 Tonight we're in chapter 13. Let's begin reading together here in chapter 13 at verse 22 and We'll read together from verse 22 to verse 30 and We'll get into our study Luke chapter 13 beginning at verse 22 Luke writes he went through the cities and villages teaching and journey in turn toward Jerusalem Then one said to him Lord are there few who are saved and he said to them Strive to enter through the narrow gate for many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able when once the master of the house has risen up and Shut the door and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying Lord Lord open for us And he will answer and say to you I do not know you where you are from Then you will begin to say we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets But he will say I tell you I do not know you where you are from depart from me all you workers of iniquity They'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and Yourselves thrust out They will come from the east and the west from the north and the south and sit down in the kingdom of God and Indeed there are last who will be first and there are first who will be last now as we look at this passage The Lord Jesus Christ is continuing the ministry that he'd begun early in his ministry You know that he has been teaching and preaching throughout his ministry time here And he's on his way now very slowly to the city of Jerusalem Again teaching and preaching. This is what he's been doing consistently now for some three years You've seen this in the Gospel of Luke how it says for example in Luke chapter 4 verses 43 and 44 that Jesus had said I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I've been sent and he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 says Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and Healing every sickness and every disease among the people so this was something that Jesus had regularly been doing He has been continuously preaching and teaching going from village to city all through his ministry history for the last three years And so he is now on his way to the city of Jerusalem That's what it says in verse 22 when it says he went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem So he's on his way to the city of Jerusalem and as he is there and as he is ministering Somebody asked him a question notice the question in verse 23 one said to him Lord are there few who are saved? Good question. Are there few who are saved? How many people are going to be saved anyway? Now you can ask yourself a very basic thing a basic question You can ask yourself if this may be a sincere question Is this something that this person is sincerely asking does he really want to know if there are just a few people who are Going to actually go to heaven or not. I Suspect that this is not a sincere question and I can tell you why During Jesus's day There was a widely held belief that all Israel all national Israel would automatically be saved There was a widely held belief that all national Israel those who were born Jews Would be automatically people who enter into the kingdom of heaven you would have to be exceptionally evil Not to go to heaven according to the theology of that day now Gentiles normally were excluded from heaven, but there were some righteous Gentiles who might enter in But it basically was a shoe in for every Jewish person and so when this person is asking that question I don't know that it's sincere You see the rabbis taught all Israelites have a share in the world to come for it is written Thy people also shall be all righteous They shall inherit the land forever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified the Jewish rabbis actually quoted that out of their writings and Believed that because Isaiah 60 21 says that that that automatically means that every Jew enters into the kingdom of God All Israel is automatically saved But the fact is John the Baptist the forerunner of Jesus Christ had preached against that mentality When John the Baptist was ministering in Luke chapter 3 verse 8. This is what he said He said bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves. We have Abraham as our father For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones don't say I automatically enter into the kingdom of heaven because I am ethnically associated with Abraham who is the father of the Jewish race Do not think that you somehow are For sure to heaven simply because you are racially Jewish and because you've been raised in Israel And because you've heard the law because that's not true Later on in the ministry of the man by the name of Paul the Apostle Paul speaking concerning that made it very clear That you had to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ to enter into the kingdom of heaven You had to have a relationship with God to be able to enter into the promises of God Because in Romans in chapter 2 verses 28 and 29 Paul said he is not a Jew who is one outwardly Nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh He's a Jew who is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not from men, but from God Now of all people in the history of the nation of Israel Paul more than likely could have made a very strong claim that he was going to enter into heaven Based on his pedigree he speaks about that when he writes to one of the churches the church of Philippi and he speaks concerning all the things that at one time were to his advantage and he speaks in his testimony in chapter 3 concerning the fact that it came from a certain tribe a certain lineage a certain religious history and As far as he was