13:31,32
The Pharisees came and tried to scare Jesus off the territory. They were generally fed up with Him and the trouble He was causing them. They tried to scare Him off by saying Herod wanted to kill Him. We encounter several Herods in the New Testament, all of them bad. This was Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea.
Jesus reacts differently than they would have expected, He has no fear of Herod. He also reacts differently than religious leaders today act, calling Herod a fox. We should not be afraid of earthly rulers. We should also, as clearly instructed elsewhere, show them proper respect, but that does not mean subservience.
So Jesus expresses His determination to press on with the mission, He will carry on casting out demons and healing people. Note how He saw these as an important part of His ministry. The third day could be a reference to the resurrection, but that also might be reading too much into it.
13:33
Jesus also declares that no prophet can die outside Jerusalem. Now this is another example of not taking an overly literate interpretation of the Bible. Prophets had been killed outside Jerusalem, Jesus is not making a literal statement. What He is saying is that Jerusalem, rather than Galilee, or any civil leader, is by far the greater “threat”. The real threat to His life came from those who should have welcomed Him.
13:34,35
Jesus’ words about Jerusalem were not said in pity for Himself, but in sorrow for Jerusalem herself. All the prophets of the past had been sent to bring salvation, now Jesus the Son of God was here to bring salvation. All of them calling Jerusalem back to God. In each case Jerusalem refused to listen. The words of the prophets and of Jesus were often direct, but they were said to bring the people to repentance. In AD66-70 terrible destruction would come upon Jerusalem. She would find salvation only when she repented and acknowledged Jesus as Lord. The same applies today.
No comments:
Post a Comment