The Hen's Cluck

Today we're in Luke 13, 31 through 35. I entitled this sermon, The Hen's Cluck. And as we read through this, you'll see why I did that. You know, it talks about how Jesus said how he wanted, he would like to have been like a hen, and gathered all his chicks, and gathered them all together in Jerusalem. And, you know, I don't know much about chickens. But when in our first church, when we moved to Sudan, we were there six years. And all three of our kids were born there.

And they hadn't had kids in their parsonage in 50 years. So we were a new experience for Sudan, I'm telling you. And a young family, and raising kids. I got to visit all the folks that were in the church, and especially those that were not attending church. And I went out in the country one day, south of Sudan, to, there was an old couple out there, May and Herschel White, who literally became grandparents to our kids while we were there. They'd not been attending church for 10, 15 years. They had a dairy, and they had pigs, and they had chickens.

May would haul eggs and milk all across Lamb County and deliver it after they milked their cows. Fresh milk. People were buying fresh milk from them. And they were having a coyote problem out there with their chickens. And I showed up out there early one day to visit with Herschel. You'd have to know Herschel. The first time I met him, it was about 20 degrees outside, and I'd gone out there to make my first visit.

And it was about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and he had been changing water and fell in an irrigation ditch in that cold weather. And I got to the house, and he had just changed clothes, and he was sitting in this recliner in their little living room. And their house had a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. You know, y'all, probably some of you are going, people live like that?

Well, they did back then. And he was sitting there like this, and I knocked on that door, and he hadn't seen a preacher in 20 years. And I said, I'm the new preacher in town. I've come to visit y'all, and Miss White let me in. And I sat down and visited, and he sat there like this and looked at me like this the whole time. And I thought, boy, that really went over well. You know, those folks started coming to church, never missed a time.

And as our children were born, we started an extensive Bible study on Wednesday nights that went for 2 hours. And we'd take our kids out to me and Herschel's, and they'd keep those kids for us on Wednesday nights. And they literally adopted our kids and became grandparents. I walked out there that morning out into one of the big pens, and there was all these hens out there and little bitty chicks running around. And all of a sudden, there was just a ruckus. I didn't know what was taking place. And these mother hens were cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.

I mean, they were going, I don't know if you've ever been around chickens. It scared the daylights out of me. I thought, what in the world is going on? And evidently, they sighted a coyote somewhere. And they were herding their little chicks over in corners and had their wings out like that over them. And ever since I saw that, I understood this passage. And we're going to work our way through it.

And I told Kim not to print it, so I want you to just hear it from me today. Now, you can look in your Word or you can look on your phones and look at it.

Luke 13, 31 through 35. I probably have read this and prayed over this passage 50 times in the last 10 days. And the last four or five times, guys, it became very emotional to me. I cried. And you'll see why as I read this to you. So, I'm hoping that you won't just see words here, but you'll try to grab hold of the feeling that is going on in this passage. Verse 31.

Just at that time, some Pharisees came up. Now, you know Jesus was having a lot of problems with the religious leaders of that day. They hated Him. Some Pharisees came up to Him and said, Go away. Depart from here. For Herod wants to kill you. That's pretty intimidating, isn't it?

We'll talk about that in more detail. And He said to them, listen to what Jesus said, Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons, and I perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day reach my goal. What's interesting here about that, and we're not going to go into that in detail, we're just going to take it at face value, but some biblical scholars here talk about when He says, And the third day I reach my goal, the Greek word there for reaching is completing or finish, or tel-telestai. The same word that He said on the cross. It is finished. Literally a banking term which means the debt is paid in full. And some of these biblical scholars say that this might even have been a foreword, a prophetic word.

You're going to kill me. I'm going to be hung on the cross. I'm going to die for the sins of the world. You're going to put me away, and I'm going to resurrect on that third day. It was three days after the death of Christ, was it, that He resurrected. And the third day I've reached my goal. Maybe He's saying there that the completion of my task in Galilee.

He's in the Galilean ministry right now. The completion of my atoning ministry is happening now, and I'm fixing to go south into Judea. And start the atoning ministry there in Judea. Nevertheless, I must, underscore the word must there. There's no option for Him. I must journey on today, and tomorrow, and the next day. For it cannot be that a prophet shall perish outside of Jerusalem.

So we've talked about in earlier sermons, three or four back, the urgency of Jesus getting to the cross. In Luke 9, verse 51, it talks about how He set His eyes resolutely to go to Jerusalem. There was no deterring. He was headed to the cross.