concerned. He said and the righteousness that is found according to the law of Moses He said I've been found blameless He said in other words if you were to look at The the things that pertain to my life and the things that I could trust it in terms of religion He said, you know, I'm one of those who excelled above all of my contemporaries in the Jewish faith I was an individual who had such a zeal that I persecuted those who were embracing Christianity I'm a person who had righteousness according to the law I was a person who had had it all and yet I've discovered I really had nothing until I came to faith in Jesus Christ So Paul of all people could be saying to to the Jewish nation even as Jesus is here Beginning to speak to him about this. He could say your righteousness is not sufficient You need to have a savior. You need to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ You see those who are listening to Jesus at this time and the man who's asking the question by and large had a belief that All Jews went to heaven automatically and so Jesus begins to answer that question When the man asked that question again in verse 23 Lord, are there few who are saved? Good question. Let's see Jesus's answer He said to them Strive to enter through the narrow gate For many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able When once the master of the house is risen up and shut the door And you begin to stand outside and knock at the door Saying Lord Lord open for us and he will answer and say to you I do not know you where you're from Then you'll begin to say well we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets But he will say I tell you I do not know you where you're from Depart from me all you workers of iniquity there will be weeping a nation of teeth When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God You yourself thrust out they will come from the east and the west from the north And the south and will sit down in the kingdom of God Indeed there are last will be first and there are first who will be last And so he begins to answer the question now notice how he begins here in verse 23 He said to them verse 24 strive to enter through that narrow gate When he says to them strive that word strive is an interesting word when you remember that this Bible that we have in our hands here this Bible Was written in three basic languages the Old Testament is a combination of two languages the predominant language Being Hebrew a secondary language being Aramaic which is very similar to Hebrew so in the Old Testament you have the Hebrew and Aramaic But in the New Testament you have what is called koine or common greek And so originally the manuscripts that we have are the greek manuscripts And so we translate the greek into the english word And so the word that has been translated through the english word strive is the word that we actually use That speaks of agonizing It's actually the root word for agonizing Now the word agonizing or agonid agonid zamah zamahi agonid zamahi literally means to strive It speaks concerning of actually entering into a contest or contending with adversaries It speaks about a wrestling match that takes place within a ring It's like the mixed martial arts kinds of things that we see today It's it's talking about a full contact Contest where the individuals who are involved are fighting for their very lives It's speaking about having great strain in a contest to win putting all of your effort into it Not just going in and kind of messing around and just playing around with a friend because you got nothing else to do So you're wrestling on the grass. That's not what it's talking about A lot of guys a lot of guys when we grew up we had our friends We'd get bored and sometimes we just would fight with each other wrestle around because kids do that That's not what this is talking about what this is talking about is a full contact Sport with an adversary that you intend to destroy it speaks of agonizing It speaks of putting all of your effort out in order to be victorious It speaks of fully exerting yourself straining every muscle in a struggle with an opponent And so when jesus has asked the question are there a few who are saved? Remember the attitude of the individual who's asking the question a man who thinks that everybody automatically just enters in That that everybody goes into heaven that kind of mentality that we have today When somebody dies and it may be a well-known person And you hear that this person died and and then his friends begin to eulogize him and and you see it on the news all the time And they'll say well, you know bobby might have been loaded on crack But you know he's looking down from heaven right now at us and now if he's looking in any direction It's not looking down. He may be looking up, but he's not looking down Because he didn't have a relationship with the lord jesus christ But people today believe that everybody enters into the kingdom of god. This actually answers that question. Are there few who are saved? Are there few who are saved? And when you ask that with the backdrop of millions of people israel itself though It's a small nation had hundreds of thousands into the the low millions in population When you begin to consider the fact that the majority of people in israel rejected the message Not everybody received christ And it wasn't a full nation a national revival everybody pursuing jesus as a matter of fact It was quite the opposite And so when this person is speaking to jesus he's speaking according to the backdrop of jewish theology that believes that everybody enters into heaven