Pharisees and Hens, Friends and Foes

As I try to follow Jesus’ example of how to engage and love this world and its people, I need to notice the variety of ways Jesus engages with people. I need to notice how Jesus talks with particular people, as beloved individuals. I need to notice the persistence of his love.

I believe these current times are calling me to a different sort of faithfulness than I have lived in the past. It is looking more public, more vocal, more active. I’m being called out of my comfortable and familiar ways of being a Christian. That is, honestly, daunting. As I step into new ways of being faithful, I need to pay attention to Jesus’ examples of faithful living. I need to look at what Jesus did and then discern how his example should inform my actions.

This is not to say that everything in the gospels is all about me, or is written primarily for my personal instruction. The Bible is not about me. It is about God. As theologian John Walton says, the Bible is written for us, but not to us. Nevertheless, I can learn from Jesus about how to remain faithful to God’s call, especially in difficult times.

As I read the Lenten lectionary gospel passages, I am thankful for Jesus’ fidelity to his calling. And I wonder what fidelity in faithfulness looks like for me these days.

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He 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.Yet 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.’ Jerusalem, 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! See, 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.'” Luke 13:31-35 NRSVUE

Some of the Pharisees knowing Jesus is in real danger from Herod warn Jesus. They think Jesus should be careful, change his plans. Does this warning surprise you? Sometimes Christians lump all Pharisees together as the “bad guys”. Unfortunately, some Christians use the word “pharisee” as a shorthand for a hypocrite or a self righteous person. ( If you do use “pharisee” in this way, please stop.) The Pharisees, while an identifiable group, were not a monolith. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus worshiped with Pharisees, he ate with Pharisees, and he discussed theology with Pharisees. Jesus and the Pharisees both believed in the resurrection of the dead. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Some Pharisees didn’t like what Jesus had to say or what Jesus did. But some, worried about his safety and warned him about Herod’s plan to kill him.

Jesus had a message he wanted them to take back to Herod. He is simply too busy being about his work of healing and casting out demons to pay any attention to Herod. And he was too focused to be deterred from his journey to Jerusalem by the likes of Herod. Then he reminds the Pharisees, and readers of Luke’s gospel, that Jesus desire is to care for and protect Jerusalem- and by extension all of Israel.

The imagery of a mother hen is familiar to Christians. It’s important not to take it for granted. Jesus’ image of protection is not a wolf or a lion or a bear. It’s not even a fox. Consider for a moment the image of Herod as fox and Jesus as hen. What does that tell us about Jesus?

Jesus does not force compliance. He ends his comments to the Pharisees with “See, your house is left to you”. And yet, when they say ( not “if”, but “when”)”Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” they will see Jesus and be gathered under his wings.

These are only five verses, but it is a striking statement of Jesus’ fidelity and obedience to God’s will and to God’s hope for the world. Jesus is not deterred by warnings of danger, even warnings that are consistent with historical precedents. And Jesus, as God’s agent does not give up hope- he continues to heal, to cast out demons and invite Jerusalem to shelter under God’s protective wings. These are important things to know about Jesus.

So how is this an example for me, as I navigate these days? The hardest thing Jesus asks us to do is to love our enemies. To love them not with warm fuzzy feelings, but with tangible acts of love. In these verses Jesus shows us, again, what this sort of love looks like. He continues to engage with some of the Pharisees. He doesn’t write them all off as a lost cause. He doesn’t assume the opposition of some means that all Pharisees are opposed to him. Jerusalem may not be receptive to him, yet he doesn’t preclude the possibility of reconciliation. And he doesn’t demand compliance or acceptance. The invitation remains open. Jesus will be faithfully about his work and people are welcome to join him. Or not.

To follow Jesus requires us to live Jesus- like lives. Lives that are open to the possibility of reconciliation with those who may have been our enemies. And also lives of fidelity and obedience to God’s way of love and justice. Reconciliation does not mean abandoning our work for justice. It doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations. Jesus has a clarity about what he believes and how he lives. And he invites others to join him.

How do I do this? This is the challenge for me.