Courage and Compassion

Second Sunday in Lent, C

February 24, 2013

Luke 13:31-35

Introduction

As we continue in our practice of our Lenten disciplines, we are preparing for our celebration of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we meditate on Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem.

I. The courage to do right

A. As Jesus was traveling from Galilee up to Jerusalem (v. 22), certain Pharisees came and gave Jesus a warning: "Go out and depart from hence; for Herod is minded to kill thee" (v. 31). At first, I thought that this was a death threat: Certainly the Pharisees and the Herodians have been allied against Jesus. For example, the Pharisees allied with the Herodians "to ensnare him in his talk" by asking him if it is lawful (or, more precisely, in accordance to halakah, Jewish law) to pay tribute to the Caesar.

But John Wesley, in his Notes Upon the New Testament, says that it was an expression of concern: "Possibly they gave him the caution out of good will." The Gospels also tell us that some Pharisees were hospitable to Jesus, such as Simon the Pharisee, who asked Jesus to eat at his house (Luke 7:36-ff.). These Pharisees were possibly saying, Do not proceed to Jerusalem or else Herod will kill you.

B. Here we see the courage of Jesus. He was not afraid of doing right--and ultimately, of fulfilling his mission--even with the prospect of death. Jesus said, "Go and tell that fox"--this Herod was Antipas, the one who had St. John the Baptizer beheaded. Jesus called the one who had his cousin killed, the one who is threatening him with death, a "fox": a coward!

1.      "Behold, I cast out devils..." By this Jesus said he will continue in his work of casting out demons from the demonized. Also, this may be a statement that he was not actually fighting against Antipas but the forces of darkness which are behind Antipas: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the world, of the darkness of this age, against wicked spirits in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11).

2.      "...and I do cures..." By this Jesus said that he will also continue his work of bringing healing to those who are sick.

3.      "...to day and to morrow; and the third day I am perfected." By this, Jesus may have meant a three-day journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. But ultimately, this may mean his Passion and Death, and his Resurrection on the third day. “But I must go on to day, and to morrow, and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (v. 33).

II. The compassion to be merciful

In spite of showing consummate courage in the face of death, Jesus expressed sorrow on the fate of Jerusalem. He wept, to for himself but for Jerusalem:

1. “How often would I have gathered thy children as a bird gathereth her brood under her wings…” Jesus used a very tender, even motherly, image of his love for the children of Jerusalem: as of a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. The Old Testament also shows the motherly love of God the Father: “As one who is comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13). How often God wants to gather us in with his love, but “ye would not!”

The Church of Dominus Flevit, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, which commemorates the Lord weeping over Jerusalem during the Triumphal Entry.

2. “Behold your house is left to you desolate…” During the Triumphal Entry, Jesus once more wept over Jerusalem:

And as her drew near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day the things for thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and press thee on every side, and shall dash thee against the ground, and thy children, that are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another: because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)

--All of this was fulfilled a mere forty years after the death of Jesus, when the Roman legions under the generalship of Vespasian and later under Titus, besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. (All of this is recorded in The Wars of the Jews by the Jewish historian, Josephus.)

A detail on the Arch of Titus in Rome; showing the sack of Jerusalem.

3. “…and verily, I say to you, Ye shall not see me, till the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” During the Triumphal entry, the Jews in Jerusalem cried, “Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord!” Yet, Jesus knew that he was not the Messiah they expect him to be: “O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day the things for thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes…. [B]ecause thou knewest not the time of thy visitation…. (Luke 19:41, 44).

            Lest we condemn the Jews of rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, we need to remember that all of us—Jew and Gentile—need to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, both to the Jew and to the Gentile. For the righteousness of God is revealed therein from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:16-17)

Conclusion: Justice and mercy

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus’ sense of both courage and compassion, justice and mercy. He was not afraid to do what is right; yet he has compassion on those who are lost. We must not lose sight of both justice and mercy: Unbridled justice can lead to oppression; untempered mercy can lead into lawlessness. During this Lenten season, let us go on in doing right; yet let us recognize that we are all in need of God’s mercy.