Lent 2 (Year C)

24-2-2013

Pastor Lester Priebbenow

A Willing Saviour for An Unwilling People

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you."

32 He replied, "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!

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.'"

We all know how difficult it is to get a person to do something that he or she is not willing to do.

For example, if children do not want to eat their vegetables or join in some activity, they will let you know in various ways that they unwilling. Or if people are unwilling to get involved in the life of the church, they likely to resist any attempt to make them.

The Bible reminds us that, as sinful people, we are all naturally unwilling children of God. We are an unwilling people. God wants us to be involved with him, to feed upon his word and to live daily in his presence, but we are, by nature, unwilling and unable to follow him. In stark contrast to our unwillingness, we have a Saviour who is constantly willing to call sinners to himself and show us his saving love.

When Jesus travelled among the towns and villages of Israel on his way up to Jerusalem, where he knew he would be crucified, he encountered the unwillingness of human hearts. King Herod was unwilling to have him in his territory, and the Pharisees were unwilling to have him out and about among the people ministering to their needs and bringing them the good news of God's Kingdom of grace. Together, it seems, they had hatched some sort of plan to lure Jesus out of Herod's territory as quickly as possible and into Jerusalem where he could be handed over to the authorities. Luke tells us: At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, 'Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you' (31). The Pharisees were unwilling to admit to the truth; that it was they who wanted Jesus 'out of the way'.

Why were Herod and the Pharisees both unwilling to accept the presence of the Saviour in their midst? He made them uncomfortable. He showed up their hypocrisy. Jesus immediately recognized, in the Pharisees' request, both the cunning of Herod and the rebellion of Israel's own religious leaders. In reference to King Herod, he replied: Go and tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal' (32). In other words: "I intend to keep doing just what I'm doing."

In reference to the cunning attempt of the Pharisees to get him to Jerusalem as quickly as possible, Jesus replied: For surely, no prophet can die outside Jerusalem (33). In other words: "The religious leaders have done the same with all the prophets God sent beforehand; they have refused to listen to their message and in most cases have ordered them to be killed."

Jesus now openly laments over the spiritual condition of Jerusalem: O 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, but you were not willing! (34).

God had been willing, time and again, to accept his failing people back; to hide them in the shelter of his wings, but they stubbornly refused. They had been unwilling to hear his gracious call to repentance and spiritual safety. They had been unwilling to be fed and watered by his saving Word; therefore there was only one alternative. Jesus told the Pharisees, "Look, your house is left to you desolate (dry, barren and empty). I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'."

Like a parent telling his children that as long as they remain unwilling to eat their vegetables, there will be no dessert, Jesus warns the spiritual leaders of Jerusalem, "You will be cut off from my saving presence unless (or until) you are willing to believe in your heart and confess with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord. You will remain spiritually dry, barren and empty until you are willing join the confession of the Palm Sunday crowds, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (v.35 & Psalm 118:26)

As Christians, are we sometimes unwilling to be in the presence of Jesus because it makes us feel uncomfortable? We don't want to be the odd ones out. We might have to accept some big changes in our lives. Our human nature might prefer that Jesus kept in the distance.

As Christians, do you think that Jesus sometimes weeps over us, as he did Jerusalem? Does he weep about the way we treat his Word? We are privileged to have our own copy of the Bible and unlimited devotional material to help us understand it, but are we willing to read it? Does he weep over the way we treat his prophets? God's spokesmen spend hours in prayer and preparation for a service with which to feed our souls and we dismiss it with a casual, "I'm too busy or too tired to go to that service or Bible study."

In Philippians 3, St. Paul said he often wept over once-saved, Christian people who now 'live as enemies of the cross of Christ' because 'their mind is on earthly things' (Philippians 3:18-19). Their house was also left desolate and empty because they were unwilling to live in the daily presence of their Saviour, with their hearts and minds fixed on their heavenly goal, provided by Jesus.
In contrast to this picture of an unwilling people, Jesus presents himself as an ever-willing Saviour. He understands the cunning ways our human nature finds to try to avoid his presence on territory we like to call 'our own'. Even though he is hurt when we reject him, and weeps over our unwillingness to come to him, he still determines to come to us with his message of deliverance and salvation.

When the Pharisees tried to get Jesus to leave the towns and villages where he was, he promised to keep ministering deliverance to people who were sick and possessed by demons, and to press on toward his goal of dying on the cross for the salvation of all people.

Likewise, he promises to remain among us and minister his help to us in the time of our greatest need. He does not neglect us, but promises to remain with us, always a few days longer than we deserve. He willingly allows us to keep hearing the message about his cross and his eternal deliverance from, sin, death and the power of the devil.

Even though he spoke his word of Judgement to the Pharisees about their constant rejection of him, and concluded, "Look, your house is left to you desolate," he also told them how he still longs to gather them under his wings. He weeps for them. He wants them to come close to him. Jesus even concluded his comments with a Gospel promise; that there was still hope for those who would turn from their rebellion and join in the confession of the Palm Sunday crowds, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

In the same way, while Jesus warns us about his judgement and the eternal desolation of those who remain unwilling to his live in grace, he still longs to gather us under his care like a hen gathering her chickens under her wings. He constantly calls us to daily repentance for our unwillingness to live in his presence. He calls us to see him again with the eyes of faith. He calls us to be ever-willing and ever-ready to confess, with those Palm Sunday crowds, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

May this Lenten season be a time of reflection and repentance for all of us about the unwillingness that is naturally in our human hearts, to live in Christ, to be drawn to him, and to hear his Word.

May it also be a time of meditation on the willingness of our gracious Saviour to die for us, to forgive our sins, to draw us to him, to minister his help and hope among us and to eternally bless each one of us who calls upon the name of Christ in faith, in prayer and in worship. Amen!