The Rev. Dr. Robert Hurst, Pastor

The Rev. John Barber, Minister of Music

BIBLE STUDY— for February 16 & 19

FOR SUNDAY SERMON MARCH 7

THE FUGITIVE

Luke 13:31-35

Luke 13:31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you."

32 He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'

33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

COMMENTARY

Verses 31-33 are without parallel in the other gospels. Verses 34 and 35 have a parallel saying in Matthew 23:37-39.

Matthew and Luke were clearly working from a common source usually referred to by scholars as Q. The placement of the Q material in the two gospels is very different. Matthew inserts his version of "O Jerusalem," during the last days of Holy Week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. Luke places the material much earlier, after the transfiguration, but before the final trip to Jerusalem. Luke 13:34-35 are clearly a foreshadowing of Jesus’ suffering and death.

Verses 31-33 are fascinating from an historical perspective. While there are no direct parallels between Luke 13:31-33 to material in any of the other gospels, there is an indirect parallel to other material in Luke, Matthew and Mark.

This material, found in all three synoptic gospels, suggests that Herod was aware of Jesus’ activities and to some extent felt threatened by Jesus’ ministry in the same way he had felt threatened by John the Baptist. In our scripture today, when the Pharisees come to warn Jesus that Herod is plotting to arrest him, Jesus indicates he will remain on the move in order to escape arrest before he makes his final journey to Jerusalem. "I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!"

We should take note that Pharisees are warning Jesus of Herod’s plotting. So often in the gospels, because of the bad relationship between the Pharisees and the early church, the Party of the Pharisees is over vilified. The Pharisees were a very diverse movement among the Jewish people. Some persons might have considered Jesus to be a Pharisee after the tradition of the great Hillel. While some Pharisees may have opposed Jesus, they probably would not have sold him out to Herod.

Jesus refers to Herod as "that fox." Jews as well as Greeks used the term "fox" to indicate cunning. In rabbinical literature "fox" carries with it the connotation of low down and no account, a term of contempt.

What this passage suggests to us is that during the later part of Jesus’ ministry he was a fugitive. Herod was looking for him, and Jesus was on the go. The impression that Jesus did not sit still for long, may be entirely accurate. We can surmise that Jesus chose Capernaum as his base camp, because he could so easily travel from one political jurisdiction to another. Notice that in Luke 9:10 Jesus and his disciples withdraw to Bethsaida, a City outside of Herod’s jurisdiction. We can be reminded that Jesus’ teaching was radical and upsetting to the ruling elite. "Blessed are you poor. . . and woe to you who are rich was no more popular with the wealthy ruling elite in Jesus’ time as it is today. The plotting against Jesus was not just in Jerusalem but in Galilee also. Some of us may be surprised that Jesus "meek and mild," was perceived as such a threat by the establishment.

LET’S ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF THE SCRIPTURE