March 13 2022 It Is Always the Third Day Luke 13:31-35

We know the story well. Jesus was journeying toward Jerusalem. When he arrived in the capital city, he would be welcomed with a great parade. The crowd along the main street would cheer, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 13:35). A few days after that, the crowd would turn on Jesus. He would face a trial, crucifixion, death, and burial. Then, on the third day, Christ would be raised from the dead. On the third day, there would be new life.

As Jesus and the apostles walked toward Jerusalem, the group stopped now and again for Jesus to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. By necessity, these stops were brief because Jesus had a rendezvous with destiny in Jerusalem.

In a quiet moment at one of these stops, a group of Pharisees alerted Jesus to impending danger. “Get away from here, for (King) Herod wants to kill you” (v. 31).

Luke’s gospel does not mention the Pharisees’ motivation. It may have been heartfelt. The Pharisees may have heard of a plot against Jesus and wanted to warn him. On the other hand, their motive may have been more sinister. Maybe they were threatened by Jesus and wanted to move him along. “Get away from here for Herod wants to kill you.” Please be reminded that we are talking about 3 different rulers named Herod. All related, but different.

As background information, understand there was more than one king named Herod. At the time of Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great was king. When the Magi stopped to ask for directions so they could visit the baby boy born “king of the Jews,” Herod the Great ordered the deaths of all baby boys under the age of two. Herod the Great was an especially vicious fellow.

His grandson, Herod Agrippa was known for extravagant spending on himself, being excessively greedy, taking bribes, and colluding with the Romans. Agrippa became king by falsely accusing his uncle of being disloyal to Caligula, the Roman emperor. Like his grandfather, Herod Agrippa was not a nice person.

However, Agrippa’s uncle, King Herod Antipas was ruler during the ministry of Jesus. Antipas was the Herod who had John the Baptist arrested and beheaded. He was also instrumental in the trial of Jesus. As with his father and nephew, Herod Antipas had a bad reputation. (Evil seemed to run in this family.)

When the Pharisees told Jesus, “Get away from here, Herod wants to kill you,” they were referring to Herod Antipas. On the other hand, they may have been using the name as shorthand for the usual bad behavior of all the local rulers. Whatever their motivation and to whomever the Pharisees referred, Jesus responded to their warning to get out of town by saying, “Go tell that fox.”

To paraphrase Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ warning, “Go tell that vicious, predatory old fox that I am occupied with other matters today and tomorrow, but remember this, the third day will come.” No matter how threatening the world might be today and tomorrow, life’s cruel ways will not last. Resurrection is coming. New life comes on the third day and it is always the third day.

Within this short discourse is also a magnificent simile of Jesus’ love, not only for the residents of Jerusalem, but a simile of God’s love for all people. “How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”

Many, if not most of us have no firsthand experience of the behavior Jesus described. Our personal experience with chickens is limited to freshly packaged at the grocery store or cooked and ready to eat from, Publix or the Colonel at KFC. Jesus’ audience, however, knew chicken behavior. For thousands of years, they were raised in the backyard. People lived with chickens. They watched them every day. They had watched hens react to impending threat. For instance, when a fox first came into view, the hen started to bring her chicks under the shelter of her wings. If the fox got too close, the hen launched an attack against the predator. The hen was willing to sacrifice her life for her brood. Jesus tells us that God’s love for us is like that. “There have been so many times that I wanted to gather the children of God together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”

On the one hand, that is a warm and wonderful simile. We should not, however, misunderstand. The hen cannot guarantee her brood an under-wing safe haven from misfortune. In fact, the mother hen rarely wins a battle with the fox. She is selfless in her devotion to her little ones but she is no match for the long claws and sharp teeth of the predator. Unless there is some other intervention, the fox will likely kill and eat the hen. Then, if it fits his fancy, the fox will kill and eat the chicks as well.

Frankly, this is a fitting description for the reality of the world in which we live. God’s love for us is unconditional. We can and will be redeemed by the sacrificial love of God in Christ Jesus. God’s love does not, however, protect us from all the threats and ravages of this world. There are some really miserable things that can and do happen. We see this all around us. A tornado hits a neighborhood and destroys a hundred homes. A hurricane wipes out a shoreline and costs millions to repair. A drought destroys crops and kills trees. Wild fires destroy homes and businesses. A flood floats one home down the river and fills the others with two feet of stinking mud. We are always vulnerable to the fox.

Of course, not all the threats come from nature. In T.S. Eliot’s play The Cocktail Party,3 one of the characters is Celia Coplestone. An accomplished person, Celia longs for happiness and meaning in her life. She has tried the social attractions: theatre, receptions, cocktail parties, even an affair with Edward, another character in the play. Cecilia has tried it all, yet something is missing. She goes to a psychiatrist. In time, Celia has an insight. The source of her existential anxiety lies not in the world around her, but as T.S. Eliot causes her to say, “There is something wrong with me.”

Cecilia came to realize that she is the fox in her own life. Human beings are threatened and harmed, not only by outside forces, but by our own decisions. It is another of the givens of the human condition.

Many peoples lives have been changed through the years, an ordinary day that proved to be one of those third day encounters. You see the Third Day Encounters in our lives are made possible because of one little phrase that gets simply overlooked week after week. “And on the third day, He Rose! We encounter the living Lord because of the third day!