Sermon

March 7, 2004
2nd Sunday in Lent
Luke 13:31-35
Pastor Joel Zank

Look at Our Lord's Love!

(Luke 13:31-35) 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 drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!34 "O 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, but you were not willing!35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

In Christ Jesus who loved us and gave himself us for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, dear fellow redeemed,

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). I've read these words from 1 Corinthians 13 at nearly every wedding I've ever conducted. And though I'm always quick to point out that these words are not meant only for Christian husbands and wives, I have to think that all who hear them whether married or single, would be thrilled to have a marriage partner whose heart was filled with such love. Am I right? Are you thrilled? At this very moment every married person here is thinking, "Pastor, you're not talking to me are you? If so, then you don't know my spouse." Oh, but I do! I know your heavenly bridegroom - Jesus. You see, he claims all of you who know him by faith, married and single, male and female, children and adults, he claims each of you as his bride. So yes, we do have reason, all of us to be thrilled. Just look at our Lord's love! It is a love that knows no fear; it is a love that sorrows over sin; and best of all, it is a love that holds out hope. Let's look at this wondrous love in action through the inspired words of St. Luke.

Our text begins with the words, "At that time..." Jesus is no more than a few months away from his sufferings and death. He has been doing ministry in the northern and eastern parts of the Holy Land, as he makes his final journey to Jerusalem. But he's moving too slowly. At least that's the feeling of a few. For we're told, "...some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you" (Luke 13:31). Throughout his three years of public ministry, nearly every member of the religious group known as the Pharisees has tried to discredit Jesus. Together they've plotted and planned his demise many times. Doesn't it strike you as odd, then, that here they should be warning Jesus about Herod's plan to kill him? It strikes Jesus as odd. Of course, that shouldn't surprise us. As our all-knowing God, he saw right through their scam.

It's been said that politics makes strange bedfellows. That's true here. Even though the Pharisees and Herod were sworn enemies, they were drawn together by their common hatred for Jesus. Herod was ruler of Galilee and Perea, the regions of Israel through which Jesus was now traveling. Jesus was popular in this part of the country. Herod was jealous of him, and more than a little frightened too. He wanted Jesus to leave his territory and never come back. He'd kill him if he had to. He had already murdered John the Baptist. But that crime had made him extremely unpopular among his people. He didn't want to anger them more. So he came up with a crafty plan that he had hoped would send Jesus packing. He enlisted the help of the Pharisees who were only too happy to be of assistance. They wanted to drive Jesus into the waiting arms of their cohorts in Jerusalem where Jesus was not so popular. Perhaps there they could get rid of him once and for all.

As we said, Jesus knew all this. So he replied, "Go tell that fox [that sly Herod], 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!" (Luke 13: 32-33).

Neither Herod nor the Pharisees were going to frighten Jesus into giving up his mission. He had come to this area to tell sinners that he was their Savior from sin. To prove it, he was busy backing up his claim with great acts of power. How could people be sure that Jesus was the one who would free them from sin and Satan? Look at what he could do. With no more than a word, he healed people of the terrible diseases sin has brought to our world; and by his command even the demons had to flee in terror from the poor souls they had possessed.

No, nothing was going to stop Jesus from helping these people, not the Pharisees, not Herod, not even the devil himself. And yet Jesus was going to keep moving-not out of fear, but out of love so that he could provide all people with the help they needed most. Today and tomorrow Jesus would preach and teach in Herod's territory. He spoke figuratively, indicating that his earthly ministry would soon come to an end. Very shortly he would reach his goal, arriving in Jerusalem, just as the Pharisees had hoped. And yes, he would even die there like so many of the Old Testament prophets before him. It would all happen just as the Savior's enemies had planned, and yet it would all come about not because of their plans, but according to God's will and because of God's love.

My friends, have you ever seen anything like this? Look at our Lord's love - his love for you and for all - a love that knows no fear. I know that some of you have seen the movie, "The Passion of the Christ." I haven't seen it yet. I think I will. But I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure I can handle some of the scenes. I know what to expect, and it frightens me a bit. That thought alone leaves me marveling at our Savior's great love. It wasn't blissful ignorance that sent him on to Jerusalem. He knew the hatred that awaited him there. He knew all about the cross, the blood and the gore, his suffering and death. He knew that his Father would heap on him the sins and guilt of all humanity and that God would forsake him in the deepest depths of hell until all that sin was paid for. All this Jesus knew and more and still he went to Jerusalem unafraid. He went in love, knowing that if he didn't, all that suffering, all that torture would come to us, not in a movie theater, but in hell where each of us would have to face God's wrath forever. So great is the love of our Savior, and even greater. For not only is his a love that knows no fear, it is also a love that sorrows over sinners.

In calling to mind Jerusalem's shameful past, and knowing how many of its people would soon call for his crucifixion, great sorrow fills the Savior's heart, sorrow that he expresses in these mournful words: "O 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, but you were not willing!" (Luke 13:34). Like a young man who desperately wants to take Jerusalem as his bride, Jesus does everything he can to win her affection. He wants to love her and be with her and protect her from self-destruction, but she has no love for him. If you were Jesus, how would that make you feel? Resentful? Upset? Hateful? Not Jesus. Look at our Lord's love-a love that sorrows over sinners. Jesus doesn't get angry, nor does he decide to force himself on these people. Instead he stands there helpless and heartbroken because Jerusalem was not willing to embrace him as Savior.

How often do we give Jesus reason to sorrow over us in the same way? Every day he longs to spend his time with us, strengthening our faith and nurturing our relationship with him through his Word. Every week he looks forward to meeting us here in his house. Twice a month he invites us to his Holy Supper. "How often I have longed to gather you together," Jesus says," but you are not willing!" How it saddens Jesus to see the pain we cause ourselves and the danger we put ourselves in. Because we are not willing to spend more time with him in Word and Sacrament, we have so little strength to fend off the sins that tempt us. And so our tempers flare, our patience wears thin, our kindness dries up; we become more selfish, rude and envious with each passing day. And what should Jesus do about it? We'd expect him to be angry with us, the way we get angry with people who are bent on destroying themselves. Who could blame Jesus if he were to storm out the door of our lives, and never return.

But that's not what Jesus wants. Even though we have pushed him away countless times, he still loves us enough to warn us, "Look, your house is left to you desolate" (Luke 13:35). Our spiritual house is often empty, not because our groom has stormed out, but we because we've locked him out. Jesus won't force himself on us. If we have no time for his gospel, if instead we devote ourselves to the worship of our stomach, living to satisfy the cravings of our sinful nature, if we glory in doing shameful things, then as Paul warns in Philippians 3, our destiny will be destruction. We will end up alone spending all eternity without Jesus because he will be in heaven and we won't.

If such a thought frightens you, it should. It frightens me too when I think of how foolish and careless I've been with God's love. But understand that Jesus tells us these things today, not to drive us to despair, but to drive us to our knees in repentance. We are terrible sinners, all of us, but still our God is with us, offering us his grace and every blessing. Look at our Lord's great love, a love that holds out hope every day! For with his warning come words of promise. Jesus says, "...you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Luke 13:35).

As often as we bring our sins to Jesus, as often as we beg him to forgive us, as often as we flee to his Word seeking comfort, he comes running to us with open arms of forgiveness; and we bless him for doing so. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." These are the words that God's Israel spoke at every religious feast and festival. These are the words with which the people greeted Jesus on Palm Sunday, proclaiming him the Lord's Anointed and their Promised Savior. These are words for us to speak every time we study the Scriptures, every time we gather for worship, and every time we kneel at the communion rail. For with these words we happily acknowledge that the One who comes to us in the gospel as our Bridegroom from heaven, comes bringing us peace with God - the peace he won for us by taking our anger, our rudeness, and selfishness to the cross. Blessed is he who comes to us as the One who claimed our sinful cravings as his own and even took the blame for each and every time we've broken his heart. Blessed is he who comes to us in Word and sacrament as the One who faced our destiny in hell and, then, on the third day reached his goal by rising from dead to prove his sacrifice a sin payment so sufficient that now instead of being terrible sinners in God's eyes, we all are his dearly loved saints-his holy bride made clean every day in the blood of our Savior.

So look at our Lord's love, dear friends, and keep looking for this perfect love of his that thrills our hearts is the only thing that will keep us the people of God, now and forever. Amen.

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