WWUTT 2421 Jesus Laments Over Jerusalem (Luke 13:31-35)

Even though the Pharisees hated Jesus and the Jews wanted to stone him, nonetheless, Jesus loved Jerusalem, and he wished that they would repent and come to him, as we also must when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem and the Threat from Herod

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we are finishing up Chapter 13 today with Jesus' lament over Jerusalem. It's oddly placed in Luke's Gospel. We'll consider some things about that.

First let's read verses 31 to 35, hear the word of the Lord. At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, 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. And it's that section right there, verses 34 and 35, this lament that Jesus makes over Jerusalem that has an odd placement in Luke's Gospel.

It's here at the end of chapter 13, whereas in Matthew's Gospel it appears in chapter 23, after the triumphal entry. Here in Luke's Gospel Jesus hasn't even come to Jerusalem yet. That's not until chapter 19.

Now he is going to make a lament over Jerusalem in chapter 19, but it's worded different than this lament that we have right here. This lament is almost word for word like the lament in Matthew's Gospel, but in Matthew Jesus makes that lament after the triumphal entry, which happens first.

Jesus teaches in the temple. He gives the woes to the Pharisees, and then there's that lament. So it's even like days after the triumphal entry has occurred, when Jesus gives this lament over Jerusalem.

Why is it that Matthew puts it there, whereas Luke has it days before Jesus even gets to Jerusalem? Even before the triumphal entry, did Jesus say it twice? Did he say it once before he got to Jerusalem, and then he said it again as he was departing Jerusalem?

That's a possibility. I think we can present some other theories here that we might mull over together. And it's okay for us to make theories about this. Theory is the right word, because as I was looking at some different commentaries, it's obvious that there's not a universal consensus on this.

Like I read, I don't know what it was, four or five different commentaries, and I got four or five different opinions regarding this placement of this passage in this spot. There was one commentary I read that made an assumption that I think I can very easily.

Dismiss.

I'll tell you about that here in a moment. But you'll notice that this section is broken up into two parts. First, you have a warning that Jesus says to give to Herod, and then secondly, you have the lament over Jerusalem.

So let's start with Jesus' response to the Pharisees on what to say to Herod. Verse 31, at that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. So let's understand a couple of things first.

What hour is this at that very hour? And then secondly, where are they? That Jesus would be told, get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. So remember that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. That started back in chapter 9, where it says that Jesus turned his face to go to Jerusalem.

He is now in the closing days of his earthly ministry. He's going to Jerusalem to do as he had said to his disciples, as he will say to his disciples again later on here in what we're reading. He said to his disciples that he was going to go and be arrested, and he was going to be put to death, but he's going to rise again on the third day.

So that's what he's going to accomplish. This is the completion of the will of the Father. What the Father had sent the Son to do were in those last days of Jesus' earthly ministry before we get to what we call Passion Week, Christ's Passion, his coming to die on the cross and to rise again from the dead.

And then Luke is the first gospel to include Jesus' ascension into heaven as well. So we'll get to that at the close of this gospel. But in the meantime, we're heading in that way. We're going that direction to Jerusalem.

Back in verse 22, so this would have been not last week, but the week before, I skipped a week in devotions, forgive me for that, but it was in verse 22 where it was said that Jesus went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

So Luke is reminding us here that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and he's stopping in various towns and villages. The Pharisees know that's his orientation. He has oriented himself toward Jerusalem.

That's where he's journeying. He's probably said something to the people around him. Where are you headed? What are you doing? I'm going to Jerusalem. Maybe that's even been included in his teaching somewhere.

So the Pharisees are trying to stop him. They're trying to stop him from going to Jerusalem. Remember that the Pharisees are jealous of Jesus. The people listen to him. They don't really want him there.

Like why would the Pharisees be trying to stop Jesus if he's going to go and die? Isn't that what they want? They want Herod to put Jesus to death. So really they're saying this to stop Jesus from going there.

It could be true that Herod was trying to kill him. It could be that the Pharisees were just making this up to try to stop Jesus. Either way, it doesn't really matter. But the threat here is that, hey, Herod wants to kill you now.

So if Jesus got wind that the Pharisees want to put him to death, he knows what's on the heart of every man. The Pharisees have kind of been caught in that a few times where it seems like Jesus is reading their minds.

So maybe he knows what they want to do to him, but he's not intimidated by the Pharisees. Maybe we'll reference Herod. The wrath of Herod is upon you. It's the whole government that's against you now.

What are you going to do about that? Herod's got the ear of Pilate. He can be given authority over Roman soldiers. You won't even get near Jerusalem, and Herod can charge to put you to death. So maybe that's why the Pharisees are wording it in this way to stop Jesus from going there.

Jesus has been unintimidated by the Pharisees, and you can tell by his answer that he's not even intimidated by this threat of Herod either. He says to them in verse 32, go and tell that fox. So not just simply Herod, but even calls him a name, go and tell that fox.