Verse 34, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Here's where I would weep. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

Try to put yourself in the skin of Jesus. The city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck. You can just see it, can't you? And you would not have it, underscore those words. Remember last week, we talked about that the gate was narrow, and there were those that were unable to enter it. And we talked about those four words, they would not because they could not, and they could not because they would not. Their hearts were hardened. It wasn't that God had hardened their hearts.

They had chosen to rebel and be disobedient and fight against the will of God. They didn't want to have anything to do with Jesus. And you would not have it. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Boy, that's a powerful passage, isn't it? I really struggle with how do I break this down?

And all of us might break it down differently than I did. But I'm going to share with you the way the Lord led me to break it down, and look at these verses a little bit in more detail, and do some explaining about this to you. And hopefully you'll begin to let the Holy Spirit apply what you need to hear in your heart today. I'm not going to play the Holy Spirit. I'll let Him do that. Amen? That's not my job.

First, the threat. The threat. Verse 31. Just at that time, some Pharisees came up saying to Him, Go away and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill you. Now let's look at that phrase, just at that time. What time?

What's He talking about? What time? Specifically in this context, really it's related to the context of last week's sermon. You remember that sermon we talked about the question, a person came. It doesn't designate if this was a woman or a man, but this person comes to Jesus and says, Are there only going to be a few that are being saved? You know, as we went on and studied that passage last week, we concluded that this person had concluded there was just going to be a few. That the door was narrow, the path was narrow.

There is a wide door and a wide path, but it leads to destruction. And there's a narrow door and a narrow path that leads to life. And that many would travel the wide road, but few travel the narrow road. And so this person really had answered their own question. But they wanted to hear from Jesus. And we saw how Jesus refocused that question. Basically sums it up this way.

The answer, don't worry about the few, you better worry about you. That's how Jesus answered that question. Now he wasn't saying, don't be concerned about those that are lost.

He's not saying that. But you can't give away what you don't have. So he's saying, take care of your spiritual heart, and then you'll have influence on others. Don't worry about the few, don't be preoccupied with all of that. Be preoccupied with your own heart. Get saved. You know, we talked about in earlier sermons, the urgency of repentance.

We talked about the theology of tragedy. And it all boiled down to, wherever tragedy, whatever tragedy came from, whatever direction it came from, Jesus said, it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is, unless you repent, all of you will likewise perish. Repentance. Repentance is that door to walking in to that life in Christ. I've never met anybody that's come to Jesus that didn't repent. It's turning your back on sin and turning your face towards Jesus.

Now, we butt our heads against repentance. Y'all ever been that way? I don't want to. Well, don't ask me to do that. But he does. And he expects us to. But the blessings of repentance are unbelievable when you repent.

The solution was, strive to enter the narrow door. And we talked about that word striving. It has nothing to do with works. It's a wrestling term. We summed it up, basically what Jesus was saying, take up your cross, follow me. Deny yourselves.

Go to the mat for me. That's what it means to strive. Some of you have been wrestlers before. And you're not going to win standing up. You have to go to the mat. You have to put them down. That's what the Greek word is there. Go to the mat.

Strive to enter the narrow door. Now, in a broader sense, it relates to Luke 9.51. And it came about when the days were approaching of his ascension that he resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem. He was fully determined to complete his mission of atoning for the sins of mankind. There was nothing that was going to deter Jesus from going to the cross. Just at that time. It ties right back to what we studied last week.

And he's moving it forward here. He's still on that journey, striving to leave Galilee and move on to Judea and ultimately Jerusalem. And some Pharisees came up saying to him, Go away and depart from him, for Herod wants to kill you. You know, when I read this, I thought, in fact, I really laughed out loud. I thought, wow, what strange bedfellows. The Pharisees literally hated Herod because he occupied their homeland and somewhat controlled their synagogues. Likewise, Herod had great disdain for their religious beliefs and practices. Quick story.

This Herod is Herod Antipas. You remember that story, don't you? He had married his brother's wife. And John the Baptist came and confronted him and said, that's not right. You should not be involved in this. And he got mad and his new wife got mad. And at a party, his wife's daughter was seductively dancing and he liked it.

And he said to her, whatever you want, I'll give to you. And she said, knowing her mother's heart, give me John's head. And in a minute, on a platter, there's John the Baptist, his head cut off. This is the Herod he's talking about here. His daddy was Herod the Great. You remember what he did, don't you? When he learned that Jesus was being born, Herod the Great sent out a decree that all the babies should be killed.

