We are now in the time of Lent, that 40 day period of preparation for Easter. And our study this year is focused upon preparing ourselves for the great banquet of the Lamb, the end of time when all the church, those who are living and those who have gone to rest already, will joyously celebrate with Christ His return as He promised.
In our gospel reading this week, Jesus is beginning to slowly make His way from the area around Galilee, the northern part of the country, down toward the border between Galilee and Samaria. He will then go down the Jordan River Valley to Jericho, and then climb the great steep road that leads to Bethany and Jerusalem in time to enter Jerusalem a week before the Passover, the time when the Lamb will be sacrificed in Jerusalem, the time when Jesus will be sacrificed in Jerusalem, the time when all the sins of all people will be cleared because Jesus, the divine Son of God, God Himself walking upon this earth, will be sacrificed and will pay the price for my sins and your sins.
But this is weeks in the future. Today, Jesus is walking in Galilee, a land which is ruled by King Herod, a lackey of the Romans.
This is not Herod the Great, the man who rebuilt the Temple some 35 years before, the man who talked with the Magi from the East, the man who sent soldiers to kill the newborn Christ in Bethlehem. No, this is his second son, Herod Antipas, who married his brother’s widow, who was also his niece. John the Baptist condemned this marriage as incestuous, and so Herod Antipas had John arrested and thrown into prison. A few months later, Herod Antipas was the man who had John the Baptist beheaded because Herod’s stepdaughter danced for him and guests and he made a rash promise to do anything she asked. Her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, the daughter did, and Antipas then had to deliver upon his promise. Be careful of the promises you make!
A group of Pharisees came to Jesus. The Pharisees were strict students of the Law of Moses and most likely did not think too kindly of Herod Antipas, for they would have come to the same conclusion as John had concerning Antipas’ marriage to his niece. And so they decided to try to get in good with the young rabbi from Nazareth, John’s cousin Jesus, in hopes that Jesus would publicly condemn Herod, causing more embarrassment for Herod and removing Jesus, who often said very uncomfortable things to Pharisees about the way they put barriers between people and God, barriers such as how people should dress, or act.
The Pharisees came to Jesus and warned him that Herod wanted to kill Jesus. They told Jesus that He should leave Herod’s territory, Galilee, and go somewhere else. Where? The obvious choice was Judea, the land around Jerusalem which was not ruled by Herod, but was under the control of the Sanhedrin, the Council of Jewish elders, and the High Priest. Of course, the Sadducees, which was the party of the high priest, were not too happy with Jesus either, because Jesus had also condemned them for too much focus upon the Temple building and not enough focus upon God.
32 [Jesus replied to the Pharisees], “Go 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.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
Jesus calls Herod Antipas a “fox”. And based upon the Greek fables of Aesop, most Americans think that Jesus was calling Herod a smart, crafty fellow. But the understanding of a fox’s character was different in Palestine. To the Jewish mind of the first century, foxes had much the same feel as the way we might think of an annoying Chihuahua – a little, loud yap-yap that barks much more than it bites, a coward. There was a proverb of the time, “Meet each man with friendly greeting; be the tail among lions rather than the head among foxes" (Matteya ben Heresh,) Rather calling Herod “crafty”, Jesus was terribly insulting Herod and belittling him when he called him a fox. "Tell Herod, that little Chihuahua..."
Jesus continued:
‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
You will notice that Jesus twice uses the figure “today and tomorrow and the third day (or the next day)." Twice Jesus refers to a three-day time span. Let me ask you something – Since today is Sunday, what will you be doing on Tuesday? Can you predict what the world will be like on Wednesday?
Jesus is making the case that for the near future, Jesus will continue to work miracles, doing God’s work of driving out demons and healing people. In a sense, Jesus is dividing the future into three time periods:
Today – what are Jesus’ plans for today? What are your plans for today?
Tomorrow – think of tomorrow as the near future. What are you planning for the near future?
The third day – The far future. What about the far future?
If we plan accordingly, you might have a plan somewhat like this: Today I attend Sunday school. Tomorrow: I am planning on taking the Basic Lay Servant class on April 2. After that, I will begin leading in the church in some manner.
Or perhaps you might have this plan: Today, I will continue working at my job and learning all I can about Jesus while my children are pre-school. Tomorrow, when the kids go to school, I will get more involved in the church, get some formal training, and pay off my debts. On the third day, when my children become teenagers, I will become a missionary.