A fox was a wily creature, one that's crafty, one that was not really associated with honesty. Just like a serpent or a snake would be associated with lies as it's associated with Satan. So a fox is associated with something crafty.

And so there's a deliberate meaning behind this word that Jesus uses to describe Herod. This shouldn't be read as an excuse to call people names if we want to. And I've heard some people use Jesus' response that way.

Well, he called Herod a fox, so I can call the president of the United States names. Well, actually, the book of Ecclesiastes warns us about doing such a thing because a little bird could carry the word to somebody else, and then you could be in big trouble for some of the words that you say.

So we need to be wise with that regard. We shouldn't be looking for excuses that we can be disparaging or cut somebody down or even use crass or disrespectful language. That's not appropriate for us to be able to do.

Jesus is king of kings. His response to the Pharisees to go and tell that fox is, again, to say that Jesus is not intimidated by Herod. It could very well be a message to the Pharisees. Yeah, you want to know how unthreatened I am by this thing that you've just said, trying to get me to go another route, trying to keep me away from Jerusalem and the crowds during Passover because surely they know that's why he's headed there and the time of the year that he is going there.

So Jesus is essentially saying to them, I'm not worried about Herod. You go and tell that fox, that crafty guy, the person who is trying to kill me, as you say, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow.

It's almost like you really think you're going to stop me? I don't think that's necessarily what Jesus has in mind. I don't know that that's what's behind his words, but to remind him of those things.

I mean, wouldn't that give Herod pause to say, OK, if he can cast out demons, then how is he going to stop me if he can perform cures? Then how can I harm him if he could just heal himself and not go down to the grave?

So Jesus is saying, matter of factly, I'm going to finish the will of the father. I'm going to accomplish what he has sent me to do. I'm doing that today and tomorrow. And on the third day, I finish my course.

That may or may not mean that he was just three days away from Jerusalem. It could also be a reference to on the third day I'm going to rise again. So Jesus is just employing irony here in the way that he's responding to the Pharisees.

The disciples, of course, would remember this and they would understand the significance of what Jesus means when he's saying this, though the people may not have understood what was being implied by that at this particular time.

But I'm going to cast out demons. I'm going to perform cures today and tomorrow. And then it's on the third day I will finish my course. In other words, no one's going to stop me. No one can stop me from what I am here to do and what I am going to Jerusalem to accomplish.

And Jesus' confidence is exhibited in this as well. I'm doing the will of the father and everything that I'm here to do will be accomplished. Herod's not going to stop it. Pilate's not going to stop it.

You're not going to stop it. So everything that Jesus has been set forth to do, he will do. I will finish my course on the third day. That's the day that Jesus will rise. That's the day that he conquers death itself.

So what can Herod do to him? Jesus is going to rise from the dead and that will be the day that he finishes his course. Now, we know that Jesus continued to teach even for 40 days after his resurrection, the disciples saw him before he ascended into heaven.

But as far as the work was concerned of his life, death and resurrection, that would be accomplished on the third day after his being put to death. So verse 33, still continuing this response to Herod, 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.

Now, it might look like here that Jesus is mistaken. I'm just saying it looks like I'm not saying that he is. All right. But Jesus makes this statement about how a prophet cannot perish away from Jerusalem.

Well, there have been prophets that have perished away from Jerusalem. So how could Jesus say that? But this was specifically with regard to what he was coming to accomplish. And those prophetic things that had been said about him, the prophet who was to come, he would accomplish all of that in Jerusalem.

He would be there at the Passover. He would die as the atoning sacrifice, the lamb, our Passover lamb who would die on the cross for our sins. Those things have been foreordained to take place in Jerusalem.

And this is another way of Jesus saying, you're not going to stop me from doing what it is that I've come here to do. And if you, the Pharisees, knew the scriptures like you should, then you would know that I cannot be stopped and you would know what I'm heading to Jerusalem to accomplish.

But they don't know that. They don't understand that they're trying to oppose Jesus from accomplishing his mission rather than encouraging him on his way and even teaching the people about what it is that Jesus came to do.

What the scriptures have said about him, what he has come to accomplish, and we're about to see all of prophetic history, all of our prophetic history is unfolding right before our very eyes in this person and the work he is going to do in Jerusalem.

That's what the Pharisees should be saying if they understood the scriptures, but they don't. And it's because of that. It's because the Pharisees don't know and the people are therefore ignorant about it as well, that Jesus issues this lament over Jerusalem, or at least Luke places it here in chapter 13.

Jesus Laments Over Jerusalem and the Placement of the Lament

Let's read it again. Verse 34, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who were 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?

All right, let's stop there. We got one more verse to go here, but let me stop there for a moment. Now, coming back to the question that I had raised at the beginning, why does Luke put that here when Matthew puts it in chapter 23?

