this is unwise.
3.) They feel smothered under protective
wings…
c. Reality: We, like the chicks, are
defenseless and dependent.
2. How does a mother hen protect here
chicks?
a. The hen “clucks” to call here chicks…
she does NOT run to protect them.
b. Their defense comes from them running
to her… she uses here beak and her life to protect them.
3. This is what Jesus WANTED to do for
Jerusalem (and by implication, us)
a. Sad statement “you were not willing.”
b. Instead they killed the prophets and
will kill the Christ.
***** Huge contrast
between God’s willingness and our unwillingness. *****
RESOLUTION:
1. An ancient Psalm and prophecy: Psalm
91:4
“He will cover you
with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness
will be your shield and rampart.”
2. An ancient promise and prophecy: Isaiah
40:31
“But those who hope in
the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.”
3. Here it is:
a. In Psalms there is a promise of
protection… a place of refuge.
b. In Isaiah there is a promise of
strength… a place of accomplishment.
(Ill.) A mother/father eagle will push her baby of the nest…
the little eagle will have to fly or die (so it thinks). At the last moment, the mother/father eagle
will swoop and catch the young eagle… take them high and drop them again. This happens over and over until the young
eagle learns to fly.
***** The idea is in Psalm 91 that the word translated
“cover” is “Shekinah.” [As in the
“Shekinah” glory of God. *****
MEANING: What Jesus intended to do what place
Himself between His people, “all fluffed up and hunkered down,” and the danger.
1. There was the “tooth and fang” of the
fox verses the power of an unyielding and uncompromising love.
An American expression: “And God bet the farm” (everything)
on the mother hen.
2. Jesus loves us with a love stronger
than death...
***** Today we celebrate when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the
shout of “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” as remembering but
also looking forward to when Jesus returns. *****
***** Today we celebrate God unyielding and uncompromising
love for us demonstrated Good Friday on the cross. *****
***** Today we are faced with the question: Are we
willing? Are you willing to take shelter
in the Most High and live in the shadow of the Almighty? *****
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