Lectionary for March 16, 2025
Second week of Lent
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27;
Philippians 3:17–4:1; Luke 13:31-35
I don’t like to get partisan, because it seems like it generates more heat than light. But at the same time, the gospel of Jesus is inherently political, because it must shape how we live among others in the places where we study, work, date, marry, raise kids, volunteer, assemble, shop and congregate. This week, the Gospel text for the second week of Lent presents a stark choice between two kinds of leadership, presented as two female animals: a vixen who would gobble chicks up and a hen who would protect them with her life.
The beginning of this week’s Gospel text begins with the intro at that exact hour (Luke 13:31). What exact hour? As Jesus is traveling through cities on the way to Jerusalem, someone asks him if only a few people will be saved. Jesus replies that many think they will be safe because they ate with him or heard his preaching (26). But eating with Jesus and hearing his teaching are nowhere near enough!
Instead, the faithful—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets—will come into the banquet while the door is slammed in the faces of those who think that mere proximity to Jesus is enough. But then a surprising thing will happen. A great crowd of people from the east, west, south and north will also come and recline at Jesus’ table (29). Will only a few be saved? Jesus answers that question by saying, “No!” A great multitude will be saved, but they will be surprising folk, gathered from afar and of those the first will be last.
At that exact moment, when Jesus had just announced that the faithful and the foreigner would enter into salvation ahead of those who merely observed Jesus, some Pharisees tell him that he should leave immediately, using Herod’s violence as a pretext to drive the troublesome rabbi away. Jesus seizes upon their mention of Herod to describe his mission. He travels around casting out demons and healing people. His ultimate goal then—and now—is to gather people together to protect and heal them.
Jesus then presents a stark contrast between himself and Herod. Jesus is the mother hen who longs to gather chicks, to protect them and show them the ways that lead to life, not death. Herod, and those who align themselves with power, are presented as vixens, who would gladly gobble up an undefended chicken if given half the chance.
This week, the Gospel text for the second week of Lent presents a stark choice between two kinds of leadership, presented as two female animals: a vixen who would gobble chicks up and a hen who would protect them with her life.
It’s important to know a thing or two about the Herods. Herod Antipas, after all, was a survivor who would use anything and anyone to gain an advantage. Get ready for a Game of Thrones-style family!
Herod Antipas’ grandfather, Antipater the Idumean, gained power in the Hasmonean era by playing both sides in Caesar’s civil war. As a reward for being on the right side at the end, Antipater was given the right to collect taxes in Judea after Pompey conquered Jerusalem and deposed the Hasmoneans. Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, married into the Hasmonean family to cement his power and appealed to the Roman Senate who named him “King of the Jews” (though, of course, his father was an Edomite and his mother was a Nabatean Arab). Herod the Great killed his wife, children and many innocents to stay in power. After his death, the Romans took direct control and administration of Judea. His son, Herod Antipas, still retained control of the Galilee and Perea, holding on to them with an iron grip. These were Jesus’ home bases for his ministry. Herod Antipas divorced his Nabatean wife to marry his own niece, who was the ex-wife of his brother. But in the process, he started a war with his previous father-in-law, and another war of words with John the Baptizer, whom he killed in prison.
That paragraph was a lot, but it’s important to know what Jesus’ interlocutors would have known. The Herods represented a family desperate to gain money and power, and they would marry, betray, bribe and murder anyone they needed to in order to grab and cling to power. Jesus said such folks are to be trusted like vixens in the henhouse.
What does this mean? Jesus had enemies. Some of the enemies didn’t like him because he required repentance from those who were close to God while welcoming with open arms those who were far away. Others didn’t like him because he insisted on letting go of power, rather than clinging to it.
Jesus did not resist the Romans, and he did not resist the temple guards. Bribery, political violence and the quest for power are all off-limits for Jesus and his followers. This Lent, let us repent of the ways that we have allowed idolatry of power to compromise our faith.