Matthew puts it after the triumphal entry, after Jesus has even taught in Jerusalem and perform miracles, after he has issued the woes to the Pharisees. That's when he has this lament over Jerusalem. And before going up on the Mount of Olives and there's the Olivet discourse, which we've got that discourse even coming up here in Luke's gospel.

So before the Olivet discourse, but after the arrival in Jerusalem and even issuing the seven woes to the Pharisees, Jesus gives this lament. Same wording as we have here in Luke's gospel. That's that's where we have it in Matthew.

In Luke, we've got a completely different placement. So why? Who's off here? Is somebody wrong? And again, I want to use that phrase very loosely, not attributing the writer of the gospel of Luke of being wrong.

But I do think that Luke is employing something rhetorical here. I don't think this is where Jesus said that, nor do I think Luke is mistaken. So don't hear me saying that. But rather, this is kind of a foreshadowing of what is to come.

And there is a lament that Jesus makes over Jerusalem. It's a it's a prophecy, in fact, in Luke 19. And I think that Luke is focusing on the prophecy that Jesus makes in Luke 19 and the lament he puts right here.

And he's doing this rhetorically. So the lament would actually be made. After Jesus is leaving Jerusalem, it's not before it's after, especially when you have that statement that Jesus makes, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The placement of that here is odd because that is what the people say. When Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt, they say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So this would almost look like Jesus is saying, I'm not coming to Jerusalem until that day when you say these things of me, and it would look like that he's predicting his coming to Jerusalem with the riding on a donkey's colt.

So therefore, this is a prophetic statement that Jesus is making that would be fulfilled just a few days later. But again, I think Luke is doing something rhetorical here and putting this here because as Jesus is saying this to the Pharisees.

About a prophet being put to death in Jerusalem. There's this lament that's being placed here because God had sent prophets to you and you killed them. Oh, 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. Verse 35. Behold, your house is forsaken. And again, this is foreshadowing because when we get to chapter 19 and after the triumphal entry, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and he prophesies about their destruction.

And we'll see the details of that when we get there, even saying things like siege works are going to be laid against you. That's what happens in the Jewish Roman War, which would happen 40 years after Jesus said that the Romans come in and they're going to break down the walls or even going to tear down the temple.

So Jesus is prophesying that. And so I think Luke wants to focus on the prophecy aspect of that in chapter 19. So he puts the lament here to not distract from the prophecy, but to also express Jesus heart for Jerusalem.

But they won't receive him. Even when he goes there, they won't receive him. They will say things like blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, but they won't receive him. So I think that's the reason why Luke has put that here.

And like I said, we're free to make some speculation and offer some theories here since there are so many differing opinions regarding the placement of this lament. It was Charles Ellicott that said he I think he used the word mistake.

I don't remember right off the top of my head now what it was that he said, but it was something like misplaced. Maybe that was the word he misplaced. Luke misplaced the words. But to say it, to use that word to describe Luke, putting this here would be to say that Luke made a mistake.

And I don't think that's what Luke did. I don't think this was unintentionally put here. I think it was very deliberately placed in this spot as kind of looking ahead as a foreshadowing of what is to come.

Things in the Gospels don't have to happen chronologically. And we've seen other examples of that. For the sake of time, I won't go into those again. We'll probably have a place later where we can consider that again.

But there have been occasions in which things have not been laid out for us chronologically. It doesn't have to happen chronologically. Even certain teachings and sayings of Jesus, they can be put where Luke wants to put them.

And he has a rhetorical reason for why he has put this in the spot that he has. But as for when Jesus actually said it, I would say that it's not until Jesus is leaving Jerusalem that he actually issues this lament.

So verse thirty five again, 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. So that's not just predictive regarding Jesus coming to Jerusalem, but it's even predictive regarding his return, that one day he will come back and the people will say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And we look for that return. Also, Jesus has died. He's risen again. He has ascended into heaven and he's promised that he's coming back again to judge the living and the dead. All who believe in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

What Jesus came to accomplish, he accomplished. And as he said he would fulfill it on earth, so he will fulfill in heaven those things that he has promised to fulfill and will come back to receive us to himself.

And we will dwell with our Lord forever in glory.

Amen.

Prayer, Application, and Closing Benediction

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here today in this closing section of Luke chapter 13. And I pray, Lord, that you would gather us to yourself, that we would not be scattered in every which way and to and fro and being tossed about by every shifting wind of doctrine, but that we would be gathered under your wings.

We would trust in your word. We would know what you have said and that we would walk in holiness and uprightness in light of the righteousness that we've been given in Jesus Christ. And all the while looking for that day when Christ will return in glory, judging the living and the dead, receiving us unto himself, that we may be with you forever in your eternal kingdom.

Keep the kingdom in our view today, even as we go. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .tt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.