Scripture: Luke 13:31-35; Philippians 3:17-4:1 Series: Lent
Christ willingly embraces humiliation on the way to Jerusalem and transforms it into glory, so Lent calls believers to face their own humiliation honestly, set their minds on their heavenly citizenship, and stop fearing what the world fears.
Illustrations: uil-orchestra-onstage-alone, ut-am-tip-off-play, pharisees-fair-sadducees-sad-mnemonic, mother-hen-under-the-wing, heavenly-tow-truck
March 16, 2025
Under the Wing
Philippians 3:17- 4:1
Luke 13:31-35
“Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.” Philippians 3:17- 4:1
“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”” Luke 13:31-35 NRSV
I don’t think anybody wants to be humiliated. It is not a desirable outcome for any situation. Humility is one thing. Humility is a virtue. Humiliation is something radically different.
One time, when I was in orchestra in High School, we were performing in San Antonio for UIL. If you have never been in a musical ensemble before, what usually happens is that before a performance, the musicians wait in the wings backstage or on the side of the theater by the stage. This was a large venue with a lot of groups performing that day, so we waited on the side. At one point, I was convinced that it was time to walk on stage. and so I just walked on with my bass. I was first chair of the bass section and we usually walked on first because our instrument was four times the size of the cellos and thirty times the size of the violins, so there was basically nothing they could do to stop us. It was a position of influence and authority that I enjoyed in my adolescent way.
So I went out, put my music on the stand, got my bow out to warm up, and I was by myself on stage. No one was with me up there. I was all alone and there was an audience about 300 people and they were just staring and confused. My skin tone can turn as red as my beard and I turned as red as my beard and slowly walk back off the stage. I did not feel good. I was humiliated. I would not like to ever replicate that moment nor would I want to have anybody go through with it. Most of us have had moments of humiliation in our lives. Being humiliated is this mix of busted expectations and shame and guilt, all thrown together. I think expectations is a major part. What do you expect of a situation? You thought it was gonna be one thing but it’s the other thing.
In the gospel today, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He’s not there yet. Surprisingly, some Pharisees are going to warn him about a threat. This feels like if, during the UT-A&M football game, someone tips off the other team about what the next play will be. It feels almost like cheating. It goes against everything we’ve seen so far.
Pharisees, usually his rivals in ministry, come out and give him a warning. “Hey buddy,” they say, or something of that nature. “Herod is trying to kill you. You should watch out. I know you’re going to Jerusalem. I would avoid it for a little bit, buddy.”
Jesus’s response is very strange:
Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’
Jerusalem is where prophets go to speak God’s truth. It is also where prophets are killed because they spoke God’s truth. Jesus knows this. Jesus is unafraid of the future. Then he uses this rich metaphor:
How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’
Jesus compares himself to a mother-hen, desiring to protect her children.
The whole passage is fascinating, with many levels of allegory and metaphor and foreshadowing. It’s so interesting that the Pharisees are the ones who bring this danger up. The Pharisees are not accusing Jesus of anything. They’re not trying to trap him.
The Pharisees also hate Herod so they would rather Jesus survive if it means Herod doesn’t get a win. It is important to mention that Pharisees were not a priests nor of the priestly caste. They were very religious Jews who sought to follow the law to the utmost and study the law. They did not see Herod as the rightful king but a usurper who traded Torah for Roman authority.
The Sadducees, another famous group of religious Jews, are of the priestly caste, and they have made an agreement with Herod and with Rome to maintain authority. A little English pneumonic is Pharisees are fair (because they are so legalistic), while Sadducees are sad (because they made a deal with the devil, ahem, with Rome).
The Pharisees and Jesus have the same enemy in Herod and in Rome, but Jesus is not afraid of Herod. Jesus is not afraid of what is going to happen in Jerusalem. Jesus desires a way for all to be one apart from the cross, but it is not possible.
And so, to bring about God’s kingdom here, he has to go to the place where prophets die, where prophets are humiliated, where prophets are laughed off the stage, but he doesn’t go with hesitation.
His purpose is true in this walk. He is willing to be humiliated for our sake. Like I said earlier, humiliation is an issue of expectation. If you expect to be cheered and lauded and instead you are mocked and despise, it is going to hurt.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we can understand more deeply the purpose of the humiliation of Jesus. Paul has this wonderful passage that we read earlier that inverts humiliation .
But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”
Our humiliation will be transformed into Christ’s glory because Christ’s humiliation was transformed into our salvation.
Jesus will be humiliated at Holy Week. He will be mocked and tried and beaten bloody. He will be given a false crown and facetiously called king. He is ultimately taken as a joke. It will seem like a bad dream to the disciples. It will seem like a humiliating nightmare.
And yet Jesus turns this humiliation into victory on Easter morning.
But for us during Lent, we need to stay with humiliation.
It is one thing to be humiliated in a crowd with people you respect or at work or those kinds of things. It’s another thing to be humiliated with yourself. Sometimes, that means looking honestly at yourself because this world has a way to get us to lie to ourselves over and over again.
My brothers and sisters, the Lenten Season is an opportunity to cut through the lies we tell ourselves because we don’t need to live by lies. You don’t need to pretend to be something you’re not. You are all loved. Humiliation is not weakness. Humiliation is a path to the glory of God. If we are humiliated by the world, let us remember that our citizenship is not of the world. Our citizenship is in heaven, it is from there that we are expecting a savior.
May we not keep our minds on earthly things, but on the things of God. This mind-keeping takes practice. Setting our minds on the things of God takes practice. It’s difficult to wake up one day and think, “I’m gonna think Godly things today.” Earthly things are tempting because there’s good there, there is good on the earth. There is good in relationships. There is good in creation. There is good all around us. The issue is not that everything on this earth is bad but does our mind stay planted on satisfying our desires or do our minds rise up to the place of God from where everything has come.
Are you rising up or stuck in the mud?
My friends, my hope for you all in this season, on this day, is that you can get out of the mud. The heavenly tow truck can come and attached cables to your car that is stuck, that is spinning out in the mud, and you can drive freely on the road towards where you need to be. You don’t need to fear what other people fear. Even if they were well meaning, the Pharisees did not aid Jesus. He did not need to be warned about Herod. Whether Herod was out to get him or not did not change his mission.
Whether you face adversity in your life or not, God is with you. You are not alone.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.