because Isaiah 60 verse 21 seems to indicate that and secondly the rabbis taught that And so people are around here. Jesus are not really responding to you. Are there few who go into heaven? You've been running through israel now for the last three years and you've been saying that you're the way the truth in the life No man comes to the father, but by you let me ask you a question. Are there few that go to heaven? And and my my reason i'm asking you is because the prophets seem to indicate otherwise And yet you seem to say that that it's not easy to enter in and and so jesus's immediate response Is not to necessarily answer him i want you to notice that because in verse 23 it doesn't say he said to him It says that he said to them Because he's speaking to an audience that more more than likely have been influenced with the same theology that this man has been influenced by And therefore he answers the question to them all They need to hear the the answer There have been times when i've been in the back or somewhere on campus after one of the services And more than one person will approach one person comes and talks to me But he or she may have two or three people with them And they will ask me a question one person will ask the question they'll say pass i wanted to ask you a question But by nature of the question i know that they're not asking it just for themselves, but they're actually asking a question for the group And so rather than just answering that one person and looking at them I look at the whole group And i'll say is that something you guys have been wondering about you know, and i'll include them in the answer And often they'll just nod their head and they'll go yeah, and i'll say well tough. I don't want to tell you No None of your business you leave i'm going to answer here. No, we we We'll talk as a group and that's what jesus is doing So this man asks a question But jesus responds to the multitude or to the group of people who are there and and he begins to speak concerning the fact That you have to strain every muscle now. Let me develop something. He is not saying that salvation Is something that you earn? He is not saying that salvation is the product of pewan effort or Self-produced righteousness. He is not saying that i i hasten to say that Bible makes it very clear that you're not saved by efforts in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves It is the gift of god not of works lest anyone should boast In romans 3 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in christ jesus. So no Jesus is not saying and i am not teaching that jesus is saying that you are saved through your own efforts That is not how he's answering this question when he uses the words drive So if that's not what he is speaking about then what is he saying? jesus is saying this entering into heaven should be done with determination anticipating opposition Entering into heaven is something that you have a determined desire to do It isn't something that you just float along just expecting that you're entering in But it is the result of a determined decision to enter in that comes to being born again, you see And it comes through being aware of the fact that there is opposition to you entering into heaven The world opposes you a world being the death system that is energized by by satan and and promotes evil satan Opposes you and and your own human flesh what is called in scripture the old man or the old nature These all team up And and make entering into the kingdom of god Something that is somewhat of a battle in some ways Because the world is constant and you know this is constantly opposed to you. I mean the world doesn't have a lot of commercials telling you You know it'd be great for you to be righteous It would be great for you to be faithful to your wife It would be great if if every child that is in a mother's womb is actually taken to full term The world does not teach you that the world says the opposite The world says it would be a lot better a place that there was no religion The world says it'd be a lot better place if more people drank beer or more people were sexually active And that's the way the world is and we know that And it teams up with the enemy and our own flesh that is inclined To yielding to temptation to make it a difficult reality for us But paul says in first carinthians chapter 9 verse 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize Run in such a way that you may obtain it Don't you understand that even if you are running in a race It requires discipline for you to win and you have to run lawfully in order to do so and therefore train Be disciplined run within your lane and ultimately you'll get rewarded if you come in first He says in such a way that's how I I buffet my body That's how I work in order that I might be able to continue serving the lord and be pleased into him You see when he says strive I want you to see how he says it He says strive to enter through the narrow gate And so the kingdom of god is not for those who are indifferent and apathetic You see most people look for an easy path or a path that is less demanding and requires less sacrifice That's because Few see the value of seeking the kingdom of god first In job in chapter 21 verse 15 the question is asked Who is the almighty that we should serve him? And what profit do we have if we pray to him? What's the point of it? What do we get out of it? That's the way a lot of people think And sometimes even churches can be filled with those who are simply curious about religion and may be interested a bit about jesus christ They may be interested in