Second Sunday in Lent (March 16, 2025)
The United Church of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, NM
Luke 13.31-35
31 Ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθάν τινες Φαρισαῖοι λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Ἔξελθε καὶ πορεύου ἐντεῦθεν, ὅτι Ἡρῴδης θέλει σε ἀποκτεῖναι.32 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Πορευθέντες εἴπατε τῇ ἀλώπεκι ταύτῃ, Ἰδοὺ ἐκβάλλω δαιμόνια καὶ ἰάσεις ἀποτελῶ σήμερον καὶ αὔριον, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ τελειοῦμαι.33 πλὴν δεῖ με σήμερον καὶ αὔριον καὶ τῇ ἐχομένῃ πορεύεσθαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐνδέχεται προφήτην ἀπολέσθαι ἔξω Ἰερουσαλήμ.34 Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιὰν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.35 ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν. λέγω [δὲ] ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ ἴδητέ με ἕως [ἥξει ὅτε] εἴπητε, Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου.
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ 32He 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. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” 34Jerusalem, 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! 35See, 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.” ’
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
Jerusalem was the centre of the world in the First Century. The centre of the world was in the Temple which was in Jerusalem, and the precise center was inside the Temple in the קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים[Kodesh HaKodashim] the Holy of Holies.1 The קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁיםwas the spiritual junction, the meeting place of heaven and earth.
In the middle of a city in the First Century, full of clamor, confusion and chaos — in the center of the world (if you will) controlled outside by the occupying Roman Army and ruled locally by the vicious, evil, and brutal Herod Antipas (the puppet ruler of Tiberias Caesar in Rome) — the קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁיםwas a quiet, silent place — a sacred place, where God’s finger touched the chaos of the world and held it close to God’s heart (if you will). Once a year the high priest would enter the קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁיםstand before the presence of God and perform rituals to bring the world back into balance, and then come out before the people and speak God’s Name which is never spoken aloud (and always a substitute name for the real name is uttered, the word אֲדֹנָי(ADONAI) — the high priest would speak God’s name to the waiting crowd and thereby proclaim Love and Mercy, for that is who God is — Love and Mercy, not fear and retribution.
Once a year this would take place in the Temple in Jerusalem at the center of the world, where heaven and earth touch, where God who is holy “Other” becomes holy “Presence” — On יוֹם כִּפּוּר[Yom Kippur] the “Day of Atonement” the day of mercy and forgiveness God’s Name would be spoken — aloud — to the people.
This, in the days of Jesus. And, in the days beyond Jesus when Luke’s Gospel was being compiled — after the Temple had been destroyed, after the Jewish Roman War was won (by Rome), after thousands of executions had happened under the cruelty of this occupying force — this Gospel comes into being to tell the Story of Jesus for the followers of Jesus and those who want to follow Jesus — to give to them hope in a world so chaotic still, so brutal still, so full of power and revenge. Luke tells the history so that readers will have courage and faith, as if to say, “Look closely, Listen carefully — this is what happened when Jesus was living in Jerusalem, not that many generations ago, and here is what the Story says, and here is what Jesus says in that Story. So, follow him and have courage and faith, no matter what.”
We are this morning in the 13th Chapter of the Gospel According to Luke. These few verses are full and overflowing. The scene is direct: some Pharisees come and warn Jesus to flee because Herod (Antipas) is planning to kill him.
EXCURSUS
I have to pause here for one of my famous moments of Excursus. You know, an Excursus is a digression, mostly related to the Story, in this case, the Sermon. It’s like a footnote where the Preacher (in this case me) wants to explain something without explaining it inside the Sermon. And it gives an opportunity to do that, which is what I’m trying to do right now, even though you might say, rightly so, “Well, why didn’t you just say it in the last paragraph?” And I will say, “Yes, but then I would not have this wonderful word Excursus to share with you!”
But, let’s get to the point of my digression which is: We so often think of the Pharisees when we hear that word in the Gospels, that these are somehow the enemies of Jesus. Not so. Think of them as the “debating partners of Jesus” — not enemies but constant companions full of questions and even suggestions.
Back to the Story
So the Debating Partners of Jesus come up to him and warn him of Herod’s anger and plans for murder. And what does Jesus say? How does he respond?
Πορευθέντες εἴπατε τῇ ἀλώπεκι ταύτῃ
This is how Luke tells it in Greek, the language of the New Testament. Jesus probably spoke these words in Aramaic, his language, maybe even Hebrew, also his language.
