Being God's Chicks

 

The Pharisees are shown as villains throughout the gospels since they have Christ arrested and crucified. In Luke 13, however, we have them warning Christ to get out of Jerusalem since Herod wants to kill him. Is this good will on the Pharisees’ part or do they just want to get him out of town or maybe they themselves want to kill Jesus – only God knows.

Herod is an enemy of the Jews and Jesus calls him a “fox.” This is interesting since he talks about wanting to be like a hen and gathering them up in safety from the “fox” Herod. Christ hasn’t been able to do so since the Jews of Jerusalem have killed the prophets and those sent to them and will do so to Christ. Jesus wants to protect them and give them new life through him, but they are not willing.

In Psalm 27 we see those who are willing – those who seek the Lord’s face. The Psalmist acknowledges that this is the God of my salvation – the one true God. Though Luke uses the image of a mother hen protecting her chicks, the Psalmist talks about being concealed under the cover of God’s tent. Even if forsaken by one’s earthly parents, God the eternal parent will take you up.

Jesus gives a motherly version of God as a hen gathering and protecting her chicks from their enemies – from the “Herods” of their lives. He bemoans that these “chicks” of Jerusalem have forsaken him – they do not seek his face. They are not willing to accept him as the Messiah.

Jesus didn’t have to worry about Herod. Like the Psalmist in our passage, “false witnesses will rise up against him” – the religious Pharisees – “and breathe violence” which they accomplish by having Christ crucified on the cross.

But we rejoice in what we celebrate at Easter –the resurrection of the Lord. When we recognize and accept the Lord as Savior – seek his face, we are gathered under his wings of love and protection. Knowing this and that we are concealed in his tent, we can live in trust even when the wait is long. We can be strong and wait for the Lord.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more