learning a little bit about him But they're not ready to fully commit themselves in their life They may be willing to listen But not all are are willing to forsake all that fall all and follow him a guy by the name of george barna once said Many people claiming to be christians live lives Indistinguishable from non christians And that is true And so you have a lot of people who will say well, yeah, i'm a christian But you can't tell the difference between them and some unregenerate individual You can't tell the difference because there really isn't a difference because this person thinks he's a christian when in reality He's never been born again I've shared this with you on a few occasions, but it's something that really spoke to me as i read somebody once said that During the 1950s people who were living during the 50s were more moral than many in the church today And that's probably true being a person who was raised in the 50s. I can tell you that's probably true That there were a lot of people during the 50s who actually were very moral very honest very good people there's no doubt about that and uh if you compared that society with the 21st century And and sometimes people who even go to church and claim to be born again You would see that some of the people who didn't even have a relationship with god actually lived an outwardly better life than many who claim to be christian because What is happening is people may be hearing may be listening to may even be intellectually agreeing With what they're hearing, but it doesn't mean that they're a relation. They have relationship with jesus christ Because we have to do more than simply hear we need to submit to him We need to follow him carefully and we have to avoid an intellectual christianity A christianity that stays in our head, but never has worked out in our life You see the gate that he's speaking about is narrow and when he says the gate is narrow That's another way of saying it's something that you basically have to lower yourself and squeeze through and you do so with humility You see verse 24 says many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able Many will seek to enter and will not be able I mean when you consider the vast amounts of people even to this day When you consider the vast amounts of humanity on the face of the earth It will really get to you. I I've been to a lot of places. I I've been to cities that are huge Mexico City one of the largest cities in the world. I've been to Cairo, Egypt, Manila, Philippines, Beijing, China London, England, Madrid, Spain. I've been to a lot of cities Paris France with enormous populations And as you're there and you see the the place is just filled with all of these people Sometimes it can seem almost absurd That we as christians would say we follow A savior who says there are a few that enter in And you have to enter in through him And that's what the world sees guys and that's what we have is opposition today I was talking to somebody just this last week who was sharing with me About a conversation that he was having with somebody and How the individual he was speaking to was saying something about All of these people on the face of the earth and how can you christians be saying that there's but one way to god What about people in countries that have never heard the gospel of jesus christ? What about people who are aboriginals in in australia or people in in in south america jungles or african jungles? What about people who've never had the gospel preached to them? How can you honestly say that you believe that there's only one way to god? How can you do that? And on the outside that that sounds reasonable and yet There's two ways that I usually deal with that and this is what I was sharing with this with this brother. I said well, you know When people say that to me, what what about the heathen in in australia? My immediate response respectfully is but what about you? You're a heathen and you live in the united states You know, what about you? It amazes me that you have such a concern for people you've never met But you're not concerned for your own soul. Let's not discuss The theoretical is concerning what may happen to somebody out in a jungle that's never heard the gospel Why don't we deal with the reality of the fact that you've heard it and you've never responded to it? And I have a tendency of going in that direction because I don't like to talk about the theoretical I like to talk about the practical and the practical is why haven't you received jesus christ? The second thing though that I like to bring up is missions and evangelism Why do you think the church has been moving in missions and evangelism for 2000 years? Is because we actually do believe the message that we that we proclaim and so there will always be Missionaries who take the word of god out to various places and preach the gospel As far as they can take it and that has always been true and it continues to be true to this day That is the impetus for missions That's why we take the gospel out so that they might hear the name of the lord jesus christ But rather than being concerned about people who've never heard it How about being concerned with yourself because you have and if you have heard that message How are you responding to it? How does impact you? Why have you not received christ because the question really is related to the individual and not the invisible individuals that will never meet And so evangelism is what we do we go out and we share with people Because jesus says there are going to be people who seek to enter in and will not be able Now what does he