Of course, the three day time period of Jesus also refers to the upcoming three days in the tomb. On Friday, Jesus was placed in the tomb, Saturday was the second day, and on Sunday he was resurrected, reaching His goal.
Did you notice – Jesus says that a prophet cannot die outside of Jerusalem. A prophet isn’t necessarily one who speaks of the future, although this may happen. A prophet is a man or woman who speaks on behalf of God. Prophets died in Jerusalem - partially due to historical precedent – the prophets tended to be killed in Jerusalem because they usually were upsetting the king and this was what led to the deaths. But there was another reason for Jesus’ comment. At this time, a prophet could be tried only by the Sanhedrin to determine if he was a true prophet or a false prophet. False prophets were to be executed. And furthermore, even the ability to execute had been taken from the Sanhedrin by the Romans, who reserved to themselves the death penalty – a man could only be executed if the Roman governor sentenced him to death. And since the Roman governor sat in Jerusalem, a prophet could not be sentenced to die except in Jerusalem.
Some people who know their Bible will notice that Jesus was actually executed just outside the walls of Jerusalem. But then again, that death didn’t last very long, did it? For Jesus came back to life on the third day.
Our reading finishes with Jesus speaking as God about Jerusalem. It is the cry of a devoted father to his children who continue to turn their backs on Him.
34 “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. 35 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.’”
God and Jesus both made promises to us. God made a promise to Abram over fifteen hundred years before. God promised Abram that old, childless Abram would have children and grandchildren. "5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And God kept that promise. When the descendants of Abram – Abraham – came out of the Egyptian captivity, there were 600,000 of them who left that day, the day after the first Passover. God keeps His promises - and so does God's Son.
Jesus makes a promise to Jerusalem – Jerusalem will not see Him until the city says, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
A few months later on the Sunday before Passover, Jesus entered Jerusalem to the words, “Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna!”
Are we like Jerusalem? I’m not asking whether or not the United States is like Jerusalem, but I’m asking whether each one of us is like Jerusalem, who kill the reputation of those who speak on behalf of God and destroy those people who God sends to us?
If someone comes to you and tells you of your bad habits, what is your reaction? Do you listen or do you lash out in anger?
If someone is sent by God to teach you, do you listen or do you walk away?
Do you read the words of the prophets of old, the Word of God which is written in the Bible? Do you really deeply listen and respond to the Word of God, or do you ignore these words, effectively putting the Bible on the bottom of a stack, killing and burying it so you don’t have to hear the words in your mind?
Our Psalm said: .
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
Do you treat the Lord and his promises as your light and your salvation, as your stronghold – or do you treat Him and His words as just a parachute under your seat, as I once heard Ken Hamm ask? Let me explain:
Imagine that you get on a charter airplane for a trip to Tahiti. As you get on the plane, you are told that there is a parachute under your seat in case the plane were to go down early and how to use that parachute. And so, you probably sit there, daydreaming about your beach side hotel you plan to stay at. And you leave the parachute under your seat, ignoring it, but if there is a rough spot in the flight, you remember that that parachute is under the seat, and you relax and smile. Is this how you treat Jesus, as a parachute under your seat for possible future emergencies?
But instead, imagine that as soon as you get into the air, the pilot tells you that there is a problem and that the plane will crash when he tries to land, but that the crash will probably be in a few hours and that there is a parachute under your seat which you will use and the flight attendants will explain how to use. I suspect that you would get that parachute out from under your seat, put it on the seat beside you, read the directions over every 10 minutes, ask the flight attendants several pointed questions about the operation, test the straps, and generally act like you are planning to use that parachute to save your life – which it will. I expect that over the next few hours you would study that parachute closely, become an expert on that parachute, learning everything you possibly can about it, what it can do and what it can’t do, knowing exactly what you need to do for this to work, because you knew that you would be using that parachute very soon. When you have to jump, you want to know it works.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Another promise. If you plan to have eternal life, there is only one way – Jesus Christ. He is the only parachute we have and He is the only door into Heaven. If you want to survive the plane crash that is life, you will need to understand Jesus, what He asks of you, and what He will do for you.
Jesus told his disciples to Go to all people, baptizing them and teaching them all that He has commanded. And He would be with them to the end of the age. Another promise He made. But a conditional promise. We do these things and He is with us. It is conditional.
If the disciples have been commanded to baptize people and teaching them Jesus’ commands, these must be important. Have you been baptized? Do you know and follow all the commands of Jesus? Why do you suppose those commands are there? Are they optional? Why do you think the Bible includes all of these commands we see about how to live a holy life if they are optional?
The answer: They are important. Jesus wants followers, not people who keep a parachute under their seat. You see, God’s plan was to change the entire world, not just to give you eternal life. And we have been invited to join in that mission, to change the world, to help recreate a world which is filled with followers of Christ. Imagine, God has invited you and me to change the world – we provide the physical bodies, God provides the power. That’s what it means to be a follower of Christ! It means God works through us and changes things!
You know, I worked at some interesting jobs and I worked at some jobs that were plain dull. But nothing beats the Boss I’m working for today, because God gives me the freedom to work on really important problems, with great people, and God backs me up with all the resources I need – as long as I’m doing what God wants done. And God is always there in the form of the Holy Spirit to give me advice when I need it. What better Boss could you ever have? What better job could you have?
And God will train you to be holy through your work for God. Because making the world holy is part of the work – perhaps the most important part of the work. And making the world holy only happens when people follow Jesus and begin to act holy like He did.
Ask yourself this question: Would you rather live out your old age and have your children and grandchildren live in a world that was run by ISIS? Or would you rather have a world that is filled with people devoted to following Jesus, to imitating Jesus, to loving their neighbors, to lifting each other up?
Who do you want working in your nursing home? People who are working there because it is a job – or people who are there because they have a Holy Spirit-given calling for old people, because when they were young, they learned about God and Jesus and they learned to read the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit because they saw your holiness and decided that they wanted that peace and joy and beautiful niceness that radiated from you?
“But Pastor, becoming holy is hard work and I’m not holy.”
Of course it is hard work. Of course you're not holy. So what? It is what Christ asks of us.
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
Do you treat the Lord and his promises as your light and your salvation, as your stronghold – or do you treat Him and His words as just a parachute under your seat, as I once heard Ken Hamm ask? Let me explain:
Imagine that you get on a charter airplane for a trip to Tahiti. As you get on the plane, you are told that there is a parachute under your seat in case the plane were to go down early and how to use that parachute. And so, you probably sit there, daydreaming about your beach side hotel you plan to stay at. And you leave the parachute under your seat, ignoring it, but if there is a rough spot in the flight, you remember that that parachute is under the seat, and you relax and smile. Is this how you treat Jesus, as a parachute under your seat for possible future emergencies?
But instead, imagine that as soon as you get into the air, the pilot tells you that there is a problem and that the plane will crash when he tries to land, but that the crash will probably be in a few hours and that there is a parachute under your seat which you will use and the flight attendants will explain how to use. I suspect that you would get that parachute out from under your seat, put it on the seat beside you, read the directions over every 10 minutes, ask the flight attendants several pointed questions about the operation, test the straps, and generally act like you are planning to use that parachute to save your life – which it will. I expect that over the next few hours you would study that parachute closely, become an expert on that parachute, learning everything you possibly can about it, what it can do and what it can’t do, knowing exactly what you need to do for this to work, because you knew that you would be using that parachute very soon. When you have to jump, you want to know it works.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Another promise. If you plan to have eternal life, there is only one way – Jesus Christ. He is the only parachute we have and He is the only door into Heaven. If you want to survive the plane crash that is life, you will need to understand Jesus, what He asks of you, and what He will do for you.
Jesus told his disciples to Go to all people, baptizing them and teaching them all that He has commanded. And He would be with them to the end of the age. Another promise He made. But a conditional promise. We do these things and He is with us. It is conditional.
If the disciples have been commanded to baptize people and teaching them Jesus’ commands, these must be important. Have you been baptized? Do you know and follow all the commands of Jesus? Why do you suppose those commands are there? Are they optional? Why do you think the Bible includes all of these commands we see about how to live a holy life if they are optional?
The answer: They are important. Jesus wants followers, not people who keep a parachute under their seat. You see, God’s plan was to change the entire world, not just to give you eternal life. And we have been invited to join in that mission, to change the world, to help recreate a world which is filled with followers of Christ. Imagine, God has invited you and me to change the world – we provide the physical bodies, God provides the power. That’s what it means to be a follower of Christ! It means God works through us and changes things!
You know, I worked at some interesting jobs and I worked at some jobs that were plain dull. But nothing beats the Boss I’m working for today, because God gives me the freedom to work on really important problems, with great people, and God backs me up with all the resources I need – as long as I’m doing what God wants done. And God is always there in the form of the Holy Spirit to give me advice when I need it. What better Boss could you ever have? What better job could you have?
And God will train you to be holy through your work for God. Because making the world holy is part of the work – perhaps the most important part of the work. And making the world holy only happens when people follow Jesus and begin to act holy like He did.
Ask yourself this question: Would you rather live out your old age and have your children and grandchildren live in a world that was run by ISIS? Or would you rather have a world that is filled with people devoted to following Jesus, to imitating Jesus, to loving their neighbors, to lifting each other up?
Who do you want working in your nursing home? People who are working there because it is a job – or people who are there because they have a Holy Spirit-given calling for old people, because when they were young, they learned about God and Jesus and they learned to read the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit because they saw your holiness and decided that they wanted that peace and joy and beautiful niceness that radiated from you?
“But Pastor, becoming holy is hard work and I’m not holy.”
Of course it is hard work. Of course you're not holy. So what? It is what Christ asks of us.
The hardest part about becoming holy is recognizing that our personal holiness is both necessary and that we cannot become holy without bending the knee to Jesus. Getting down on your knees is the hardest work in the world – much harder than getting up off your knees.
Is your language coarse? Pray to Jesus to help you control those words.
Are you brutally honest with people? Pray to Jesus to give you words that are more effective, still honest, and which don’t hurt people.
Do you gossip or say negative things about people behind their backs? Pray that Jesus will make you aware of when you start down that path and that He will help you shut up!
Do you lose your temper easily? Pray that Jesus will show you how to pity those you are angry at.
Do you have an unhealthy habit? Ask Jesus to take away your need for that drug, that food, that behavior.
Jesus will grant these prayers – if you truly desire them – for Jesus has promised to help us to live lives that are not only eternal, but abundant, full of blessings, and it is when we follow Christ and begin to live a holy life that we become blessed. Following Jesus leads to holiness. Holiness leads to an abundant life. And it is only because He loves us so much – that He loved us so much he died for us – it is only because of this that we can become holy.
This is how we become holy- by asking Christ for help. And that is how we follow the commands of Jesus – by asking Christ for help. And that is how we one day find ourselves living in a world filled with people who “stand firm in the Lord”. This is how we find that God turns us from people who hear about Jesus to people who volunteer for Jesus’ work and then into people who God trusts to carry on God’s work part-time and then full-time and then one day we find that God is letting us work on God’s mission full-time and ow we are doing the most joyful, most fulfilling, happiest work in the world even though we were once students and homemakers and workers and farmers!
And now about you. Are you ready to let go, believe the promises of God and Jesus that you will be given an abundant life, and let Jesus lead you to holiness so you can help change the world? Are you ready to become a true follower instead of a person with a parachute? Are you ready for an abundant life?
Is your language coarse? Pray to Jesus to help you control those words.
Are you brutally honest with people? Pray to Jesus to give you words that are more effective, still honest, and which don’t hurt people.
Do you gossip or say negative things about people behind their backs? Pray that Jesus will make you aware of when you start down that path and that He will help you shut up!
Do you lose your temper easily? Pray that Jesus will show you how to pity those you are angry at.
Do you have an unhealthy habit? Ask Jesus to take away your need for that drug, that food, that behavior.
Jesus will grant these prayers – if you truly desire them – for Jesus has promised to help us to live lives that are not only eternal, but abundant, full of blessings, and it is when we follow Christ and begin to live a holy life that we become blessed. Following Jesus leads to holiness. Holiness leads to an abundant life. And it is only because He loves us so much – that He loved us so much he died for us – it is only because of this that we can become holy.
This is how we become holy- by asking Christ for help. And that is how we follow the commands of Jesus – by asking Christ for help. And that is how we one day find ourselves living in a world filled with people who “stand firm in the Lord”. This is how we find that God turns us from people who hear about Jesus to people who volunteer for Jesus’ work and then into people who God trusts to carry on God’s work part-time and then full-time and then one day we find that God is letting us work on God’s mission full-time and ow we are doing the most joyful, most fulfilling, happiest work in the world even though we were once students and homemakers and workers and farmers!
And now about you. Are you ready to let go, believe the promises of God and Jesus that you will be given an abundant life, and let Jesus lead you to holiness so you can help change the world? Are you ready to become a true follower instead of a person with a parachute? Are you ready for an abundant life?
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