Now, this is probably two or three years after Jesus had been born. So they killed a whole generation of ones and twos and three-year-olds all across the nation. Jesus was 33 when he died. And I'm going to tell you, there weren't very many 33-year-old men left in Israel. Because they'd all been killed. It's funny to me, and yes, it's sad, how the Pharisees and Herod were hooked at the hip. When it came to eliminating Jesus.

Isn't it strange how enemies get together for one purpose sometimes? You see, if Jesus would just move on out of Galilee, out of the northern kingdom where Herod was the ruler, his headaches would somewhat subside. If Jesus would just get into Judea and on to Jerusalem where the Pharisees had more power and could partner up with the managing ruler of the southern kingdom. You remember who that is, don't you? Pilate. Partner up with Pilate. Herod could just wash his hands of this man's blood.

You know, I don't know if Herod really wanted to kill him. I think he just wanted him out of his area. So the Jews could do what they wanted to do with Jesus. You see, the Pharisees were giving more than just information. They were threatening Jesus with their warning. They were trying to force him, squeeze him, pressure him. They had their own motives and reasons for shoving Jesus with their words.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been threatened? Have you ever felt threatened? You know, there's been numerous times in my life where I've felt threatened. It's not a fun feeling, I'll tell you. The first time, I don't even, I can't even put this in context. I'm a senior in high school.

I'm working behind the concession stand at a varsity girls' end. And boys' basketball game in Lowrenzo, I'm working the concession stand. I always kept a book for the senior high boys' basketball game. So my time's coming up, I'm gonna get out behind that concession stand. I had my letter jacket on back there, and we're playing Rawls. And three or four guys from Rawls comes up, and one steps up, and I know who these guys are. One of these guys is Billy Bob Stone.

And the Stone brothers had quite a reputation. And he steps up to the counter. I don't know them from Adam. Now, I don't know if it ticked him off I had a letter jacket on. I don't know if it ticked him off I was dating a Rawls girl.

I have no clue. He walked up to that counter and said, You get outside of that counter, I'm gonna kick your mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm. I'm gonna kick it all over this floor out here. You know, he's about like this, and I'm about like this. And I'm going, what the heck is going on here? So I send word through other Lowrenzo kids across that counter go tell Terry. Terry's my twin brother, and James can tell you.

He's a big guy, you know, six foot, 200 pounds. Stronger than an ox, wasn't he? Big guy. You know, all of a sudden, Terry and three or four of the other guys show up down at that counter. Well, I can guarantee you the threat went away when they saw them. But I know what it feels like to be threatened. Can you imagine Jesus' feelings here?

They're threatening him, but I want you to see what happens. The dismissal. Verse 32 And he said to them, go tell that fox. Behold, I cast out demons, and I perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day, and I reach my goal. Go tell that fox. T. W. Manson, a great biblical caller, said to call Herod that fox is as much as to say he is neither a great man nor a straight man.

He has neither majesty nor honor. The expression is thus contentious. Herod is the only person Jesus is recorded as having treated with contempt. Later we read that he wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle. And that when Jesus stood before him, the master said nothing to him at all. He wouldn't even respond to him. He wouldn't even acknowledge him.

And Manson concluded, when Jesus has nothing to say to a man, that man's position is hopeless. You hear that? Jesus was not intimidated. Jesus dismissed this threat because the plan and the mission, and listen to me, every detail of the timing of atonement would solely be orchestrated by the Heavenly Father. And no one, not even Pharisees or Herod, could interrupt it. In Galatians 4, 4 and 5, Paul writes, In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that we might be redeemed and receive adoption as sons. For Jesus, their threats were grounds for dismissal.

You hear that? Nothing was going to interrupt the plan of God.

Thirdly, the prophecy. Verse 33, Nevertheless, I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. That is strong words. Moffat, a Greek scholar, translates the climax of this verse by saying, It would never do for a prophet to perish except in Jerusalem. You know, I thought about Jerusalem. I got emotional. Jerusalem's pretty prevalent in our society today, isn't it?

Psalm 122, 6 says, Pray for peace in Jerusalem. Jeremiah 3, 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. And all the nations will gather to it, to Jerusalem. For the name of the Lord nor shall they walk anymore after stubbornness of their own evil hearts. 2 Chronicles 6, 6 I have chosen Jerusalem so that my name may be there. For Zion's sake, Isaiah 62, 1 I will keep not silent, for Jerusalem I will not keep quiet. Zechariah 12, 9 And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy, listen to that, to destroy all the nations that will come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 8, 3 Thus saith the Lord, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem shall be called, I love this, shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the holy mountain.