mean by that well he'd be saying due to your presumption you assume that you can automatically enter in but you're wrong You are blessed you are blessed to be jewish And as a jewish individual you've had tremendous privileges and incredible blessings Paul points that out in romans chapter nine verse two When he says you are israelites to whom pertain the adoption the glory the covenants The giving of the law the service of god the promises Of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh christ came who is overall The eternally blessed god aim and you have tremendous tremendous privileges and have received great blessings But you still need to repent and you still need to personally recognize jesus as messiah because if you do not You are lost he says in verse 25 when once the master of the house is risen up and Shut the door and and you begin to stand outside and and knock at the door saying lord lord open for us And he will answer and say to you i do not know you where you are from So you begin to stand outside you knock and you ask the lord to open up In other words you begin speaking to to jesus you even call him lord you say that you had fellowship You see the master of the house who rises up and closes the door as jesus himself And the point he's making is the gate is open right now, but it doesn't remain open after you die When you die the door will finally and completely be closed and you will not enter in and when the door is closed It is finally closed It reminds me of how that when god spoke to a man by the name of noah And said to noah that he had a certain amount of time to do a certain work build an ark And he was going to have the animals that were placed in that ark and all and then That at a certain time god was going to open up the windows of heaven and it was going to rain And you see the story in the book of genesis in chapter 6 and following to chapter 9 and all and you see Oh god worked through all of that But what's interesting to me is when it says in in chapter 7 after that god had given the world a certain amount of time To repent and and and peter tells us that noah was a preacher of repentance Which means that as he was building that ark with his three sons shemham and japheth As he was building that ark in a place that had had never rained Because because there was no rain on the face of the earth during the time of noah because god would send a mist And water the ground that way and there was a water belt that surrounded the earth And so there had never been such a thing as rain and you can almost imagine the the conversations that took place during that time When when noah was there building this cigar shaped box a huge box But as he was building the cigar shaped box and and his neighbors and those would come around just see what that crazy man Was doing and they would say what are you doing? And he was saying I well god has spoken to me and i'm building an ark Why are you building an ark because uh god is going to collect animals and we're going to put the animals in this ark You're going to put animals in that cigar box. Yeah, uh, why are you going to do that because it's going to rain What's rain? Well The water belt that surrounds us is going to be punctured and it's going to pour out rain for 40 days and 40 nights And everybody's going to be drowned and they'd say just a minute. Let me go get my wife honey You got to hear what this is idiot saying You know this guy's crazy And you could almost see that that that conversation that was taking place there as they would come and they Can you repeat this? Can you tell her what you just told me and his and i'm sure that there were people who mocked him because It wasn't a week. It wasn't a month. It was quite a number of years Some commentators believe that that the whole building of the ark took 120 years it took a long time to do the work They had a long space to repent and yet finally one day God's word is fulfilled and according to Genesis chapter 7 verse 16 The bible makes it very clear that the lord Shut him in He said it's time noah you and your family Get into the ark. It's time and noah goes steps into the ark And the bible says it was the lord god Who shut him in now to me I've often wondered why Did you add that that the lord god shut him in i mean isn't it Probably that that noah had a system of pulleys and wheels where he just basically would have used that To close the door. I mean why does it say that the lord shut him in? I suspect That at least part of the reason would be Because when the rain came And there would be people Who were his neighbors and friends trying to enter in And there may have been a great temptation in the heart of noah To open it up to let him in But the lord closed the door Because god said your time is up And and there is a time when the door is closed And no matter if you stand and you knock and you say let me in Well, the voice of the lord comes from behind that closed door and says i never knew you We never had relationship Because when you die Your opportunities cease There are no second chances after you close your eyes. It is appointed unto men to die once And after this judgment, hebrews 9 27, there are no second chances. You see And so jesus is making it very clear here You're gonna say we ate and drank in your presence you taught in our streets, but he will say i tell you I do not know you where you are from depart from me all you workers of Iniquity You see they're standing outside and they're knocking at the door and they're even saying lord lord They're calling them lord they're claiming that they had fellowship It reminds