Episode 190: But You Would Not | +Quigg Lawrence

Introduction

Well, I'm so glad you guys are here and you got out of the igloo. We do this on livestream both on Facebook, now on YouTube because it doesn't skip. And, we have listeners from Africa. And, this morning, I told them that, you know, you guys had gotten out of the igloo and I was so proud of you, and they had no idea what I was talking about. It was cold. This morning, when I got up, it was 12 degrees. I was in the hot tub on my deck this morning, 12 degrees, praying that the Holy Spirit would show up in this time. I tell you what, he did the first service. He did.

The Main Passage and Jesus’ Lament

The topic today is Luke 13:31-35, and I need bigger glasses for sure. But I want to point out that this is not Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. That comes later. That comes during the triumphal entry. This is a different story. This is a story of Jesus standing outside of Jerusalem and lamenting, being sad in his heart that he wanted to bring shalom. He wanted to bring salvation to his people, but they were unwilling. And so he says, your house will be desolate.

Go to the next slide. Yeah. So it's a lament, not weeping. Now, who knows what this picture is right here? Not too hard to figure out. Have you seen the pictures? I remember seeing a video from the Guardian this week of a little boy, he's a little older than my oldest grandson. He was in Ukraine crying his eyes out because his dad is fighting and is separated from them. He just couldn't figure out why are they blowing everything up? Why are they killing people? Why are we having to go with a suitcase? Why have we not slept in three days? Just to see the way the mothers—do you see it? To see the way the mothers are taking their children. Fathers too. I had pictures of fathers doing the same thing. How tender, how powerful. I hope your prayers are directed to these friends who are having such a hard time.

It reminds me so much of what Jesus wanted for his people. I long to gather you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. I long for this, but you would not.

Next slide. Next one. Apparently it's not a reel. Okay, that's fine.

The Scripture and the Pharisees

Alright, let's go to our scriptures. In the old days, we actually used Bibles, we had Bibles, and now what I find out is people don't seem to have Bibles. I'm a Ludite, I like a Bible, I like a book in my hand. But so often, I don't have the book in my hand, so what do I have to use? Use an app. And you know what? God doesn't care. Either one. You wanna be a Ludite and use a book? You wanna be a techno person? Fine. But just get yourself to Luke 13. Otherwise, you're gonna be super bored and checked out. Luke 13, we begin at verse 31.

Here it goes. First verse, it says, at that very hour, Pharisees came.

Now, before we dive into what's going to happen with the Pharisees and the message Jesus has for them, I want you to understand who the Pharisees are. Does anybody just have it on the tip of your tongue? Tell me something about the Pharisees. Go. Lawyers. Keep going. Until I get a hearing aid, I really can't hear any of you. Why don't I share what I have on my paper? Is that cool? Okay.

So the Pharisees, there were 6,000 of them. They were the largest sect in Israel, a religious sect. The word Pharisee means separate. And so really, they wanted to separate themselves from people who were not walking the walk and talking the talk. And the Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, accepted the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Okay? But they also accepted the writings and the prophets. And on top of that, just like many in the modern church, they accept other teachings, oral traditions, the traditions of the elders.

In one sense, that sounds very liberal that they're adding to God's word, taking all this oral tradition. But the weird thing is a Pharisee can make a rule out of a rule. So now instead of just having the book of Moses, five books of Moses to make rules out of, they had that plus the prophets, plus the writings, plus oral tradition, plus what the rabbis were teaching. You can imagine how tied up they were in the rules. They couldn't even remember them all.

Other things about the Pharisees. The Pharisees were not aristocratic people. They were commoners. The Sadducees were rich. They were aristocrats. Think country club at prayer. The Sadducees loved the temple and the show and the finery of the temple. Sorry, the Sadducees. But the Pharisees loved the synagogue, and they were rulers of the synagogue. The Pharisees despised Rome and all their laws and their rulers. They despised them. They hated them. But the Sadducees, well, I think being true liberals, they just wanted to get along so they could make money and have power and do their thing. They accommodated the Romans.

The Pharisees believed in the supernatural. They believed in angels, demons. They believed in heaven and hell and the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees didn't believe in any of that. They were like Thomas Jefferson. They just cut the miraculous out of their scriptures. Anything else? I think that pretty well describes the Pharisees.

So let's go on. Look in 31b. And it says, and the Pharisees who you just learned about, and the Pharisees said to Jesus, get away from here for Herod wants to kill you.

Now friends, I don't know about you, but I found this amazing. Why would I find this amazing? Why would you find this amazing? What are the what are the Pharisees doing here? We see all through the New Testament, they're plotting and scheming, trying to trick Jesus so they can find a charge so that he could be put to death. But in this passage, in this verse 31b, what are the Pharisees saying to Jesus? Somebody help me. Somebody. What are they doing? They're warning him.

