Luke 13:31-35 (NRSV)
Read Luke 13:31-35 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." Verse 32He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Verse 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' Verse 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Verse 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
Devotion
What a strange passage this is, with its strands of tradition and its mixture of God's will and human wills. This is a situation quite unlike the usual view of things in a modern secular society, where God’s will is hardly mentioned.
In the midst of this, we may realize that our Lenten journey is not only “ours”; rather, we are part of something far larger and more serious, and perhaps frightening, than we had anticipated. Our God through his Son is encountering us with judgment as well as salvation, with our sin as well as with a new life of love and justice. “God's grace” may come also as uncomfortable clothing! May we think in this new mode as we study and pray—and trust.
Prayer
Gracious God, we are in your hands, as was your Son. Protect us from enemies of your mission, as you protected Abraham and the chosen people, the prophets and the apostles. Amen.