OVERCOMING THE WORLD
The Rev. Harold Shepherd, CD, M.A., S.T.M., LL.B., LL.M.,
Ph.D.
Sermon from March 7, 2004
At that very hour some Pharisees came
and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to
kill you." He said to them, ... “ Yet today,
tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it
is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, 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!” Luke 13:31-35
Some of Jesus’ supporters came to him with urgent
news- run for your life, Herod wants to kill you! Jesus was
not particularly concerned about this warning, indicating
that his time had not yet come. Furthermore, a prophet must
die in Jerusalem. He then laments the future of this city
because of its refusal to embrace Jesus and his message of
the Kingdom of God. Jesus then links his treatment to that
of past prophets. Jerusalem is rather atypical for major
capitals. It is not on an ocean, lake, river or a major
trade route. In fact, it is perched on a hill between the
Mediterranean and the Jordan with little by way of
strategic value. It became a major center almost by chance.
David was from the town of Bethlehem. After becoming king
he captured a nearby town from the Jebusites and made it
his capital. Perhaps the reason for this is that it has a
natural spring that provides water and it is on a hill that
could be fortified, made more defensible by valleys to the
south, east and west. There he built his royal palace and
established himself. David found a rock on top of the hill
that was used for threshing wheat. Realizing that this
would be an appropriate place for an altar, he built one to
serve the royal court. However, he did not build the
Temple. This was done by his son Solomon. Jerusalem was in
serious peril when the Assyrian King Sennacharib invaded in
the late 8th century B.C. This is the same country that had
defeated the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C., exiled many of
the leading citizens and resettled people from other
nations to the region. Should Jerusalem fall, the
population would be mixed and its national identity ended.
The prophet Isaiah went into the presence of King Hezekiah
and told him that not one arrow would fall against the
city. The next morning the Assyrian camp was deserted as
the king returned hastily to Nineveh. Most scholars believe
that Sennacharib returned home suddenly to put down a coup.
National disaster had been narrowly averted by what was
interpreted as a miracle. As far as national salvation is
concerned, this event figures along with exodus from Egypt
as one of the major divine interventions in the
nation’s history. A little over one hundred years
later the Babylonian army under King Nabuchadnezzar marched
on Jerusalem. The king gathered his counselors and prophets
to advise him on what to do. With one exception, they all
told the king not to worry- God would spare Jerusalem. They
had come to believe that Isaiah’s message to King
Hezekiah was an eternal promise- God would always protect
the city. This idea was elevated to a theological truth.
Because Jerusalem is God’s city, he would always
protect it. Their problem was that they took God for
granted and stopped listening to him. Jeremiah came along
and dared to dissent. His view was that the nation should
honour the vassal covenant with the Babylonians, stand down
the army, begin paying tribute once again and throw open
the city gates to the Babylonians. If this were done, the
nation would be spared. Otherwise, destruction and exile
awaited. Not happy with Jeremiah’s message, he was
arrested and thrown into a pit. The leadership of the city
no doubt considered his presence and message to be bad for
moral. Events proved Jeremiah to be right. The city was
captured by the Babylonians and the leadership deported to
Babylon. Ten years later another rebellion led to the
destruction of the city, Temple and a large-scale exile.
Jesus understood that Jerusalem in his day was no different
from that of Jeremiah’s day. The leadership perceived
Jesus’ message to be subversive, given that he
directly challenged their authority and basic shared values
about what God expected of his people. Rather than engage
in dialogue with Jesus, they wanted him dead. Rather than
opening themselves to the voice of God through Jesus, they
closed ranks against him. For Jesus, this was nothing new
and is consistent with prior treatment shown to the
prophets. Jesus’ response to this is very
significant. He did not respond with anger, bitterness or
threats. He opened his heart to those who would wish him
ill, musing that he would like to nurture the inhabitants
of the city like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
When confronted with hatred, Jesus responded with love and
compassion. In this way, Jesus overcame evil. Not by force
of arms but by giving himself over to the will of his
father in sacrificial service to others. In this way he has
set for us an example of how we, as Christians, can
overcome the world.