Now, I don't know about you, but that strikes me really odd. Why would the Pharisees who've been plotting and strategizing, and in fact, are successful in having Jesus killed? Why would they be warning him that Herod wants to kill him and not to go near Herod? Well, the truth is, I'm not sure. And I want you to be okay with that. Just like when you read the Bible, you may not understand all things the first time you read them.

And so this week, I had the privilege of reading all kinds of commentaries. And can I tell you, some of them were like reading the phone book? They were brutally boring and they don't agree with each other. And so then I looked in the scriptures and I'm like, did the Pharisees actually love Jesus and want to help him prevent Herod from killing him or not? And you see, actually, it's more complex. It's more complicated than that. Are there any Pharisees in the scriptures that actually had a heart or openness to Jesus and to the gospel? Oh, you bet there. Nicodemus. Right?

Nicodemus came at night to learn from Jesus. There was in Acts chapter five, Gamaliel. I probably mispronounced his name, but Gamaliel. And they were saying, hey, should we put the followers of Jesus to death and snuff this thing out? And he says, No, no, no, no. He refers back to history. These other messiahs or saviors who'd popped up and then they weren't from God, so they kind of blew away. Eventually said, If these guys are from God, if God's in this, then we need to know that and be open to it. And so we see Nicodemus, a Pharisee, had a heart for Jesus and went to Jesus, Gamaliel.

We see in Luke's gospel many times when Jesus is eating, who's eating with? In Luke 11, he eats with a Pharisee. In Luke 14, not just a Pharisee, the ruler of the Pharisees. And so some scholars would say there's evidence in the scriptures that some of these 6,000 members of the Pharisees actually had a heart for the God they claimed to worship. Not all of them were whitewashed tombs. A few of them did, in fact, have a heart for Jesus.

So perhaps they were warning Jesus because they feared Yahweh and they saw in him through the Spirit of God. They saw something of the kingdom. On the other hand, like the old country song goes, but on the other hand.

On the other hand, most of the scriptures paint a really negative picture of the Pharisees. What does Jesus say about the Pharisees? Just give me what you know. Brood of vipers. Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee? Another one. Your whitewashed tombs. Ouch. Anything else? They don't rightly understand the scriptures. Yeah. You don't even know your own scriptures. Bow. You wanna hurt a Pharisee? Tell him that. Then he said, you're a bunch of hypocrites. And he had the woes, the seven woes to the Pharisees. Jesus tells him, he says, your father, your father is the devil. Ouch. What else did he say? He said, not only do you lead people astray and put heavy burdens on men's backs, not only do your disciples not enter the kingdom of God, you do not enter the kingdom of God.

And so if you take all that Jesus said, it's kinda hard to figure out how the Pharisees would actually be trying to help Jesus. Now, context. You know how I always tell you, you gotta have context.

So go with me. Luke 13. Let's look at verse 23 ish. Okay? Go. Go. Go. It says, and someone said to Jesus, Lord, will those who are gonna be saved be few? And Jesus said to them, strive to enter the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter, but they will not be able. For once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, you will stand outside and you're gonna knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us. And then he will answer, I do not know you. I don't know where you're from. And then they're gonna say, like probably the Pharisees, hey, but we ate and we drank in your presence, and you and we taught in your streets. But then, the Lord will say, I tell you, I don't know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil.

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets of the kingdom, but you yourselves locked out. That's what he said just before. So with that context, do you think these guys were trying to protect Jesus? I'm not sure they were. It's a hard passage, and I don't know what to make of it, but the context would indicate that it could be two or three really had a heart for God and for Jesus. But it might be that there was something else going on, and we're okay with that. We don't have to understand every single thing.

Jesus' Response and the Decline Towards Jerusalem

Let's go on to the next verse, verse 32, if you're in your Bibles. And Jesus said to them, so after they warned Jesus, he says, will you go and tell that fox, Herod, you go tell that fox, Herod, I'm gonna cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and on the third day I will finish my course.

Now, brothers, brothers, in college or high school and you say, hey, there's a fox. That's a compliment, right? That means it's a cute girl. But when Jesus was saying that to Herod, telling the Pharisees, hey, you go tell that fox, he doesn't mean a compliment. He means Herod is a sly, cunning, lowlife. Jesus is unafraid. What's the worst he's going to do? Kill him? Jesus came for that purpose, to lay down his life. He said, you go tell that fox, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow on the third day. What Jesus is telling the Pharisees is that, hey, guys, I'm about my father's business, and I'm not marking into Herod's timetable. To be honest with you, I could care very little for Herod. I care about an audience of one, my father. I'm not gonna hurry myself, run into Jerusalem because of Herod.

