Second Sunday of Lent, March 16, 2025: Genesis 15:1-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1;Luke 13:31-35; Psalm 27
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when some pharisees warn him that Herod wants to kill him. Oddly, he does not thank them. Instead, he acts as if they were Herod’s messengers, sending an angry message back to Herod. Did he assume Herod hoped to avoid the final outcome? Who knows. But his message to Herod was that he had work to do, he was doing it, and when it was done he would be on his way to Jerusalem. “It is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.“
Yet immediately, his voice changes. He’s finished with Herod, and he speaks tenderly to Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” The sadness is there. But still he is going.
There’s an extraordinary clarity about the way Jesus goes about his ministry. He knows what is coming, but does not try to avoid it. How does Jesus keep going? I think our readings from the Hebrew scriptures can help us. Jesus, after all, had been raised in the Hebrew scriptures and knew them well.
In our first reading, Abram has a vision that the Lord tells him that “I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” When Abram responds that he has no children, the Lord promises that his descendants shall be as many as the stars in the sky.
But I think perhaps the psalm was more important to Jesus. Though an army should encamp against me, yet my heart shall not be afraid; And though war should rise up against me, yet will I put my trust in him. As the psalm continues, the pain and hope are both visible. The assertion of trust comes out of suffering, not out of naivete.
My heart shall not be afraid. What a declaration. Few of us live that way all the time. Yet it was that certainty that allowed Jesus to make his way towards Jerusalem. We do not face crucifixion. But we live in challenging times, and we live in a place where many of our neighbors are living in fear. As we journey through Lent, we can work to discern the road that God is calling us to follow. Once we step on that road, we will be able to keep going.
And throughout, we shall remember with the psalmist that “my heart shall not be afraid”. And may we, with Jesus, trust that God is with us.
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