Luke 13:31 (NRSV)
Read Luke 13:31 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."
Devotion
When a jailer unlocked a prisoner’s cell in the Tower of London, the prisoner refused to move: “I know the terrors of this cell, but the terrors beyond it I know not.” He voted to stick with the prison of his familiar, the devil he knew. Change is always traumatic: It offers resolution to some problems only to raise up others. The Pharisees sense that Jesus means change. Thinking Herod is the problem, they break rank to warn Jesus, only to have Jesus finger a greater danger: the city of Jerusalem itself. The city is the center of gravity for these leaders of the faith. If Jerusalem is the problem, then they are implicated. If he’s right, then “we have met the enemy, and he is us!” (Cartoonist Walt Kelly).
Prayer
Seeking God, you search the hearts of all, and for Jesus’ sake, you love us because of and in spite of ourselves. Help us face our demons, both those who threaten from the outside and those who dwell within. In the name of your Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.