Jesus’ Focus on Jerusalem and Rejection

Now, verse 33. Jesus says, nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. It's interesting. What does the word Yerushalayim mean? Yerushalayim. Or let me give you another way you could pronounce Salem. What does that word mean? Shalom. Peace. Jesus is the prince of peace. Jerusalem. Uru Shalom. City of peace. Do you find it ironic that the city of peace was never a city of peace? Do you find it ironic that they killed the prince of peace? Do you find it ironic even today in Israel, when you go to the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre, you go to that big thing in Old Jerusalem where Jesus supposedly was buried and right near Golgotha. When you go there, do you know that a Muslim has the keys to the front door? Because the Christians cannot get along with each other. The Russian Orthodox, and the Greek Orthodox, and the Anglicans, and the Roman Catholics, they all fight so much. They have turf wars that they have entrusted the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to a Muslim for generations, hundreds of years. And so, the city of peace is actually a place where there is no peace.

Now let's pick it up. Verse 34, and this is the one you want to underline your Bible. I do hope you underline and write notes in your Bible.

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing.

Now, I don't know what your mama did. I'm going to tell you what my mama did. When she said Quigg, everything was cool. When she said Raymond Quigg Lawrence, I was in trouble. If she said my name twice, I was in really big trouble. Raymond Quiggler, you come here. Raymond Quiggler, come here. I think Jesus is making a point with them. It's not so much that he's mad, but he is frustrated. He he left heaven to give his life as a ransom, but they will not receive the prince of peace. They will not receive salvation.

And so in great angst in his heart, he says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The city that kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to it. How often, Jesus said, I like a mother hen who gets her little chicks under her wings to protect them. How long I've wanted to protect you? Much like those mothers in Ukraine. That's just an example. That's a snapshot of the love that Jesus had for his people.

And what's the problem? Jesus made the offer. He wanted to gather them, but what was the problem? It says, Jesus said, but you what? But you wouldn't. You would not. Isn't that the same thing that's happening today? Jesus loves everyone. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believe and trust in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

All through the book, it's an invitation. All you sinners, all you broken people, I've come for you. In fact, the last, at the very last of the book in Revelation 21, it's the the fifth verse from the end. It says, and the bride say, come. The very end of the book, a book of human failure. The very end, the last word the Lord saying is, if anyone's thirsty, come. The spirit and the bride say, come.

But the problem with Jerusalem and the people of God is they would not. They wouldn't. And there's a cost. Just as there was a cost for the rich young ruler. Do you remember him? Right? Jesus, he didn't say this to anyone else to my knowledge. He said it to this guy. He goes, go sell everything you have, then come and follow me. Because he knew he had many idols and until he divested himself of his idols, he could never put his arms around the God who loved him. And the rich young ruler counted the cost of following Jesus. But when he considered his many possessions and wealth, the scripture tells us that his face fell and he went away. And Jesus let him walk away.

So in verse 35 as Jesus is in angst and sadness over not just the city or not just the temple, but his people, the Hebrews, the Israelites. He says, there's a cost. And he says, now because you continue to reject me time and time and time again, he goes, now your house is forsaken. You know what happens just maybe thirty-five years after this, maybe a little more. The Romans come and they destroy Jerusalem. They annihilate the temple. All the sacrificial things that went on in the temple for sin, all done away with stone upon stone knocked down. And Jesus says, your house is forsaken.

And I tell you, you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. As I often see in scriptures, friends, Jesus was speaking to them. Let's not twist it to make it like he's aiming this at you. He's telling us what happened with them. But they're all dead. They're all gone. They can't learn this morning from the Lord.

It's done. It's appointed to men to die, to live once and then die. What he's saying is, I stand at the door knock of your life. I stand at the door knock. Would you let me love you? Would you let me protect you? Would you let me have this tender relationship with you? Would you? Is there any greater failure of a man or a woman than to reject the savior of the world and to subject themselves and their children to the cunning, the trickery, and the thrashing of the evil one?

Application

You want to get sad? Think about what Satan is doing to the families in our city. Destroying. He does what his name is. He's a destroyer. And what I want to know this morning is there's no problem with Jesus. Even in the last page of the book, the fifth to last verse, he says, the spirit and the bride say come. Are you thirsty? Come. I know you're a sinner. I'm still inviting you. Come.

But just like with the Pharisees, just like the city of Jerusalem, most of us would say, I'm unwilling. Our lives testify that we are unwilling to submit to the lordship of Christ. And Jesus will never put a gun to your head and say, I'm forcing you to love me because that would not be love. For many, he'll say, depart from me. I never knew you. Your house is forsaken.

Conclusion

The gospel this morning is that’s hard news. The gospel is, if you're here this morning in the hearing of God's word, it’s not too late. It’s not too late. You’ve committed adultery, it’s not too late for you. You’ve been divorced, it’s not too late for you. You’re filled with anger and bitterness, it’s not too late for you. Whatever the variety of sin, whatever pitch Satan uses, whatever bait on the hook he uses, it’s not too late for you.

The Savior’s arms are open wide. Are you willing?

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.