2 nd Sunday in Lent Year C Luke 13:31-35 Sheltered With Jesus Goal: That the hearers believe more firmly in Jesus call to repentance. Luke 13:34, Jesus says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Do you want to see the love that God has for all people through His Son Christ? Look no further than the picture of Jesus that we are given today from Luke 13. Just as a hen protects her chicks under her wings, so, too, Jesus desires, longs to gather His children under the shelter of His loving arms. Jesus knew His destination, and His destiny. He knew the cup that He must drink. He knew the betrayal was coming. He knew His friends would abandon Him. He knew they d let a murderer go instead of Him, an innocent man. He knew both Jews and Romans would conspire to send Him to a cross. And yet Jesus weeps and laments, not for Himself, but for Jerusalem, for His people who would reject Him. Amazingly and lovingly Jesus still longs to gather His people. He still comes to bring salvation to them and to us even though He knows that His life would end in death upon a Cross. (Pause) Our readings for this 2 nd Sunday in Lent focus our attention on how people oftentimes reject the peace that Christ brings. The prophet Jeremiah had a stern message for the people of Israel. They were to turn from their evil, foolish ways of worshiping false gods. The consequence of not doing so was that the Jerusalem temple would be destroyed. Those who heard that message were outraged! Their response to Jeremiah is that they wanted to kill him! In Philippians 3, Paul speaks of the impending destruction of the people. He warns that those who live as enemies of the cross have three characteristics: their god is their stomach; their
glory is in their shame; and their minds are set on earthly things (v. 18). Ultimately, their destiny is no peace because they worship themselves. In Luke 13, you can picture the sad longing that Jesus has in His face over no peace. Just as a hen protects her chicks by gathering them under her wings, Jesus wants to give that same protection to His children. Instead, they reject Him. And in doing so, Jesus speaks of destruction as the consequence of no peace. (Pause) Have you ever thought that our lives are a journey? Just as Jesus entire life on earth was essentially a journey that would reach its goal in Jerusalem the place that killed the prophets (Lk 13:32-34) so life for all of us is a journey from birth to death. Every human being is conceived as a sinner. Born into this world as such, we journey to death. But for the Christian, life is a spiritual journey that begins with the gift of faith. The Christian doesn t need to fear death, because heaven is ours right now. In Baptism, the Christian gets death over with and is reborn to life in Christ that never ends. But life is still full of struggles and temptations. This spiritual journey is a strenuous one. Your week has been filled with ups and downs. It s a battle against the forces of this world that tell us to follow the broad way, the road to glory, the way to happiness, the worship of self. But, our journey follows Jesus, who chose the narrow way, the road of suffering and death, the road to Jerusalem. This was and still is the only road to true and genuine happiness and peace. That s why we are called to worship Christ and Him alone. You see, Jesus journey involved a plan. It included casting out demons, healing people, and reaching His goal on the third day. Yes, Jesus says it is necessary for Him to reach the goal of death! Jesus is insisting on the urgency of fulfilling His heavenly Father s plan that, it is impossible that a prophet perish
outside of Jerusalem. Like Jeremiah, Jesus is in the long line of rejected prophets, except His rejection will result in death for the life of the world. Jesus journey to Jerusalem thus becomes the way of life for His every follower. You, as His disciples, cannot be deceived when life seems to offer you an easier, safer way. No doubt, we d all like to avoid confrontation, embarrassment, sacrifices for our faith. But the Christian voice is needed now more than ever to speak up against such things as the evils of abortion and infanticide. The Christian voice is needed now more than ever to speak up against religious persecution. Every Christian must face reality to be a follower of Jesus requires carrying crosses. You will suffer because of your faith in Him. Still, we must go on Christ s way today and every day until He finally brings us to His heavenly home. (Pause) By nature, we like the easy way. So, couldn t there have been a different city, a different plan for Jesus? Quite frankly no! Jerusalem was the site of the temple. In the temple was the ark of God, the place where God dwelt among His people. Here the people were to come to worship and offer sacrifices for their sins. Jerusalem was the heart and center of what God had planned for His Son. But the history of the city was a bloody one. After countless years, the holy city of Jerusalem became known as the place that kills prophets and stones apostles. That s why Jesus laments: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone the ones sent to you. Jesus knows that there is a bloody plan in store for His life. Yet, He will go to offer up His own life as a sacrifice to God, not for His sins, but for the sins of the world. Jesus, the Lamb of God, died so that all might be saved and given eternal life. The problem is that there are many who are in spiritual danger because they don t think they need
to be saved. You see, there are many people living in the world today who think if they are mostly good, if they just try their best, then they will be okay and God will reward them. But people are in spiritual danger today when they reject Scripture s message to leave behind their sinful lifestyle and ways. We must remember that Jesus ministry was defined as not calling the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Lk 5:32). That s you and me. Daily we are called to repentance, to turn from our sin. The Lord tried and tried again to love these rebels. How many times can one even God be hurt and not give up on loving? We understand. We ve reached out, put our feelings on our sleeves, loved or offered our love, and been rejected. After a while, we pull back. (Pause) We are called to daily repentance. Turn to from our sinful lifestyles and ways. So, do we really comprehend how often we ve rejected Christ s love extended to us? He s made us His chosen people in Baptism, given us eternal life, and we say, Ho hum. What have You done for me today? He comes to us today in His Word, at His Table, daily in our Baptism, and we want something more exciting, more flashy. God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Why? Because Jesus heart is for His people. That s why Jesus travels the road of death which stands in contrast to Jerusalem s children who were not willing to be gathered by the Savior. Jerusalem rejects the very One who was promised to be her Savior from sin. They reject the One whom God placed His entire wrath upon, who suffered and died for their sins and the sins of the entire world. What great foolishness that was for them and for all who do the same today! Jesus comes to bring release to those who are held captive to sin. But to those who are not receptive to His Word, they will be released in a different sense, by being abandoned, forsaken, and separated from God forever.
However, what great love it is for you and for all who believe on Him! By grace through faith, you are under the wings of His protection. By His outstretched arms on Calvary s Cross, you have been justified. Your burden of sin has been lifted and you are shielded from sin, death and Satan. His arms of death bring you life. His bodily resurrection from the grave guarantees our citizenship in heaven as Paul says in Philippians 3:20. (Pause) Our lives are a journey. For the Christian, life is a spiritual journey which begins in Baptism. Living as His children, you will daily battle against the forces of this world which tell us to follow the way that leads to death. But our journey follows Jesus, who chose the narrow way, the way of death. No matter our age, we live under the Cross of Christ where He is continually feeding us through His Word and Sacrament. Through these means, Jesus desires to continually shelter us under His loving wings. We are waiting for the full communion that we will have with Christ in heaven. Our fervent prayer is that He continually deliver us from the evil One and take us to Himself soon. With that in mind, the goal of our life s journey is quite simple: we are called to be faithful. Faithful in our worship of the One who was rejected but who now lives forever. We are called to be faithful stewards, managers, of His things that He entrusts us with for the short amount of time that we live on this earth. And, we are called to faithfully share His message with others, so that they too might live with us under the arms of His protection as well! Amen.