Daily Devotional for Saturday, March 14
The Determination
“Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem,” Luke 13:33.
Tension grew as Jesus’ ministry grew. Some adored Him; others hated Him. Some Pharisees and religious leaders were actively looking to trap him. Herod was curious and perplexed about Jesus and sought to see Him, but Jesus warned the disciples about Herod’s leaven along with the Pharisees in Mark 8:15.
Herod Antipas was not as cruel as his jealous and suspicious father, Herod the Great, but he was a cunning cutthroat and enjoyed pleasure and ease at others’ expense. His second wife, Herodias, instigated many of his scandalous acts.
A small band of Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod wanted to kill him. Herod had successfully ended John’s ministry and beheaded him. He had more political authority than the priests and religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus was not safe in Galilee. He needed to leave Herod’s jurisdiction.
Herod would only play a tiny role in Jesus’ earthly life, and that time had not yet come. Jesus would indeed travel to Jerusalem, but He let them know it was not to escape Herod. His earthly mission would be completed in Jerusalem, the seat of the nation’s corruption and where opposition to Jesus’ message of reform and repentance would be greatest. Jesus would die soon, but it would not be at Herod’s hand.
The Pharisees who warned Jesus stood in contrast with the corrupt Pharisees Luke usually depicted. A handful of religious leaders were genuinely intrigued and moved by Jesus’ teachings. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who became a follower of Jesus, and Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the council and a secret follower of Jesus. The Pharisees who urged Jesus to leave could have been sympathizers and secret (or wannabe) followers of Jesus, or they could have aligned themselves with Jesus to rebuff Herod. Regardless of their intent, Jesus focused on His journey to Jerusalem and to the cross.
THOUGHT
“The third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk to day” (Luke 13:32, 33).
Kelli Reynolds