The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto Him, Get Thee out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee. Luke 13:31
A man was approached by one of his neighbours, who wanted to borrow a wheelbarrow to do some work on his property. The man replied that he could not lend the wheelbarrow because it was the last Thursday of the month. Puzzled, his neighbour asked what the last Thursday of the month had to do with the use of the wheelbarrow. ‘Nothing,’ the man replied. ‘But if I don’t want to lend you the wheelbarrow, one excuse is as good as the next.’ We can agree that it was a flimsy excuse, but no worse than the excuse the Pharisees in our text had for getting Jesus of Nazareth out of Jerusalem.
Was Herod actually a threat to the Lord Jesus? Not likely, given that he had expressed a desire to see Him, especially to see a miracle done by Him. Even with Jesus was brought before Herod before He was crucified, Herod merely sent Jesus back to Pilate after allowing his soldiers to torture and insult Him for not performing a miracle. No, the Pharisees were interested only in getting rid of the Lord Jesus. If they could scare Him away by convincing Him that Herod was seeking His life, they would achieve their purpose almost as well as having Him executed. They still wanted Him dead, but getting Him out of their hair was almost as good. They remind us of the religious world today, people who ignore the real purpose of the Lord Jesus coming into the world to suffer for our sins. They relegate Him to a great teacher, a wonderful example, and a sort of vague figurehead for their religion. But there is no room in their programme for the cross, the sufferings of Christ, and the reality that the death of the Saviour on the cross was to pay for the sins of fallen mankind. Just as there was no room in the inn for Him at His birth, and no room in Jerusalem for Him among the Pharisees, so there is no room for the Lord Jesus today in the the religious world.
Outside the religious world, there is also no interest in having the Lord Jesus around. Most so-called Christian denominations are struggling to find people interested enough to attend their services. Most people have no interest in the Bible or in spiritual matters of any kind. Marriage, an institution provided by God, is no longer considered necessary, or else is grossly perverted by the homosexual community. Sadly, even Christians are allowing the Lord Jesus and His claims upon our lives to play less and less a role in our daily activities. Less time is available for Bible reading, for prayer, and for attendance at Assembly meetings. Plenty of excuses are available, although none are any more valid than the Pharisees’ warning about Herod.
What excuses can we find today to limit the exposure of the Lord Jesus into our lives? -Jim MacIntosh