The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year C (Lent 2) – February 28, 2010
Also written for the Opponents of Christ Series
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
I don’t want to produce any kind of paranoia by asking this question…
but, have you ever been around anyone that wish you any kind of harm?
Weather it was in a job, or in a group of others in the community… have you ever been in the situation, where you were asked questions, or where you were tested in order to trip you up, or make you say something that you would probably later regret?
It’s a game that politicians sometimes play, as they make their ploy for office… they just lay back waiting on their opponent to make a mistake, so that they can pounce, and point out the opponents shortcomings, trying to make themselves look good… The “muck-slinging” goes on in political speeches and even ads in the media. I for one am so glad that it’s not an election year, so I don’t have to hear such mess.
The Pharisees in today’s gospel are busy doing just that… they are busy following around Jesus, hanging on his every word, asking him questions and trying to trip him up… waiting for Jesus to make a mistake and say something that would enable them to back him into a corner, so that they could once and for all end his sudden rise to popularity among the people and his perceived rise to power – that was surely upsetting the status quo… but this time, they try to look like the good guys, as they warn Jesus of Herod’s murderous wishes…
So we are talking about two groups here… like so many of these types of groups that existed in first century Israel… Jesus and his friends and followers making up the inner group, and Herod and his supporters making up the outer group (of which the Pharisees are definitely a part)…
Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great… Antipas – the one who was chastised by John the Baptist for unlawfully divorcing his wife and then taking his late brother Phillip’s wife for his wife… A political “yes man” when it comes to dealing with the Roman government, that had control of the region at the time, and even worked for them as a client of state.
Herod liked his status and power, but he was paranoid, and scared that someone would take away his throne. So, he feared anyone that stirred things up in the region… Especially a dynamic preacher like Jesus of Nazareth. He had murdered John the Baptist for stirring up things, surely he would be out to kill Jesus… because he saw Jesus as an immediate political threat, upsetting the status quo in the whole region…
But when Jesus is warned by the Pharisees about Herod, his response is somewhat surprising… Not at all phased by what the Pharisees had to say about Herod wanting to kill him… says “go tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work…’”
It sounds almost sarcastic or ‘in your face’ – somewhat different from the Jesus “meek and mild” that we sometimes picture in our heads… but THERE is the teaching point. Jesus is trying to point out that his work is not done yet, and that NO ONE, not even Herod, with whatever power he thought he had, was going to keep him from finishing what he came to this earth to do. And Jesus calls him a fox… Herod the fox… who is Herod Antipas anyway, to threaten Jesus?
Then in a most interesting use of metaphor, in a lament over Jerusalem, Jesus compares himself to a hen that gathers her brood (the children of Jerusalem) under her wings.
Herod – the outsider – the fox – the aggressor
Jesus – the insider – the hen – the protector
The fox and the hen are natural enemies, one depends on the other for food, and the other tries to protect her young, even if it means laying down her life…
Herod, the fox, is a true opponent of Jesus… an enemy, in fear that Jesus is making so much ruckus, that his cushy set-up with the Romans is going to be disturbed. So much in fear that the Pharisees know what measures he will take to safeguard his throne… up to and including murder…
Today there is a fox in the hen house… we need to stop for a minute and think about what that means to Jesus and his ministry… Jesus knew he wasn’t finished, and had places to go and people to see… teaching to do, so that more folks to hear the good news and come to believe the way of life and truth that he was advocating… a life bound to and dependant on the One True Living God.
Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem, where he will ride in on a donkey and be welcomed with palm branches laid at his feet and people shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” but he isn’t there yet because his work is not finished.
I have often said that Lent is a season of self examination. A time when we do some inward looking at who we are and who’s we are, so that we can capture and own our “true identity” as children of God. Part of that “capture” of our true identity, is learning how to be who God made us to be, and develop a genuine personae without any kind of façade. To put away our façades that are based on fears of what we feel other people will think… so that we can be free to do Christ’s work in the world.
There are “Herods” in our life that enjoy their cushy positions of perceived power, that threaten the growth of the ministry of Jesus Christ… because it will upset the status quo and disrupt the way it has always been done… but, like Jesus, that shouldn’t keep us from doing what God has called us to do, from being who God has called us to be, and from going about doing the ministry of healing and casting out demons that needs to be done.
It doesn’t mean that we can’t be our real selves and own our true identity as children of the One True Living God.
