Does
anyone here think this Gospel reading might sound a little weird? I mean if you
listen to it…really listen to it. Some parts of it don’t seem to make sense.
For instance, let’s take the very beginning; Pharisees coming out to warn
Jesus! Up till now all we have heard is about how the Pharisees and Saduccees
are the bad guys. Remember that they are keepers of the law. And they don’t
want any attention brought to them by the Roman government…nor do they want
this guy, Jesus, bringing any attention to their religious laws and ways. So
are they acting out of caring or out of fear?
Let’s take a look at Jesus statement
to the Pharisees when they suggest he leave. They are telling him to get out
because they know what Herod is going to do to Jesus. Herod is the one who was
around when Jesus was born. He wanted to find this newborn King, but it was not
so Herod could congratulate him. Now Herod is still hearing about this Jesus
and still wants to get this Jesus and bring him down…and not in a polite way.
Herod wants to kill Jesus because, Jesus, is doing things that Herod could not;
Jesus is healing, sitting with the outcasts of society, forgiving people, and
teaching them about one who is more powerful than Herod. Jesus is showing
people the power, the blessings, and the gifts of God. He is showing them a God
that IS to be feared because of all the things God has done; but he is also
showing them that this powerful God is also full of compassion and love.
Now we have this whole statement
about Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jesus says, cannot kill a prophet outside the town.
He goes onto say that Jerusalem is a city known for killing its prophets and
“stones those who are sent to it.” Jesus has some first-hand knowledge about
this. Remember just several weeks ago, we heard the Gospel reading that when he
finished reading in the Synagogue, the people took him out of the temple and to
a cliff where he simply walked away. Jesus is not naming specific people in
this Gospel. He is not saying that JOB or Zechariah, or Bob & Tom did
things, but he is saying Jerusalem. In a way, he is making Jerusalem a
character in his statement; as if Jerusalem were a person. That, too, can make
this Gospel reading a little weird.
There is a lot that we can gain from
this reading. First of all, we can look at these Pharisees as people who care.
Sure we could say that they were looking out for themselves. We could also say
that there were some of these Pharisees who believed in Jesus…who cared for
Jesus. How can I say that, its because we know the overall story of Jesus
through our scripture. We know that Jesus transformed people. God sent a son
into the world so that people would know that God cares. God sent Jesus into
the world to transforms hearts, minds, and lives to know that God is not off in
some distant world but in the here and now; to see how broken the world really
is.
Jesus calls Herod a Fox. Jesus tells
the Pharisees to go tell Herod that he is not afraid. In fact, he tells them
“go and tell Herod that I am curing and casting out demons. Jesus knows that
Herod feels threatened about losing his power. Jesus knows that Herod wants to
take out this threat to what Herod believed was HIS god given right to power
and authority. Jesus also knew who had power and authority over God’s people;
that God is the one with authority over all that God had created.
And now Jesus goes after Jerusalem;
calling it the city that kills its prophets and stones them.. It is ironic to
note that the name of the city, Jerusalem, gets the last part of its name,
“salem,” from the word Shalom which means “peace.” This city of peace is now
being called a city of killing. Why would that be? It is because we know where
- and Jesus knows where- He will be in the next few weeks. Jesus knows that the
Son of man will be handed over in the city of Jerusalem to suffer on the cross.
He knows that the people will finally recognize him when he comes back to the
city and acknowledging Jesus as “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.” This city…this character known as Jerusalem has a role to play in God’s
ultimate display of love and compassion for a fallen people…a broken people;
That display of love and compassion will come in the form of God’s only son
hanging on the cross…for you and for me.
So what does all this have to do
with us? If we look at these three characters we may be able to see glimpses of
ourselves and our world. How do we feel about Jesus? There are some people in
this world that see Jesus purely as insurance; almost like a life insurance
policy. They see Jesus in the sense that, “I better do what Jesus says so that
I can get into heaven; or I can say I like Jesus and I will do what I want
because Jesus has to love me; I won’t worry about his little sin until the
end…then I will take care of it and all will be well.” There are people who
intentionally try to follow Jesus in every way shape and form. They try so hard
to live as scripture says. They might read this first part of the Gospel and
say “Jesus please get out of town because I don’t like where this story leads
to. I know this is what is supposed to happen but God I would like a different
outcome.”
We may at any given time and place
have all these feelings. We are human and sometimes we get so concerned about
our own situation that we can get consumed by compassion, fear, lack of
confidence, over-confident, power, success and all these can affect our
judgement, at any point in time. We can even be Jerusalem. We can want this
place to be a city of peace. We can want this place to be the place where one
goes to find God’s deepest love and compassion. Yet, we can feel the sting of
sin. We can feel it or be the delivery mechanism of the sting of sin in our
words and our actions; we say things that hurt one another, sometimes
unintentionally and sometimes intentionally. We do things in our lives to
preserve our own interests at times and to make sure we get what we want. We
are all capable of it because we are human. We are broken and can we can find
easy excuses to try and justify our brokenness.
But it does not have to be this way.
Let us hear Jesus words to the Pharisees, “Go tell that fox that I am curing
diseases and casting out demons, today, tomorrow, and the third day I finish my
work.” Remember this three days that he is talking about. In these days Jesus
is telling us that although we live in a broken world, we don’t have to let
that be our reason for doing things. Jesus is telling us that God is the one
who has all the power and authority; the power to create and the authority to
make judgement. God shows the power of grace in allowing us to make our
mistakes and the God shows the power to forgive in that God’s only Son went to
the cross for you and for me; showing us that we are loved and forgiven.
God calls us all to share that Good
News of love and forgiveness. In those times when we are angry or hurt, God is
there…God’s Son is there on a cross to show us that just as we are forgiven, we
can forgive others. God is here, through the cross, to show us that we can do
the difficult thing to seek forgiveness. God is here show us that we are cared
for, not forgotten, and that we are special to God. God is also here to show us
that everyone has value because it is God who created us all.
So, as we continue through these 40
days of Lent, let us reflect on the power to be forgiven and forgive…to be
loved and to love…to share all God’s blessings with one another in all that we
do: AMEN
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