“…tell that fox…” (Like 13:32)
Our Lord was human. He showed lots of emotion. He clears the temple with a very aggressive attitude (Mark 11:15-19 and John 2:13-22); He weeps at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35); He weeps over Jerusalem (see Luke 19). He evidently liked to party as His enemies referred to Him as “a drunkard and a glutton” (Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34). Some people see Jesus showing a little humor or lightheartedness in his stories (Matthew 21:28ff and Luke 15:11ff) as He tells of two sons asked to go to work for his father. This Sunday, February 24th, the Lord expresses what sounds like a rather “terse” emotion toward King Herod after being told that the King was wanting to kill Him. He is relatively stern with all the demons that He encountered throughout the Gospels. He even expresses displeasure with the disciples on Easter (Mark 16:14). In that same Gospel (Mark 1:41) the Lord shows great compassion for a man who was in heed of healing. Hebrews 2:18 says that Jesus was tempted just like we are; He experienced everything that you and I could ever imagine experiencing in this life, and, for that – we should be grateful.
Seeing the human side of Jesus, Lord and Saviour, should be meaningful to all of us. To know that it could have been easy for Him to turn away from what was to happen to Him makes His passion and death so much more important to us. He had a choice. He chose to die for me and you
There’s a bit of disappointment in the Lord’s voice this Sunday. He’s sad and maybe a little upset too that Herod thinks he can intervene in what God has planned; He’s disheartened by the fact that the great city of Jerusalem is the very place where prophets and others go to die when it should be the central place of celebration of God’s Word and existence!
But the Lord will tarry on. We’ll see that in the coming weeks of Lent. May you and I venture forward as well, knowing that God is with us on this journey; knowing that His choice is for us to live; knowing that His love knows no boundaries – divine or human – and for that, we should give thanks!
God loves you and so do I!
Pastor Jim