me of something we already saw in luke chapter 6 verse 46 when jesus asked the question Why do you call me lord lord and not do the things which i say Why do you call me lord and you're not obedient? You see those who refuse to strive to enter will be left standing outside They even claim though, but we have had fellowship. We know you You see it it doesn't matter if you say you know him if he says i never knew you And that's exactly what takes place. I tell you i don't know you we never had fellowship There was never a relationship You know and that to me to my sorrow and to great sorrow is what i fear for this nation I fear that for our american nation because of all nations on the face of the earth We have been most blessed all you have to do is travel internationally It's all you have to do you can even travel into across the border and into our southern neighbor, mexico You can go across the border there you can go north into canada And you'll discover that either there are laws in opposition to you having radio broadcasts And so the christian gospel cannot even be brought broadcast in mexico Or there are such restrictions on your speech in canada that it's difficult to preach a full gospel message You can go to great britain and they don't have radio as we know it with christian broadcasting They'll have shortwave and they'll have digital style things that you can listen through Cable tv But they don't have stations like k wave and k k la and and the fish and all kinds They don't have those kinds of things there because those things are basically illegal You can go throughout europe and discover that that's true And so we are very blessed every time i go internationally and i return to the united states I have to tell you i am so happy to be home in a country that we live in where the gospel can go out 24 hours a day seven days a week What a beautiful place that we live in and all of that but there are so many americans Who automatically think themselves to be christian who will say I believe along with this nation that jesus is speaking to the nation of israel at that time That believed everybody automatically goes in who will say but we were aware of you We heard you teach you we aid and drank in your presence you were teaching our streets We're familiar with you. We actually thought we had fellowship with you But jesus is saying i tell you i don't know you where you're from I don't have a clue who you are we've never had Relationship he goes on in verse 28 and says they'll be weeping in nation of teeth when you see Abraham and isek and jacob and and all the prophets in the kingdom of god and and yourselves Thrust out they will come from the east and the west from the north and the south and and sit down in the kingdom of god Indeed there are last who will be first there are first Who will be last Now when he speaks of abraham isek and jacob you need to remember that abraham is the father isek the son jacob his grandson And when you read abraham isek and jacob That is speaking concerning the jewish rates abraham isek and jacob are literal individuals, but they also can be used to represent the nation of israel And so what he's basically saying is you're going to experience sorrow weeping and rage the nation of teeth When you see the redeemed in heaven And you yourselves are not allowed to enter in When he speaks of the north the south he speaks of the east and the west that represents the non jewish races that will be in heaven Also because salvation is offered to all people through faith in christ Genesis 28 verse 14 god speaking there says Also your descendents shall be as the dust of the earth you shall spread abroad to the west and the east to the north and The south and in you and in your seat all the families of the earth shall be blessed And he was saying that to abraham because abraham had faith and his faith is what was counted as righteousness And paul later on in romans chapter 4 says it's the like faith that we have in christ That causes us to enter into the kingdom of god and to have relationship with him So god's salvation plan was not just for the nation of israel, but it's for the world That's why in in romans 9 25 and 26 paul says as he says also in hosea I will call them my people who are not my people and her beloved who was not beloved And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them you are not my people There they shall be called sons of the living god And so he's saying that there are going to be people entering into the kingdom of god that you didn't even think would make it Which are Gentiles And you're going to see the jewish race represented by abraham isaac and jacob there But because you rejected your messiah you wanted nothing to do with christ Because you thought you had an automatically shoe in because you were a jewish person And rejected me and my message you don't enter in You will be forcefully expelled because you didn't receive your messiah Now he says in verse 30 indeed there are last who will be first and there are first Who will be last Again, they believe that jews automatically entered in and only righteous gentiles made it But the point he's making is everyone responding to god's grace finishes at the same time John mccarthur says it's like a dead heat the first and last and last first basically says we all enter in through the grace of god We all enter in in the same way And so though the jews had distinct advantages that gentiles did not have by grace We all enter in to the kingdom of heaven Now as he's speaking verse 31 on that very day some Pharisees came saying to him Get out and depart from