Pharisees and Followers

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is entitled Pharisees, Fox, Fearless, Followers based on our Gospel (Luke 13:31-35). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Utter Pharisee and friends may think you mean their least favorite politician. Mention fox and people may think you mean a news channel. Say fearless and they will imagine a Taylor Swift song. Because few would match your words with our Gospel, allow me, fellow followers, a moment for each word: Pharisees who came to Jesus, Herod the fox, Fearless Jesus and His followers today.

First, Pharisees. During Jesus’ time, Palestinian Jews were not a united people. In their attitude to the law and the Temple, differences existed among them, compounded by varying political allegiances and intrigues. The first-century historian, Josephus, mentioned three ‘sects’ among the Jews: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, and in Palestine, Samaritans.[1]

Pharisees were a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought in the Holy Land. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., their beliefs became the foundational, liturgical and ritualistic basis for Judaism.[2]

The first mention of the Pharisees and their beliefs came in the four gospels and the book of Acts, where we find their meticulous adherence to their interpretation of the Torah as well as their view of salvation and the end time.

We derive Pharisee from the Ancient Greek meaning “set apart or separated.” Opponents dubbed them the “Separated Ones” because of their strict avoidance of Gentiles, unclean persons, sinners and Jews less observant of the Torah.

Now, the goal of all Jews was that Israel be sacred and dedicated to God. The Pharisees sought to achieve this by education, knowledge and a strict interpretation of the Torah. This attitude separated them from everyone else whom they considered common people ignorant of the law.[3] Yet, because they were meticulous observers of the Law, many people viewed Pharisees as liberals.

We do not credit the Pharisees for being the most constructive force in Jewish spirituality. We base our negative view primarily on what we read in Matthew 23, where Jesus criticized them for their separatism.

Next, foxes. Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals that are pests because they attack rabbits, hens and small livestock.

Throughout Scripture, God’s people considered foxes pests and predators. In Nehemiah, we read, “Tobiah the Ammonite … said, ‘Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!’”[4] Lost in translation is the fact that foxes and jackals infested ruined and desolate places on the mount and city of Zion.[5]

The Book of Lamentations ends with, “Mount Zion … lies desolate; jackals prowl over it.”[6] The Prophet Ezekiel cried, “O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.”[7]And Solomon sang, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin our vineyards that are in bloom.”[8]

The fox Jesus referenced in our Gospel was Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. Josephus described Herod as a crafty and incestuous prince. Our Lord saw him as one who prowled and ruined lives that were in bloom, which is why he called him a fox.

In Luke 3, we read that Herod locked John in prison because John admonished him for his illicit affair with his sister-in-law.[9] After he beheaded John,[10] “Herod … heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead. … Herod said, ‘John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he sought to see [Jesus].”[11]

“When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So, Herod questioned him at some length, but Jesus made no answer. … Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.”[12]

Herod the Tetrarch was an enemy of Jesus, but not the terrorist his father was. In today’s gospel Jesus was teaching about the coming upheaval where the “first will be last and the last will be first” when Pharisees interrupted to warn him to flee because Herod sought to kill him.

An unusual moment between Jesus and the Pharisees because we think Jesus and the Pharisees were always at odds. After all, earlier in Luke, Jesus stated the Pharisees were full of greed and wickedness. Here, they seem to be genuinely concerned. Most likely, they were wishing Jesus would leave and stop attracting crowds.

Jesus responded as if they reported to Herod, and ordered them to tell that fox He was casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and would finish His work on the third day. I imagine Herod wanted to be referred to as a lion or a tiger for a fox is weak, sly and sneaky; but Jesus made it clear that the work of preaching the kingdom and healing the broken must culminate in Jerusalem and from that he will not retreat, for Jesus, unlike the Pharisees and the fox, was fearless.

Fearless, obviously means without fear. The words fear and experiment stem from the same Latin words meaning to try or press forward – as in experiment or trial. One who experimented or pressed forward was fearless.[13]

In Luke, Jesus pressed forward when, in 9:51, he “set his face toward Jerusalem.” As he traveled toward his ultimate fate, he preached, taught and healed. “Yet today, tomorrow and the next day,” the third day was always a foreshadowing in the gospels, just as we heard “on the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee.”[14] Jesus told the Pharisees he would not leave. He would not be detoured, deterred or daunted. He would press forward to Jerusalem because they did not kill prophets outside the city.

