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Luke 13:31-33   At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else.  Herod wants to kill you.”  He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. ’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day – for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Luke presents us here with the complex politics involved in the relationships among the spiritual leaders, the Pharisees, the ‘secular’ leader, King Herod, and the popular charismatic newcomer, Jesus.  That Jesus was creating a big problem for both the Pharisees and Herod is obvious – for the Pharisees, because their power-base was being undermined by the popularity of Jesus’ wisdom, power and authority, and for Herod because, like John the Baptist, Jesus’ righteousness and moral/ethical teaching was a challenge to the lifestyle of him and his infamous family.

The irony is that here some Pharisees were warning Jesus of the threat of Herod to his life, whereas it was the Pharisees collectively who finally organised for Jesus to be crucified, but they were dependant on the secular authorities like Herod and Pilate to achieve their purpose!

In the face of such active opposition to his ministry, Jesus was not going to be diverted from the work his Father had sent him to do: bringing physical and spiritual healing to people in need, and ‘reach[ing] [his] goal’.  It is interesting that the Saviour mentions the ‘third day’ in connection with this – his victorious Resurrection was as much a part of the work he had come to do as was his death on the Cross as punishment for our sin.  As the Apostle Paul says: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

As I reflect on all these things I think about my own attitude to Jesus.  At the height of his trial, Pilate asked the Pharisees who had handed him over and who had asked him to release Barabbas, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”, and they all said, “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 26:22).  In my youth group days, I was often faced with this question when we sang A.B.Simpson’s words, “Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall, friendless, forsaken, betrayed  by all.  Hearken, what meaneth the sudden call: ‘What will you do with Jesus?’  ‘What will you do with Jesus?’  Neutral you cannot be, some day your heart will be asking, ‘What will he do with me?’”

– Bruce Christian