here for harrid wants to kill you And he said to them go tell that fox And it's not as if he's a cute guy Go tell that fox behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected Nevertheless, I must journey today tomorrow and the day following for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem Now I want you to notice this remember with me that the Pharisees opposed jesus christ Jesus has already gotten them upset at him We saw that in chapter 11 remember with me in chapter 11 versus 53 and 54 How it said there that the scribes and Pharisees began to assail him vehemently And across examine him about many things Lying in wait for him and seeking to catch him in something he might say That they might accuse him So we know that the Pharisees these separated one this religious group of people who are very very strong In terms of their influence in the nation of israel though they were small numerically only numbering some 6000 We know that the Pharisees Pharisee meaning separated ones the legalists the ones who are outwardly righteous And an antagonism towards jesus christ because jesus christ had already Pin pointed them as hypocrites So they're already upset So when you know that when that's in the back of your mind when you read this you have to ask yourself the question Then why would they come and warn him concerning a guy by the name of herod? Because that's what it says on that very day Pharisees came saying to him get out and depart from here for herod wants to kill you Why would they do that? Why would they do that? Do they care about christ? Do they actually care about him? Are they warning him for his own good? Well, no, of course not I want you to see something because jesus knows that they're in collusion with herod because Notice what he says he says go tell that fox in other words I know that herod sent you To tell me this so i'm sending you back to talk to him So obviously jesus saw through that Obviously, he's aware of the fact that they're not doing something out of a good intent for him Now if they're not Doing something out of good intent Then what are they doing? Well, all we need to do is take into consideration for a minute who herod was herod is called a tetrarch Herod is an individual who was a political official Who had a certain authority over a certain portion of israel and the portion of israel that he had authority over Was in the northern area And the area that is called galilee in the northern portion Not only that but if you were looking at a map and I had one that I was going to show you but I'm not going to do it It would take too much time now But if you were looking at a map of ancient israel you would look to the north and you would see in the north That was an area that that herod had rulership But if you went across the jordan to the east and the south there in the region around jerusalem in that general direction That's an area that's called parea And so herod had responsibility for the north As well as on the eastern side of the jordan river now The Pharisees had their greatest influence and power in the south Keep in mind that herod had had john the baptist beheaded He was already recognized at that time as being bloodthirsty and murderous It would seem obvious that he doesn't want to be responsible for any more problems Especially with jesus whom people are considering to be a great man So when he works together with the Pharisees the Pharisees who have great influence in the south naturally Would want jesus to leave the north where they don't have that kind of influence and go south Where they have great influence and so they would working with herod say You need to leave the north because herod's going to kill you And so they want to frighten jesus to leave the north to go to the south Because once they leave the north and enter into the southern territories, especially around jerusalem That's where their power and influence and authority is greatest And that's where they can do the worst damage to him. And so there's no concern in their heart for jesus There's no warning that's genuine about herod They're simply trying to get jesus to move to a region that they have more authority and power in So that they might be able to do him harm. And that's why in verse 32 he says go tell that fox Behold I cast out demons perform curious today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected Nevertheless, I must journey today tomorrow and the day following for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem you let him know that the timetable that I operate on is my father's timetable and not his and you Let him know that I have a purpose that I have come In order to fulfill and I am not going to be moved out of fear to do the things That that he was trying to get me to do because I need to stay in the center of the will of my father In order that I might do those things that god has commanded me to do and has sent me to do So you see man cannot manipulate jesus christ to alter his pace or alter his plan So he says that in verse 33. I must journey today tomorrow in the day following Now it's interesting how he says it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. This is actually More or less what we would call a proverb Because we know that not all prophets died in Jerusalem For example, john the baptist didn't die in Jerusalem. He died south of Jerusalem and all of that And so this is a proverb and the point he was simply making is Jewish prophets were killed by their own people And not by foreign enemies It's interesting that instead of calling Jerusalem a holy city though He speaks of it