Revelation 21, 2 You all know it. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. Leon Morris wrote about Jerusalem in his commentary on this passage. The capital, Jerusalem, was the heart of the nation. It was there that its destiny and its prophets were wrought out. It was there before the Sanhedrin that trials of prophets took place. It was there the nation's attitudes to Jesus would take its final shape, and that death take place that would accomplish God's purpose for the Messiah.

And I added this, it was there where Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on all flesh. You remember after his resurrection, those scared disciples were huddled together in the upper room in Jerusalem. And Jesus came and said, Peace to you. And what did he do? He breathed on them the Holy Spirit. That just got them to the day of Pentecost. It just gave them enough strength to stay together. And what happened on Pentecost, they didn't just receive the Holy Spirit, they were baptized, immersed in the Holy Spirit with power and fire.

And that little group has evangelized the world. You sit here today because of what happened in Jerusalem on that day. Now guys, I'm not being political here, I'm being spiritual. I'm not opposing Jerusalem ever. I'll never stand against the city of truth.

Jesus is coming back. There. Jerusalem. Do you hear that?

It was a prophecy. It was a prophecy.

Verse 34, the lament. This ought to make you weep. This is our Savior. Outside the city, if you look at all the other scriptures that talk here, Luke puts this in a different place than Matthew does. Matthew puts it in a place where he's looking down the city fixing to go in. Luke puts it here, it fits the context. It really doesn't matter where it was placed.

It could have been spoken twice, who knows? Luke knew it had been spoken, he just places it here.

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. And you would not have it. When he looked over Jerusalem in the other passage, he said, and Jesus wept. That's his father's city. And the religious leaders have rejected the word of God.

It broke his heart. And he wept. You fathers in here and you mothers, when you saw your kids making a poor decision, that it was the wrong decision. Kim has said to me before and I've said to her, Jerusalem, oh God. And all you could do was cry and pray. You want to gather them, protect them. I looked up online just to see what that looks like and that mother hen gathering all the little yellow chicks underneath her and basically saying, you're going to pick on her.

You're going to have to go through me first. That's what Jesus wanted to do with us. He wanted to protect us. But the Bible says they wanted to scatter and do their own thing. Not stay under that protection.

Make you feel like crying. You got friends that are lost that are not following Jesus today. You know, it's time the church gets down and weeps for the lost. That we care for the perishing. It doesn't matter if it's embarrassing to us or we kind of step across the line maybe we shouldn't step across sometimes. When they got filled with the Holy Spirit, they were filled with boldness, power. They were filled with a spirit that was opposite from their culture.

And if you don't think we're not in that place in the United States today, we are. The church, any church that tries to mess with the culture is not a church. We have to be the city of truth.

You hear what I'm saying? We have to be the city of truth. The last thing I want you to see here is the warning. Verse 35. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. A lot of people have argued about what that means.

Just a few years later, 70 A.D. Jerusalem was burned to the ground. And hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed. Rome got tired of messing with them and putting up with their religiosity. And they walked themselves from the southern kingdom through the northern kingdom tearing down and burning down their towns and killing Jews after Jews after Jews. That caused a great scattering of Jews all over the world. That's how Jews got all over the world.

They were running away from persecution and death. And you know, they have not had another animal sacrifice in that temple since then. Prior to that, Jesus entered Jerusalem and one day said, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now Jesus could be referring to that here. Or... Because he didn't actually show up in 70 A.D. physically, did he?

But he's coming back. It could be a reference to the second return of Christ. When I return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the faithful will say, those who persevere will say, those who truly follow me will say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It's a warning. It's a warning that we enter that narrow door. Boy, he was an evangelist, wasn't he? Thank God, Peter writes, that he is slow to his coming back in order that many will be saved and others won't perish.

Thank God for his long suffering. That just means we have to work, doesn't it? You all have a profession. Some of you are in college. You have a job in college. We all have jobs.

I have a job. Preaching, teaching.

But my number one mission in life is to win others to Jesus. That's our number one mission. This is a warning to us. Are you in or are you out? For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you today for your word. Lord, it's amazing. As we started this journey with Jesus, we've seen all his miracles and his signs and his wonders happening. And yet as he begins to turn toward Jerusalem, we see this red letter addition. He has a lot more to say, a lot more to teach, a lot more to preach.

Because the point of completing his mission is close at hand. Lord, we don't know when you're coming back, but you're coming. We need to be ready. Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit not only breathe on these folks, but baptize them and empower them to witness.

In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.