Today in Jerusalem, part of a wall built by Herod the Great still stands. Herod had embarked on a huge project, to renovate the temple in Jerusalem. Less than 100 years later the temple was torn down by the Romans, and the only remaining piece was the section of wall. It is known to us as the Western Wall, where worshippers gather on Friday evening - the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath - for prayers. There is an incredible reverence attached to this wall.
On the place called Temple Mount, just beyond the wall, are two Muslim holy places built on the site where the temple stood. Muslims believe that Mohammad ascended into heaven and received the Koran on this mountain. It is one of their holiest sites.
In the Middle East today, there are people on both sides who would be willing to give up territory to stop the conflict. Unfortunately the one thing on which neither can agree is who controls Jerusalem. The city is so central to the faith of both groups, that neither wants to give up the control or the power. They are willing to resort to violence to retain that control. In my mind this is religion gone awry, religion confused by a need of people to be “on top”, religion which attaches identity to a place, and makes the place most important.
Jerusalem was the capital of Israel as a unified kingdom under David and Solomon. When the kingdom was divided, Jerusalem continued as the capital of the southern nation of Judah. David’s descendants ruled over Judah for over 400 years, until the Babylonians destroyed the city and deported the entire royal family. By the time Jesus came along, there was no Jewish state at all, and no descendant of David on the throne. The new capital city was Caesarea. Regardless, Jerusalem was still a holy place, the Jews had been freed from exile in Babylon and allowed to build a new temple - but in no way was it as incredible as that of Solomon. Then, about 20 years before Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great began his massive renovation of the temple which continued for thirty years after Jesus’death - in total over 80 years of work.
It is important to remember that the identity of the Jewish people was “God's Chosen”, and to them the temple was the place where God lived. More than anything else, the temple was central to Jewish identity, and still is.
Well, there’s your history lesson in a nutshell for today. It’s important, because it puts Jesus’ comments into context. Jesus calls Jerusalem the city that kills prophets. In Jesus’ view the importance attached to Jerusalem was used as an excuse to persecute and oppress, an excuse for power over and control of, rather than a place where people are liberated.
Times don’t change much do they? People don’t change much, obviously. We live in a world obsessed with power, status and control. It doesn't matter whether it is at the global level, national level or even the office of the church; power, status and control seem to be the real coin of the realm.
Jesus was no stranger to these games of power, status and control. Time and time again he spoke out against those religious leaders who wanted the seats at the best tables as opposed to being with people. He condemned those who paraded in their religious finery. He proclaimed repeatedly that the last shall be first and the first, last. I think what galled some of the religious leaders most was that Jesus was a Pharisaic Jew, and his words cut directly to them. Although temple renovation was going ahead and Jews were allowed to practice their faith, they also had to be careful. Herod was basically under the thumb of the occupying Romans and was sucking up to them more than looking after his own people. However, I also choose to read this passage as indicating that some of the Pharisees saw the truth of Jesus’ words, and knew Herod would not take Jesus’ words so well, so they tried to warn him.
There is a reality here. Nothing alarms people who have power more than being told that the people at the bottom will come out on top, and vice versa. Jesus understands the world of politics, and power - and when he is given a warning, he does what he always does - confronts the issue directly and with clarity.
Jesus has been going through the countryside, teaching in various towns - slowly going towards Jerusalem. In verses 29 and 30, he is teaching about what the realm of God will be like. He says “People will come from all over the world - from east, west, north and south - to take their places in God’s realm. Note this: some who may seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”
Then we pick up today’s text: “Some Pharisees said to him, “Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!” Jesus replied, “Go and tell that fox that I have no time for him, for I am busy casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose. Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way; for it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!
...and then he weeps as he speaks -
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. Now, look, your house is abandoned, and it is too late.”
He knows the game of power that Herod and some of the leaders are playing, and he says that his own activities of proclaiming the realm of God where the last come first, will not stop, that his activities will take him to Jerusalem, to the centre of Roman power, and he will die.
Here is the vision. The henhouse is full of foxes, and Jesus the prophet comes along to say that the realm of God is a place where the very least will be first; where the powerful lose their status. The foxes will be turfed out of the henhouse.; and the powers of Caesar quake in their boots.
In 2010, things in Jerusalem have not changed much. Things in the world have not changed much. Herod Antipas and those around him wear many faces. The poor of Vancouver’s Lower East Side are covered up and pushed aside, not by the athletes but by organisers who are more concerned about power, control, and image. Money and power try to control economies and countries - and often those who try to remove oppression lose their lives for it. Those who try to be honest, and blow the whistle on dishonest business lose their livelihoods and get blamed. But Herod, the old fox in the henhouse, no matter what his name in 2010, is not as much in control as he thinks. God who lives beyond all powers and principalities, all control and oppression, continues to demonstrate the reality of a new realm, just when the powers think everything is going their way.
This week in Lent, perhaps it’s good to reflect on power, and those who speak truth to power, as Jesus did. Do we speak truth to power? Or do we prefer to just focus on keeping ourselves alive? Who are the foxes who distract us from what we believe is God’s purpose in the world?
Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says "If you have ever loved someone you could not protect, then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament. All you can do is open your arms. You cannot make anyone walk into them. Meanwhile, this is the most vulnerable posture in the world --wings spread, breast exposed --but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. ... Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. She has no fangs, no claws, no rippling muscles. All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body. If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first; which he does, as it turns out. He slides up on her one night in the yard while all the babies are asleep. When her cry wakens them, they scatter.
She dies the next day where both foxes and chickens can see her -- wings spread, breast exposed -- without a single chick beneath her feathers. It breaks her heart . . . but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand."
Sources:
1. “The Foxes are Not in Control”, by Rev. David Shearman, Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound, ON.
2. “Sanctuary” by Rev. Richard Gehring, formerly Manhattan Mennonite Church, Manhattan, Kansas.
3. "Chickens and Foxes", by Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, in Bread of Angels. Cowley Publications, 1997.
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