Parables of Jesus: Foxes and Birds

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0:00 For us, we're continuing to look at these parables in Luke, really just because I got curious about the parables. I stumbled out of my mouth a couple weeks ago that if I could have perfect clarity on any type of writing in the scriptures, it would be parables because I think it's so cool the way that Jesus just imagined these stories seemingly on the spot that explain ideas that then these stories live on and continue to teach us for so many generations.

0:34 It's like fasting that you'd be able to do it. And so I found this book that I had gotten and never read that's supposed to give us the cultural context of the parables. It's called Through Pest and Eyes. And so it takes a couple of the parables of Luke and the one that we're looking at today, I didn't even really realize there's a parable which shows you how much I know, Terry. It's in Luke chapter nine. If you want to look there with me, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Luke chapter nine.

1:06 So last week we talked about that parable of the two debtors that he uses to illustrate deep love and commitment to this woman and to call out the kind of religiously self-righteous and now going forward the next parable in Luke's account is in Luke chapter nine. And it starts at verse 27.

1:43 So I'm just going to read it and then we'll work through it. Luke chapter nine verse 27 says, as they were going along the road, someone said to him, hey, man, I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, man, foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, follow me. To another he said, follow me, but then the one he said that to said, Lord, first let me go and bury my father.

2:14 And Jesus said to him, man, leave the dead to bury their own dead. And as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And yet another said, hey, I'll follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to those at my home. And then Jesus said to him, no one puts his hand to the plow and looks back. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. One of the things, the first things that stuck out to me when I was like really looking at

2:45 this is I'm learning is a normal strategy of a parable. We don't get an answer like these people. Jesus you get this vision of Jesus kind of walking along the street. Jesus is, Luke is telling us a couple of stories of things that happen. And there's three people in this little section that line up one right after the other. One is they're walking along the street approaches Jesus and an unbidden or unasked tells Jesus, hey, Jesus, I'll follow you. Jesus has a response to him and we don't get to hear what the person says back, how

3:19 the person responds to Jesus' challenge. Am I in the wrong spot? 57, sorry it's a small number in the book here. Luke chapter 9 verse 57. Thanks for saying something, Robin. Dr. Shot. I may have to come see you. Yeah. So local optimologist.

3:49 Optometrist? Yes. Optometrist. So, but there's three people when you get to the right section you look at it. Jesus walking along the road. First one comes and says I'd like to follow you. Jesus gives him a charge, a response to that, but we don't get to hear what the person says. And then the next one, Jesus actually comes to them and says, you can come and follow

4:20 me. The person gives them a concern to Jesus. Jesus responds with a challenge and we don't get to hear how the person responds to the challenge. And then the third one, Jesus walking along the road and they come to Jesus and say I'd like to follow you. Jesus gives them a challenge. And we don't get to hear whether they accept or reject the challenge, whether they end up following Jesus or go back home. And actually we hear three stories of three people who might become followers of Jesus and we don't find out whether any of them actually ended up following Jesus or going

4:55 back home to live by themselves, which if we're just reading along in the story for the facts, it's kind of a bummer. We were reading along in the story and the sole point of Luke was to communicate to us facts about the life of Jesus. It would be better if he had started with who the person was, where they were from, how old they were and what career they were doing. Then he would carefully outline the facts of the encounter and then give us the result and actually it would be nice also if he had a little footnote that said how their life

5:27 ended up. Wouldn't it? Like they decide to follow Jesus and here's how that turned out for them. They went back home and here's how that ended. But the point of the story of Luke is really to take the teaching of Jesus and present it to me and you, to present it to a reader. The point is not a factual recounting of the telling of Jesus. It's to take the teachings of Jesus and allow those teachings to live on as people share the story orally or read it as it's passed around Asia Minor and then once we had a

6:01 printing press printed in books and then bound and then once we had a global marketplace shipped around the world and come to you, put on digitally online where you could read it on your phone this morning. The point of the story is not a factual recounting, it's to ask you, are you interested in following Jesus? The point of the story is that these are challenges that come to you. It's not how the real point of Luke's retelling is not how did these three people respond

6:32 to the challenge and opportunity of following Jesus. The point is not that. The point is how have you responded to the challenge and opportunity of following Jesus? That's why it's in here. And so the best thing we could come out of the reviewing this little story and parable, trust me there's a parable in there, is asking ourselves the question, how have we responded to the challenge and opportunity of following Jesus?

7:04 So Luke chapter 9 verse 57, Dr. Shat. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I'll follow you wherever you go. You know, Jesus, remember that we think about Jesus walking around maybe with his 12 if we think about it at all, but it's clear when you read the story and start to gain context clues that at certain times Jesus had whole crews of people following him, right?