It was almost as if saying the word “Jerusalem” broke Jesus’ heart. He sobbed a lament that echoed every prophet’s broken heart from Isaiah to Malachi, and then shared a tender image. “I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”[15]

The image of God as a hen lays bare God’s vulnerability. The mother hen opens her wings wide and gathers as many as she can; but even a mother hen cannot make the chicks come in regardless of how open the invitation.[16]

Jesus called Herod a fox, and then imaged himself as mother hen. Even though 2000 years ago “fox in the henhouse” was not a common phrase, Luke’s readers, and we, get the message.

Jesus had disciples. Herod had soldiers. Jesus served. Herod ruled. Jesus prayed for his enemies. Herod killed his. In a contest between a fox and a chicken, whom would you bet on?[17] Jesus’ mission challenged the status quo, which is dangerous business[18] for the fearless and the follower.

Finally, follower. Some simple definitions of follower include someone who supports and is guided by another person or by a group or religion. A person who likes and admires (someone or something) very much or someone who does what other people say to do.[19]

We derive the noun follower from the verb follow. It means to accompany or move in the same direction. It also means to obey a rule or law, conform to, act in accordance with, or apply oneself to a practice, trade, or calling.[20]

Christians are followers. Leadership books, courses and summits aside, Christians are followers of the Way. The world knew Christians first as Followers of the Way because they followed Jesus who identified himself as the way.[21] In Acts 9, we read how Saul sought followers of the Way, those following in this way, or followed the way of Christ.[22]

After his conversion, Paul stated, “I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison. … I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way.”[23]

Are you a follower of the Way? A follower of the Way of Christ? … Richard de Wych, better known as Richard of Chichester, wrote a prayer 800 years ago that reads:

 

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ

For all the benefits Thou hast given me,

For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.

O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,

May I know Thee more clearly,

Love Thee more dearly,

Follow Thee more nearly.[24]

 

Stephen Schwartz adapted and embellished Richard’s prayer into a song we know as Day by Day from Godspell.

 

Day by day, Day by day

Oh Dear Lord, three things I pray:

To see thee more clearly,

Love thee more dearly,

Follow thee more nearly,

Day by Day.[25]

 

Schwatrz’s song and Richard’s prayer came to mind as a result of a book of poetry I read for my Lenten meditation.[26] In a reflection on Simon of Cyrene, the author cites the verse, “They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.”[27] He then writes:

 

A new unforeseen encounter on the Way of the Cross.

He emerges out of nowhere, this complete stranger.

Chosen to be Jesus’ helper.

Compelled to be his companion.

Cut out of the multitude …

The soldiers force him to follow Jesus,

To be his follower and friend. …

Simon does not choose the cross.

It is already there.

Without a word,

He lifts it upon his shoulder. …

Grateful, Christ turns around

And lifts his gaze upon Simon.

He shows him the face of the Father.

Only God can look like that: up and back at a human being.

Jesus’ eyes rest upon him.

 

Jesus’ eyes rested on other people as well. He looked at the rich young man with love, but that man chose not to follow Jesus. When he walked away, Jesus felt very sad. When Jesus turned to look at Peter after he had denied him three times, that look strengthened Peter who eventually took up the Cross and followed Jesus’ fate of crucifixion.

Friends, Jesus’ eyes rest upon every one of you. Whether you have walk away from Him or denied Him in the past or even the present, or find yourself now forced to carry the Cross, His eyes rest upon you. This Lent, embrace the cross and follow Jesus. When you encounter Pharisees or foxes, stubborn people with the best intentions or vicious perpetrators with bloodthirsty tastes, embrace the cross like Simon and follow Jesus. Let his eyes rest upon you. And when they do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1243.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees.

[3] John 7:49.

[4] Nehemiah 4:3.

[5] http://biblehub.com/nehemiah/4-3.htm.

[6] Lamentations 5:18.

[7] Ezekiel 13:4.

[8] Song of Solomon 2:15.

[9] Luke 3:19-20.

[10] Mark 6:21-28.

[11] Luke 9:7-9.

[12] Luke 23:8-11.

[13] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fear.

[14] John 2:1.

[15] Luke 13:34.

[16] http://www.fpcnyc.org/media/sermons-pdf/2007/070304.pdf.

[17] http://www.fourthchurch.org/sermons/2001/040801.html.

[18] http://www.nextsundayworship.com/february-21-2016/.

[19] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/follower.

[20] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=follow/.

[21] John 14:6.

[22] http://biblehub.com/acts/9-2.htm

[23] Acts 22:4, 14 NIV

[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_Chichester

[25] http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/godspell/daybyday.htm

[26] Bert Daeleman’s, An Ignatian Journey of the Cross: Exercises in Discernment. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN (2015), 32ff.

[27] Matthew 27:32.