Aren't the Pharisees supposed to be the bad guys? Not the only bad guys of course, but line them up with the Sadducees, the priests, the elders, the scribes, the other leaders. They, collectively, the Jewish leadership, are those who opposed Jesus.
Yet, in the lead-in to our passage, the Pharisees are warning Jesus about Herod. At least, some of them are. We know not all the leaders were against Jesus from other passages. We know Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to Jesus in the night in John 3. We know of Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin-the ruling council- is the individual who goes to Pilate to claim the body of Jesus after His crucifixion. In John 19, both men are mentioned in the burying of Jesus.
We also know that there are debates that go on amongst the leadership. Jesus is popular with them until he pushes too far; for example, over rules for Sabbath-keeping.
Jesus, at this moment, is on his way, town by village, teaching and preaching and doing what Jesus does, to Jerusalem. It was at this very hour, according to verse 35, that the Pharisees warn Him that Herod is after His life. And Jesus asks the Pharisees to go and tell that 'old fox' about what is to come, a prophecy about what we know as Holy Week.
Jesus laments over Jerusalem, the place where prophets sent to it are killed. Where He will be killed.
Jesus' death and resurrection needs to be understood from a couple of different perspectives here. On the one hand, there is a plan of God in operation, who so loved the world that God sent His only begotten Son.
But one of the hallmarks of Luke is that he take pains to lay out the human circumstances of what is going on. The implication is that these are the circumstances that God uses to achieve God's purpose. It is why the Christmas story starts with the Emperor. God picked the time, picked the Guy in Charge to do God's bidding to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
That human perspective is in our passage from Luke 13. Herod is conspiring to kill Jesus. He's already killed John the Baptist. We know from the historical record that he was a cruel and vicious individual when it came to any perceived threat to his personal status or authority. There are political forces at work, there are religious forces as work, it is frankly complicated. What Jesus is going, as he put it, 'casting out demons and performing cures', alongside his teaching and preaching, has gained favor not only with the people, but with some of the leadership as well.
At least enough for some of the Pharisees to warn Jesus about Herod's plans.
The takeaway might be that God's plans are clear but human circumstances are messy. But there is more to it than that. It is not just a 'takeaway'. Because people have been persecuted and killed because of a narrow, black and white evaluation of Jesus' death and resurrection.
People of the Jewish faith have been (and still are) persecuted by Christians. It may not be as obvious as it once was, but anti-Semitism is still very powerful in the hearts of many who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior. One of the justifications, the rationalizations for this behavior, from the earliest persecutions of Jews by Christians, is to willfully misinterpret the Bible to claim that 'the Jews killed Jesus'. Jews have been killed and their murder excused as retribution for Jesus' death. To this day, I have heard people comment "well, the Jews killed Jesus" to justify their own racist attitudes.
So, its a little thing, little more than a detail in the narrative, the Pharisees warning Jesus. But these details are important. Understanding the gospel is important. Because there is not a detail of our faith that cannot be pulled out of context, twisted out of any sense of recognition, and used to commit evil. If we have any doubt about what Jesus wanted, remember He forgave them from the cross, 'for they know not what they do'. But the same gospel that tells us of our assurance of faith, that tells us of our salvation in the death and resurrection in Jesus Christ, there have been some pretty twisted versions of that same Bible to be put out there.
That is why is it SO important that we know our bibles for ourselves. Because there are some truly bad people who will take the Bible to justify their evil actions, even 'in the name of Jesus'.
Peace,
Pastor Peter
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