Luke 13: 31-35, “Today, tomorrow, and on the third day I must be on my way!”
Today is the second Sunday of Lent, and we would like to reflect on Christ’s journey to the cross by meditating together on Luke 13:31-35. If we read Luke 13, Jesus taught about repentance, the kingdom of God, salvation, and healing people while he was on his way to Jerusalem to die! The purpose of Jesus’ going to Jerusalem was to die. We work, make trips, and do things to live. We go to Springfield or Saint Louis to have surgeries or get treatments to live. But here, we see a man who is purposefully going to Jerusalem to die out of love for us.
Verse 31, there were some Pharisees who warned Jesus of Herod’s intention of killing him. We do not know whether Herod intended to kill Jesus for sure, but one thing we know is that Herod or the Pharisees did not want Jesus to go to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission. They wanted to scare him away from going to Jerusalem. Herod was a Tetrarch ruling Galilee and Perea in Jesus’ time. Without going through Herod’s jurisdiction, Jesus could not go to Jerusalem. In this context, warning Jesus to go away from Herod was to discourage Jesus from going to Jerusalem, to thwart his purpose. That is what enemies do: discourage and thwart God’s purpose. If Jesus had not been on the path to Jerusalem to fulfill what God wanted him to fulfill, they would not have bothered Jesus. Because Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem to die, enemies tried everything to discourage him from doing that.
Likewise, enemies will do anything to discourage and frustrate us if we are on the right path doing what God wants us to do. If we want to focus on God fulfilling God’s mission, satan will try everything to discourage that. Satan’s attempt to scare us away from being on the right path might come in the form of threatening our livelihood, losing jobs, or the happenings of misfortunate incidents or betrayal of trusted friends or supporters. If enemies use our circumstances, situations or people to discourage us, we ought to know we are on the right path, doing what God wants us to do. If we sit back and do not do much for God, our enemies will not bother us. If you are attacked by satan, that means you are approved by God, being on the right track!! I mentioned my mentor last week, who was kicked out of her house because of her faith in Jesus. Her husband did not want her to go to church. She was forced to choose between Jesus or her husband. It was difficult to leave her children behind, who were crying for their mom. She could not bring her children with her because she had nowhere else to go with her children. She left the house with a plea to God, “God, please remember their cries!” Many people in the world are persecuted. Some are crucified on the tree; they are forced to choose between God and their life on earth. If we are determined to serve the Lord, we must focus on God, not the strong winds or billowy waves that threaten to swallow us. It will pass! If Jesus is with us in the boat which might appear to be on the verge of sinking low into the water due to strong winds and overwhelming waves, we will reach our destination regardless!!!
Vs. 32, when Jesus heard the Pharisees’ warning, he replied, “Go and tell that fox for me, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.” Do we notice here that for Jesus, it starts with today, tomorrow, and then the third day? There is no “yesterday” here! Do we know that for Jesus, “yesterday” does not matter? No matter how bad, wicked, and horrible sinners we had been “yesterday,” it does not matter with Jesus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, extorting money from his people. His yesterday did not matter to him, however. It is today that matters to Jesus. I will stay at your house today, Jesus said to him. Mary Magdalene was a seven-demon possessed woman. Seven is a complete number in the Jewish context. That means she was thoroughly evil and filthy, a prostitute. Yet, her yesterday did not matter to Jesus when she was repentant. She was the first person who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Likewise, our “yesterday” does not matter, no matter how shameful our past might have been.
By the same token, our glorious “yesterday” does not matter with God either, if we do not live “today” for God. I met many people who loved to talk about how they used to have a good relationship with God and how much they had done for God. Ezekiel 33:12, “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing.” If we do not live “today” for God, being obedient to God today, our former righteousness will count for nothing.
Another important thing we ought to notice here in vs. 32 is that Jesus cast out demons and healed people today and tomorrow before he faced the third day, his death– the ultimate deliverance and healing for humanity. If we are in Christ, we ought to carry out his work of delivering people from the grasp of satan and heal the sick today and tomorrow until our third day approaches. Many people out there in the world need to be rescued. We are to heal, deliver, and bring them to Jesus by praying for them. If we are followers of Christ, we must carry out his mission faithfully.
Lastly, vs. 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! Do we hear Jesus’ sorrowful cries over Jerusalem? Jesus came from heaven to save humans from the damnation we all face, if it weren’t for Jesus’ sacrifice and his death. He wanted to gather the humans he created under his wings as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, to save humanity from the hellfire that is burning in eternity.
The forest fire had been brought under control, and the firefighters were working back through the devastation to ensure all the hot spots had been extinguished. As they marched across the blackened landscape between the wisps of smoke still rising from the smoldering remains, a large lump on the trail caught a firefighter’s eye. As he got closer, he noticed it was the charred remains of a large bird, that had burned nearly halfway through. Since birds can so easily fly away from the approaching flames, the firefighter wondered what must have been wrong with this bird that it could not escape. Had it been sick or injured?
Arriving at the carcass, he decided to kick it off the trail with his boot. However, as soon as he did, he was startled half to death by a flurry of activity around his feet. Four little birds flailed in the dust and ash then scurried away down the hillside. The bulk of the mother’s body had covered them from the searing flames. Though the heat was enough to consume her, it allowed her babies to find safety underneath. She had stayed with her young in the face of the rising flames. She was their only hope for safety, and willing to risk her own life, she gathered them under her body and covered them with herself. Even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment, when she could easily have flown away, she made herself stay through the raging flames.
Knowing that He is the only hope humans have, Jesus died on the cross, bleeding to death, yet Jerusalem refused to come under His wings to be saved. How about you and me, have we come under His wings who wants to gather us in his everlasting safety. I hope and pray that we can hear Jesus’ cries over the city of Gillespie, ‘Gillespie, Gillespie, how I longed to gather you under my wings as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! Yet you are not willing!’
If we have come under his wings, what about those who have not yet come under his wings? What do we do for them? For your parents, children, grandchildren, relatives, neighbors? Jesus gave up all for our salvation, but so few found refuge under his wings. Jesus asks us, what are you going to do about it? I gave all for you, but what do you do for me?
