Scorn - Sermon Preview - 3-14-25
Scorn
Jesus started speaking in scornful insults again.
He had already given it to the Pharisees. Listen to these harsh words from Luke 11:37-44
(Luke 11:37-44 NRSV) While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. {38} The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. {39} Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. {40} You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? {41} So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. {42} "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. {43} Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. {44} Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it."
And in this week’s Bible reading from Luke 13: 31-35 now he called Herod a fox.
Clever like a fox? Maybe
Crazy like a fox? Perhaps
Good-looking like a fox? That slang did not compute in Jesus’ time
Lowly, slinking “not a lion” like a fox? Probably
Jesus wasn’t paying any kind of respect to Herod. He was sending a message – one that may or may not reach Herod through the Pharisees -- that Herod was merely a weak excuse for a ruler who couldn’t do anything without the Emperor’s OK.
If the message did reach Herod, Jesus was in trouble. If it didn’t, he was still in trouble. He just scornfully insulted someone the Pharisees thought was important.
Message sent. But then comes something equally as important and delivered not so much to the leaders who would hear later, but rather to the ones listening. Jesus went from prophet to pastor just like that. He lamented.