Literally, “you go [and] tell that” — and here is the word Luke employs, αλωπηξ — fox. But not just the animal, it’s figurative — Herod is evil, nasty, vicious, revengeful, hateful — the list goes on.
That is, he is like a fox in the hen house. The whole nature of the fox is to kill the hens, to destroy them. The fox is a predator, and often (when finding a flock of hens) will kill much more than the fox needs to eat, just to do it!
Herod, says Jesus, is an αλωπηξ, a fox. He is not to be trusted, ever.
And then Jesus goes on. He says “Tell that αλωπηξ that my work isn’t done, and he will have to wait, because I’m here to heal and bring comfort and peace and love and I’m not quite finished.
And then Jesus speaks to the very city that is the center of the world, Jerusalem — we can hear him — how? Is he shouting? Is he whispering? Is he angry? What is he?
He is, I believe, speaking with sadness and truth co-mingled; as if you were to put a cup of sadness and a cup of truth in a mixing bowl and stir it together: Here is how I think it sounds:
Oh, Jerusalem! You are the city what kills prophets. They come to you, they are sent [by God] to you and you throw stones at them until they are dead. Do you know how often I wish I could be a mother hen and gather you under my wings and protect you? You are not willing.
And then he quotes Psalm 118, foreshadowing the coming entry into Jerusalem (which we call Palm Sunday) when the people cry out: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
And we know, because we know the Story, what happens then — the trial, the judgment, the crucifixion, the tomb — and yes, the resurrection. All that lies ahead of this Chapter 13.
What do we learn from this? What do we take home with us? How do we act, what do we say when the Herods of History show up? Do we see today the αλωπηξ the fox in the henhouse? Maybe more than one?
When we read the sacred story, it comes to life — and it comes to life in our midst, in us, in our hearts, in our minds, in our selves, in our thoughts and words and actions — in our community, in our city, in our state, in our country. It comes to life, and lives to tell us about love and peace and hope — so that we (followers of Jesus) do the acts of love and peace and hope.
That’s what happens in worship. That’s what the Church is all about.
I was bicycling with Rabbi Neil Amswych several years ago. We were riding in the Acoma Century, the 100 mile bicycle ride. He was raising funds for his congregation and he invited me to come along so that he and I could discuss religion and theology and tell our clergy stories to each other. Which we did. [For the record, we came in next to last and next to next to last — but it was wonderful.]
At the top of the climb coming off the valley floor at Acoma, he asked me, “Did you ever have anyone walk out of one of your Sermons?”
I answered, “One time.” “Well, one time of which I am aware.”
And he asked, “What happened?”
So I told the story that it happened one morning morning some years ago at the 8 o’clock Service where I was the Pastor, when I was not retired, when I was active in my parish. It was a horrible time in our country when our government, our military was torturing prisoners, waterboarding and more. I said in the Sermon, “You cannot be a follower of Jesus and believe in torture!”
At that very moment, a man in the congregation, stood up, took his worship book, the hymnal and threw it loudly on the floor and stormed out of the church.
All of us were a bit shocked, me especially. The awe was broken by a dear older woman who whispered to me in her not so soto voce, “Pastor, I don’t think he agrees with you.” We all sort of laughed, but with the sadness laughter of disbelief and more.
No, you can’t follow Jesus and torture people. Foxes in the henhouse do such things, but not followers of Jesus. Herods of the world do such things, but not followers of Jesus.
What do we say to the Herods of today? Are there any? Oh, yes. We know who they are; we see them, we hear them, we feel their evil. What do we say? Anything? Nothing? Silence?
No. Being silent is like hearing the fox outside in the henhouse killing one hen after another and saying to ourselves, “Well, maybe it won’t be too bad. I’ll just go to bed and look at it tomorrow morning.”
No, we are not silent; we do not ignore what is happening. Rather we do anything and everything we can — we gather together, we write letters, we send emails, we make phone calls, we show up in person, we congregate and agitate — we do anything we can to speak the truth wherever and whenever and however we are able to do it.
Anything less is faithlessness. Anything less is not our calling. Anything less will let the fox loose to wreak uncontrolled havoc and worse. And that is not the Gospel to which you and I are called.
And let us all say: Amen.
Deo Gratias (+)
The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III
Retired
1קָדוֹשׁ [kadosh] means “holy” in Hebrew.
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 