Pressing On Amid Threats
Scripture Reading: Luke 13: 31 - 34 (NIV)
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 “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, and you were not willing.
Message: Pressing On Amid Threats
Jesus and threats
Jesus is threatened
Jesus is getting under the skin of those in power
Probably one of the scariest social situations to be in - to be on the radar of powerful, cruel leaders
King Herod was feared widely in the area
He killed and tortured opposition without flinching
His reign of fear fell right into the Romans’ modus operandi
Herod was a sick individual
He was plagued by paranoia - he even killed his wife for suspecting her to be a threat to his throne
He loved making spectacles of wiping out opposition
To be on the radar of Herod was like being on death row
“Dead man walking!”
If you were to hear that Herod was out to kill you, the normal reaction would be to run for your life
Pharisees and Fear
In comes the Pharisees - music to their ears that Jesus is on Herod’s radar
What better way to get rid of this Rabbi who’s causing such a stir than to use the fear of Herod to make him go away?
Let’s just go and whisper in his ear - no need to respond to all this Rabbi is teaching
Let’s take his attention away and scare Him so that He can just go away
Fear is such a manipulatable emotion, isn't it?
It is much easier to scare than to convince
Threats are the tools of manipulators
Jesus Responds
Jesus is responding strongly, not giving in to the fear
He is not going to allow them to manipulate Him
He even calls Herod a fox - that in itself is enough to get him killed!
He is giving a strong signal back to the Pharisees that He is not going to be manipulated
(Manipulators never like being called out)
Even though the fear of being on Herod’s radar was real, Jesus did not give in to it
Nor did He allow outside forces to manipulate Him
Focus on the task at hand
Jesus says: “I must press on”
And: “I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”
Even if it costs his life!
Jesus knows the risks of going into Jerusalem
But He knows that there is a task at hand
He is not going to allow Himself to be scared
He is not going to allow deceitful role-players to manipulate Him
He is staying focused on the task at hand
We know today that He went all the way to the end, despite great fear (think Gethsemane) and manipulation (even from his disciples)
Encouraged to stay the course
In this time of Lent, let us take heart for Jesus staying the course!
We live in a world of threats - it is all around us
We also live in a world of manipulation - where fear is being used against us
Let us recognize what fear does in our lives
Let us try to grow in the ways we respond to fear
Let us also understand how easily fear is being used to manipulate us
Instead of allowing fear to overcome us or allowing to be manipulated…
Let us stay focussed on the task at hand
Let us not be derailed by fear or manipulation
Jesus showed us the way!
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