Today there is a fox in the hen house… but we are blessed enough to be part of the brood… The brood that is gathered under the wings of our comforter, and our protector, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year C (Lent 2) – February 28, 2010
Also written for the Opponents of Christ Series
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
I don’t want to produce any kind of paranoia by asking this question…
but, have you ever been around anyone that wish you any kind of harm?
Weather it was in a job, or in a group of others in the community… have you ever been in the situation, where you were asked questions, or where you were tested in order to trip you up, or make you say something that you would probably later regret?
It’s a game that politicians sometimes play, as they make their ploy for office… they just lay back waiting on their opponent to make a mistake, so that they can pounce, and point out the opponents shortcomings, trying to make themselves look good… The “muck-slinging” goes on in political speeches and even ads in the media. I for one am so glad that it’s not an election year, so I don’t have to hear such mess.
The Pharisees in today’s gospel are busy doing just that… they are busy following around Jesus, hanging on his every word, asking him questions and trying to trip him up… waiting for Jesus to make a mistake and say something that would enable them to back him into a corner, so that they could once and for all end his sudden rise to popularity among the people and his perceived rise to power – that was surely upsetting the status quo… but this time, they try to look like the good guys, as they warn Jesus of Herod’s murderous wishes…
So we are talking about two groups here… like so many of these types of groups that existed in first century Israel… Jesus and his friends and followers making up the inner group, and Herod and his supporters making up the outer group (of which the Pharisees are definitely a part)…
Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great… Antipas – the one who was chastised by John the Baptist for unlawfully divorcing his wife and then taking his late brother Phillip’s wife for his wife… A political “yes man” when it comes to dealing with the Roman government, that had control of the region at the time, and even worked for them as a client of state.
Herod liked his status and power, but he was paranoid, and scared that someone would take away his throne. So, he feared anyone that stirred things up in the region… Especially a dynamic preacher like Jesus of Nazareth. He had murdered John the Baptist for stirring up things, surely he would be out to kill Jesus… because he saw Jesus as an immediate political threat, upsetting the status quo in the whole region…
But when Jesus is warned by the Pharisees about Herod, his response is somewhat surprising… Not at all phased by what the Pharisees had to say about Herod wanting to kill him… says “go tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work…’”
It sounds almost sarcastic or ‘in your face’ – somewhat different from the Jesus “meek and mild” that we sometimes picture in our heads… but THERE is the teaching point. Jesus is trying to point out that his work is not done yet, and that NO ONE, not even Herod, with whatever power he thought he had, was going to keep him from finishing what he came to this earth to do. And Jesus calls him a fox… Herod the fox… who is Herod Antipas anyway, to threaten Jesus?
Then in a most interesting use of metaphor, in a lament over Jerusalem, Jesus compares himself to a hen that gathers her brood (the children of Jerusalem) under her wings.
Herod – the outsider – the fox – the aggressor
Jesus – the insider – the hen – the protector
The fox and the hen are natural enemies, one depends on the other for food, and the other tries to protect her young, even if it means laying down her life…
Herod, the fox, is a true opponent of Jesus… an enemy, in fear that Jesus is making so much ruckus, that his cushy set-up with the Romans is going to be disturbed. So much in fear that the Pharisees know what measures he will take to safeguard his throne… up to and including murder…
Today there is a fox in the hen house… we need to stop for a minute and think about what that means to Jesus and his ministry… Jesus knew he wasn’t finished, and had places to go and people to see… teaching to do, so that more folks to hear the good news and come to believe the way of life and truth that he was advocating… a life bound to and dependant on the One True Living God.
Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem, where he will ride in on a donkey and be welcomed with palm branches laid at his feet and people shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” but he isn’t there yet because his work is not finished.
I have often said that Lent is a season of self examination. A time when we do some inward looking at who we are and who’s we are, so that we can capture and own our “true identity” as children of God. Part of that “capture” of our true identity, is learning how to be who God made us to be, and develop a genuine personae without any kind of façade. To put away our façades that are based on fears of what we feel other people will think… so that we can be free to do Christ’s work in the world.
There are “Herods” in our life that enjoy their cushy positions of perceived power, that threaten the growth of the ministry of Jesus Christ… because it will upset the status quo and disrupt the way it has always been done… but, like Jesus, that shouldn’t keep us from doing what God has called us to do, from being who God has called us to be, and from going about doing the ministry of healing and casting out demons that needs to be done.
It doesn’t mean that we can’t be our real selves and own our true identity as children of the One True Living God.
Today there is a fox in the hen house… but we are blessed enough to be part of the brood… The brood that is gathered under the wings of our comforter, and our protector, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment