Go and tell that fox...

GO AND TELL THAT FOX…

We are getting closer to Jerusalem. I am beginning to notice some recurring themes. You have to admit. Much of what Jesus said and did, he said and did repeatedly.

For example, Jesus heals a woman, a woman who has suffered for 18 years. Jesus heals her. He seems to make a point of healing on the Sabbath…a recurring theme. His point: God’s mercy, God’s kingdom reaches everywhere. And that is the point of the mustard seed, that small faith, that grows and grows…and reaches and reaches.

Then we come to the Narrow Door. This part of the Scripture begins with, “He went on his way…” He went on his way after the synagogue leader got bent out of shape about his healing on the Sabbath…and Jesus used an obvious comparison to show how his actions were proper. And this doorway is again offering a recurring theme…that the kingdom of God is open to anyone…Jesus is not saying everyone will be in…he is saying anyone can be. How? By entering through the Narrow Door…Jesus Christ.

Take a read through the text and see what you make of it. Some additional comments are below.

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit

¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” ¹³ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. ¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

¹⁸ He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

²⁰ And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

The Narrow Door

²² He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ²⁸ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. ²⁹ And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. ³³ Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵ Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Remarkably, as Jesus is talking about the Narrow Door, the text says, “At that very hour…” Rather dramatic! “Run Jesus, run”…but Jesus is undaunted.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “One man with courage is a majority.” How about a man with passion?

“Go and tell that fox” I love it. We often picture meek and mild Jesus with freshly shampooed hair carrying a lamb in his arms. Try and picture Jesus now…as he has demonstrates his fearless determination to be about his work…as his eyes flash…as his eyes continue to be set upon Jerusalem. I think it is a great picture of our Lord, and his passion…his passion for Jerusalem…his passion for us…another recurring theme.