Jesus talks about his destiny

Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Luke (13:31-35), which he says is chock full of things in relation to the destiny of Jesus.

Firstly, there is a reminder of John the Baptist’s death by Herod Antipas. We even have Jesus’s hostile comment about Herod being a fox. The word also means ‘jackal’ and, given there were not any foxes at the time, we should probably use the word ‘jackal’ because they did exist at the time of Jesus.  The jackal was a notorious scavenger; it was wild and uncouth; and this what Jesus calls Herod.

What is also understood here is that Jesus controls and faces his destiny.  The time is coming for him to accomplish the purpose he was sent here for, the purpose his Father gave him.

In the second part of the Gospel, we hear Jesus lament over Jerusalem and the city’s unwillingness to respond.  Jesus must have had a real affection for the city, hence, the use of the image of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings.

With our Gospel in mind, Fr Paul says, we might reflect, ‘Have I failed like Jerusalem? Have I been unwilling like Jerusalem to respond to Jesus?’.