as a city that kills its own prophets And it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. Then he speaks of Jerusalem verse 34 Jerusalem The one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings But you were not willing See your house is left to you desolate And assuredly I say to you You shall not see me Until the time comes When you say Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord I can't capture the emotion that Jesus was expressing at this time When he says Jerusalem Jerusalem that gives you a hint that he is saying something with with passion And he's speaking of this beautiful city A city that kills those who have been sent to her And he uses a picture an interesting picture. He says, you know Jerusalem it's like I'm a mother hen And I look into the sky And I see a hawk And I began to call out to my My babies and and and I and I'm asking them I'm calling to them To come and find shelter under my wings Now you need to understand that that picture means I am willing to lay my life down for you The way a mother will lay her life down for her baby One of the most touching pictures that I can remember seeing in my entire life Was published in a newspaper several years ago And what it was was a missionary mother In a nation in Africa And the missionary compound had been invaded And there were rebels who entered into this mission's compound and began with their weapons To fire on these missionaries and were killing killing them They shot them to death many of them died in this mission's compound But there was a photographer somebody took a picture Of a mother and the mother all you could see was the mother on top of her child She was alive But you could see the little arm of her little girl hanging out underneath her This mother had thrown I get emotional. I'm sorry had thrown her baby on the ground And had leapt on her Covered her so that she could take the bullets And save her baby's life had touched me like very few pictures ever have Because that is a picture of unselfish love Absolute I will lay down my life for you and they can take mine, but they will not harm you That's what Jesus is saying here Jerusalem Jerusalem How often I would have gathered you and I put you under my wings. I'd have protected you I'd have laid my life down for you I look into the sky and I see the enemy as he is he is hovering above Looking for the one he may devour I've been trying to bring you underneath me so that I might be able to protect you Give you peace and safety and security, but you were not willing you didn't want to come You continued remaining out there in your own and I called into you and I wanted to protect you But the result is going to be your destruction verse 35 your house has left you desolate Surely I say to you you shall not see me until the time comes when you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord You see you're the ones who killed the prophet you stone those who have been sent to you, but I wanted to protect you You see ultimately ultimately Israel suffered terribly we know then in that in AD 70 Titus of Rome and his legions came We know that they sieged is Jerusalem. We know that they destroyed the temple We know that the inhabitants were scattered and sold into slavery We know that the destruction was great and fierce and the nation was devastated Had they come to christ They wouldn't have suffered that but they did Your house is left desolate But he also says I say to you you shall not see me until the time comes when you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ultimately Israel Will recognize him as messiah And that will be at his return Beautiful scripture that points that out as Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 Where the old testament prophet says I will pour on the house of david and on the inhabitants of jerusalem The spirit of grace and supplication Then they will look on me whom they pierced Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn I remember hearing of an evangelist who was speaking to gold amir who was at that time prime minister of israel And the evangelist quoted Zechariah 12 10 to her and said to her Who is being spoken of and who is speaking in this particular passage here When it says I will pour in the house of david and on the inhabitants jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication The question has to be asked who is speaking and gold amir is reported to have said that is god speaking And then he read the rest of the scripture which says they will look on me whom they pierced and he said If that is god speaking then when did you pierce your god? And she didn't have an answer for him so he supplied it when jesus messiah was crucified He was pierced for you And that's what the scripture teaches And though there is blindness in part in the nation of israel now When the lord jesus christ returns after the great tribulation as weeded out the nation of israel And there are people who actually come through it and have faith in him They will see him and they will say blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord And they will recognize messiah This will take place when jesus returns in revelation chapter one verse seven The bible says behold he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him Even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him and even so amen Jesus says your house is left to you desolate But i'm not through working with you because there will be a time when people of the nation of israel will recognize me as messiah And they will say blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord