Beware of False Help
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
When we read the above account of the religious leaders wanting to warn Jesus of Herod’s plot, seems suspicious. Were they really warning him or were they simply just trying to scare him to leave the area? We have to bring to recollection that the Pharisees wanted Jesus to stop healing and stop teaching. He was subverting their power over the people. Why didn’t they walk Jesus to Herod’s door step (they eventually will!)? At this point and time, Jesus was not in Jerusalem. That is where the large gathering of the Sanhedrin would have jurisdiction over Jesus. It is believed that this “warning” was to divert Jesus back toward Jerusalem. When Jesus answered that he must return to Jerusalem, the religious leaders must have felt so proud of themselves. They were able to move Jesus exactly where they wanted Him, for the sole purpose of killing Him. Yet, this is Jesus mission. This is what the world does not understand. The world wants to give false counsel to manipulate and maneuver. But, God is many steps in front of them and uses the very evilness in their hearts to accomplish His greater goals.
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