February 28, 2010
Luke 13: 31-35
“Farewell to Jackals”
There are three major players is our short text from Luke’s Gospel this morning: the Pharisees, Herod and Jesus. Each of them has different motives and goals.
Pharisees (symbolizing the religious legalists): do they warn Jesus about Herod’s intentions because they don’t want Jesus hurt? Or are they using this ploy to get him out of town?
Herod (symbolizing corrupt worldly power): He is simple to figure out, his motive is keeping power for himself.
Jesus (symbolizing God’s will on earth): despite the many obstacles he will go about God’s work of healing, until his mission is accomplished.
In this interplay of characters, Jesus’ reference to Herod as a “fox” is what intrigues me.
[show picture of a fox]
He obviously wasn’t referring to Herod as a literal fox (another example of a good place to not read the Bible literally), Jesus was using a metaphor. But what did Jesus mean?
“Fox” is used to describe people who are cunning and clever. Herod was not particularly cunning or clever, he was ruthless but he wasn’t known for his intelligence (far from it!). The Greek word used here could also mean “Jackal.” Some old translations actually use that word. The two animals are close relatives but the metaphorical meaning is different. Jackal symbolizes someone who is an underling and serves a higher, more powerful person. Jackal also symbolizes a scavenger, someone who feeds off other people’s misfortune.
I think jackal is a great symbol for Herod. He was a servant of Roman power and he was getting rich off the suffering of the poor.
Jesus made use of many symbols, especially in his parables. The Sower dumping good seed on the rocky path (wasteful), the Prodigal Son feeling sorry for himself because he spent all his money and now he stands knee deep in pig manure (disgusting and sad) or the shepherd who leaves 99 healthy sheep unprotected in the wilderness to search for the one lost one (foolish). Those characters give us a picture that points us to another reality.
Jesus, in today’s story, viewed Herod, the Jackal, as an obstacle to his work. But Jesus wasn’t going to allow him or any other obstacle (like the Pharisees) to interfere with his mission. The Jackal was a symbol that represented the forces that were against God.
What are some symbols from our world, and what do they represent?
Nike: athletes with big money
McDonalds: corporate power and influence
Chevy: American corporate power
Toyota: foreign corporate power
US flag: United States power
Russian flag: Russian power (our enemy/obstacle?)
German flag: Deutscheland uber allas (our enemy/obstacle?)
Japanese flag: Japanese power (our enemy/obstacle?)
Canadian flag: Canadian strength (our enemy/obstacle?)
Dollar sign: wealth, influence, greed
Garage sale: where all the stuff ends up.
Could any of these symbols be obstacles to God’s work in the world?
Lent is a good season to think of the obstacles in our lives that keep us from doing God’s will.
What are the obstacles/jackals in your life?
We can all learn something from Jesus: he didn’t let the jackals distract him from following God’s path. And that path led to…
the cross.
The cross was the symbol of suffering and shame (as the old hymn reminds us). It was the symbol of Roman punishment for anyone who would go against the power of Rome. But God transformed that symbol, God changed it from being a symbol of an obstacle to his will into a symbol of his undying love for us.
As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What are the things that get in your way when you are trying to do God’s will?
You and I aren’t as strong as Jesus. It would be great if we had the power to continue doing God’s will even when the obstacles try to block our way. But those are powerful forces that we struggle against, and God knows it. So God sent Jesus to die on that cross for us. And then God raised him from the dead and defeated that cross. God defeated all the powers that try to interfere with his eternal will. And his will is to love you forever. Again, I refer to Paul…
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Those are some powerful obstacles, but they can’t get I in God’s way.
Say “farewell” to the jackals in your life. They don’t have the final say and they don’t have the power over you that you may think they have. God has put a cross in their way and that is an obstacle/stumbling block they will never overcome.