Receiving the Word: A Meditation on Luke 13 for the 2nd Sunday in Lent

The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him,

 Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox,

Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow,

 and the third day I shall be perfected.

Nevertheless I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following:

for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

 

 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets,

and stonest them that are sent unto thee;

how often would I have gathered thy children together,

as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate:

and verily I say unto you,

Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say,

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

 

Jesus’ teaching in Luke’s 13^th chapter increased in urgency as He moved toward Jerusalem, reflecting both the grace of healing and salvation which come through faith in Him, and the destruction which awaits those who reject Him.  Now close to Jerusalem, the Pharisees tried to dissuade Him from continuing His ministry there by presenting a threat from King Herod, to which Jesus responded that He would continue His prophetic teaching just as He was sent to do.  Then came Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, the City of David in which so many of the prophets had perished at the hands of unbelieving persecutors, and the destruction which awaited them due to their unbelief.  True to His Word, the city of Jerusalem fell to Roman vengeance within the lifetimes of many who heard Him preach in those city streets, and a small remnant of the Jewish nation was dispersed to the winds of the empire, forbidden to return to their land.  Even so, before that fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, several thousands of people around Jerusalem and Israel were preserved in the Church by faith after the glorious Easter resurrection of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit sent at Pentecost, and history still waits for the time when the people of Jerusalem will declare the blessedness of Jesus at His final Return.

 

The truth that Jesus preached then is still true today, and has real consequences in both this world and the next.  The Jewish state really did fall as a consequence of rejecting the Word of God which came to them, and Jesus really is the only narrow way of salvation before the Lord God Almighty.  In Jesus alone is hope and grace, mercy and forgiveness, because only in the Author of Life can life be found.  Across the centuries, empires great and small have learned this lesson, just as our own country continues to learn.  Evil will come and go, bringing destruction, death, and oppression everywhere it can, but the empires governed by wickedness are destined to fall, just as surely as fell the ancient Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Huns, Mongols, and thousands of others lost to history or glimpsed only through archeology.  Today’s empires face the same Natural Law as nations past, and despite the great harm any evil tyrant might inflict upon the world, their time is limited, and they will fall to the judgment of death in this world and perdition in the world to come.  Only the Word of the Lord endures forever, together with those who abide in it by faith.

 

What is true of nations, is also true of individuals.  The war of faith against unbelief rages as much within our own souls as it does on any earthen battlefield.  There are times when our fallen nature wants nothing to do with the Word of God, and when we yield to such unbelief, that nature takes us into paths of destruction and death.  Only by a return of faith in that Word of God, a return to Jesus, is restoration to life possible through His grace and mercy.  Only in Jesus, the Eternal Word of the Father, do we find the eternal life lost by our first parents in the Garden so long ago, and restored only through the Cross of Christ.  Apart from Him we have no hope, no peace, and even the life we think we have now will be lost to the fires of hell.  While cities, nations, and even empires come and go, the battle for our own souls has a much greater significance.  The works of man in this world, no matter how venerable or beautiful, are by nature only temporary, but the soul of every person lives forever.

 

Somehow, it is the battle for our eternal soul that seems so easy to forget in the daily errands of life.  While we are healthy, it is hard to think of when we will face disease; when we are full, it is hard to imagine ourselves hungry; when we are full of vigor, it is hard to think of our strength failing.  But the truth of life in this world is still just what Jesus said it was 2000 years ago, and has been true since the dawn of time:  life in God by grace through faith in His Living Word is eternal no matter what challenge we find in this world, while life apart from God is eternal destruction no matter how easy we find our current circumstances.  The battle for the soul is one of faith versus unbelief, of God’s Incarnate Word seeking and saving the lost, and of our response to that life-giving Word—whether we accept freely the gift which comes in Jesus through the power of His Holy Spirit, or if we blaspheme that Spirit to our own eternal condemnation.  This is the battle which matters, raging in your heart and soul and mind just as it does in all hearts, all souls, and all minds, irrespective of the material battles empires.

 

Hear the Word of the Lord as it comes to you this day, that the victory of Jesus over sin, death, hell, and the devil might be yours forevermore, by grace through faith in Him alone.  Trust Him, believe in Him, follow Him—and when you fall, get back up in faith and repentance, and trust Him again.  He moved all of heaven and earth to seek and to save you, that your life might not only be eternal, but blessed forever unto ages of ages.  Do not let your eye be distracted by lesser things, for the Word of the Lord endures forever, as will you, and all who abide in Him.  Share that good Word with someone struggling today, and enter the real war for the eternal destiny of souls, where the flowing banners of the Lord God Almighty wave triumphant over every evil, and Christ alone our Savior, stands victorious. Amen.