At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:31-35)
Not all Pharisees hated Jesus. Obviously, there were some such as Nicodemus, and even within the Sanhedrin with people like Joseph of Arimathea, who later helped bury Jesus. Here we see that some Pharisees who were upright came to warn Jesus and sought to protect Him. But Jesus’ answer is rather interesting.
Tell That Fox
Jesus referred to Herod as a fox. Now this may seem like a major slight in which we’d wonder, how can Jesus do that while not sinning. William Barclay, a 20th century theologian, explained this well when he said, “To the Jew the fox was a symbol of three things. First it was regarded as the slyest of animals. Second, it was regarded as the most destructive of animals. Third, it was the symbol of a worthless and insignificant man.” (Barclay)
So yes, this address of calling Herod a fox is brutal, but it’s honest and making the people aware that Herod was sly, destructive, and insignificant. However, to call someone insignificant seems again, not like a God thing, right? But what Jesus was stating is that even in all of Herod’s power and desire to kill Jesus, Herod was completely insignificant when it came to Jesus fulfilling His ministry and mission of the cross, which would happen according to the Father’s timing.
This becomes clearer in the rest of what Jesus said – that He casts out demons, cures people, and that in the third day will finish His course. Jesus came to do the work of the Father and He was not only doing it, but nothing Herod could have done could have thwarted it; therefore Herod was insignificant.
Jerusalem’s Prophets
Jesus gets a bit ironic here as He says, “for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem”. We see in the very next sentence that Jerusalem is “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” Here Jesus is using irony to emphasize the point. The point isn’t that Jerusalem is just awful because it has killed their prophets though. The point is in Jesus’ next sentence, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Under the Wing
Jesus is heartbroken at their unwillingness to let God be the good Father He is over them and the protection and comfort He would have provided them the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings. The prophets sent to them spoke the very words of God and instead of heeding their words, they stoned them. That was a direct reflection of their heart, not towards the prophets themselves, but it was a reflection of their hearts towards God.
The way Jesus states “How often would I have gathered your children” is indicative that God desired to protect and comfort His people often even though the people weren’t responsive to allow it.
Adam Clarke, an 18th century pastor and bible scholar, gave great insight to this as well when he said, “When the hen sees a beast of prey coming, she makes a noise to assemble her chickens, that she may cover them with her wings from the danger. The Roman eagle is about to fall upon the Jewish state — nothing can prevent this but their conversion to God through Christ — Jesus cries throughout the land, publishing the gospel of reconciliation — they would not assemble, and the Roman eagle came and destroyed them.” (Clarke)
You Will Not See Me
The last thing Jesus said in this section is “Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Now this is two-fold because He indeed came back to Jerusalem after this where we read about the triumphal entry in Luke 19:
- As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:37-38)
That would be seeing Him with their physical eyes. With any spiritual eyes, they would not see Him until the prophecy of the end times comes to fulfillment where they will look upon Him and acknowledge Him as Messiah, which they didn’t do when He first came.
- And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great…(Zechariah 12:10-11a)
- Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
It’s important to realize that Jesus prefaced this with “your house is forsaken” and fully understand what He is saying here. There are false theologies that go around that Israel has been replaced because Jesus said things like “your house is forsaken” to them, but that’s not what He is saying here. That word for forsake means to let go, let be, to give up a thing. Jesus is saying that He tried to call them to Himself, and they weren’t willing to gather, so He is letting them be and therefore their house is empty without Him. Jesus is not abandoning Israel; He is simply leaving them to what they want in that moment but the time will come when they look upon Him whom they pierced and weep over not acknowledging Him sooner.
A Christ Follower’s Application
With all this being directed at Israel, what can we as followers of Jesus take away from this? We can glean several things –
- No matter how powerful, nothing can thwart the sovereignty of God
- Our sins are great, and yet God is willing to reconcile us to Himself and cover us with His wing
- We need to have ears to hear when God calls us and be willing to respond to Him
- Although we may be struck down at times, God never actually leaves or forsakes us; He always has good plans for us
Be encouraged today by God’s immense love for you and at the same time be challenged to tune into the voice of God more deeply, responding in obedience and worship to a great and mighty God who will never leave or forsake you!