7:38 Remember the feeding of the 5,000? At one time he had 5,000 dudes plus their families, like following him out into the wilderness far enough away where they couldn't walk and get food. One of my favorite stories is when they're walking towards the last supper, making the long road back to Jerusalem, getting ready for the crucifixion, and they walk by the walls of the old city Jericho that fell down and there's a dude there blind who can hear a whole crew of people walking by and there's enough conversation from context clues where

8:11 though he can't see him, he calls out son of David, have mercy on me. Remember that? That there's a whole crew of people following him. That there's enough people following him that when they come into the town of Jerusalem they have a impromptu welcoming ceremony where they gather on either side of the road and ceremonially he rides in on a donkey as a king of peace. Jesus at different points has lots of people walking around with him, following him around, listening to what he's saying, gathering food where they may, and at this point we see

8:42 that there's a one who wants to join their crew and rather than just following on along in the back to listen in, he wants recognition from Jesus to say, acknowledge me as one of your followers, hey Jesus I will come and follow you as well if you're up for it, if you'd let me come and follow you. Okay, cool, right? When Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son

9:14 of man has no where to lay his head, which sounds simple enough and there is like a layer of it that's simple enough, we know that foxes live in holes, birds live in nests and he's saying he doesn't have anywhere to like take a rest and he would be saying that to say, man you might want to follow me but it's not like we're all hanging out at the palace, right? It's not like this is like we're like living on the streets man, trying to make it work.

9:50 But there are some like loaded words in there which I didn't, these two little idioms, this is the parable, this one sentence counts as a parable, it's parabolic teaching Carol, okay? All right. It's a parabolic teaching and foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has no where to lay his head. So the first level, that is like just as it sounds, the foxes have a place to live and

10:21 I don't, the birds have a place to live and I don't but apparently fox was like a term that even in the scriptures you can see used a little bit for Herod, Jesus at one point calls Herod a fox and the reason is because culturally the edamites, the groups that were partly Israelite but partly had married with other nations, they had called foxes and so this, that Jesus might be making a reference to the edamites feel comfortable in Israel and accepted.

10:52 As a matter of fact they are given authority and palaces, right? These foxes and then the birds of the air culturally were this like phrase to refer to the Gentile nations in and around Israel so he would be saying the Romans are comfortable here, Pilate has his place, right? The soldiers take what they want from whoever they want. Jesus might be saying to someone who's seen that there's a whole cadre of folks walking

11:23 along behind this dude, Jesus who has this kind of messianic air about him, this delivering king air about him, right? This like they had seen messianic figures before, had heard stories about the Maccabees who overthrew the government, had even seen different messianic claims right before and right after Jesus and they see a crowd of people falling behind him that's not small and they say I'd like to be counted with you and Jesus says okay cool you can come along

11:54 but just so you know, the foxes have are comfortable here and have palaces, the birds of the air, the herodians have a place to live and Pilate has his palace but that's not us. He uses this term son of man which we've become familiar with if you read the gospel very much at all, Jesus refers to himself as son of man probably more than anything. He refers to himself as the son of man. The interesting thing is when you do a little kind of cultural analysis of the terms that

12:29 are happening in first century Israel, son of man is like noticeably absent to talk about the Messiah that's coming. They might use Messiah, son of David, even son of God, that would be a term they would use regularly, but son of man was not out there a lot. Son of man was not a term that was used in first century Israel to refer to the promised one who would come and deliver. Even son of David was coded and meant something and used in first century Israel, but son of

13:04 man was like a term that wasn't loaded with a bunch of meaning. Some theologians think this is why Jesus used the term. The nearest reference, the most appropriate reference in the scriptures really one of very few that refers to delivering king when the son of man is used to refer to a delivering king often the term son of man in the Old Testament is used to refer to a son of man surprisingly like when it was say, oh you son of man, like what are you son of man.

13:40 And so some people think that maybe Jesus is using son of man as a humility move, but most theologians think he's referring to this section in Daniel, which let's see if I can give you the verse number. Daniel chapter seven verse 13, you know Daniel he's like the dude who pops up in Israelites

14:13 captivity to Babylon and rises with favor among their oppressors mostly because he's like turns out to be very wise and can interpret people's dreams really well. And so then fortunate for us, I don't know whether it was Daniel or somebody like assigned to be around him would write down the visions that he has and actually most of revelation John's vision of the end of the world makes most sense in the context of Daniel's visions.

14:50 They link together. So Daniel has a lot of visions about the way things will end and in Daniel chapter seven verse, wait for it, 13, he drops this term for us and he said, I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory

15:28 and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him and his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed. Jesus says more often than not, that is me right there with the capacity to approach the ancient of days with the strength of wisdom and character with the fortitude of perseverance

16:07 and hope with the breadth of foresight and knowledge and the depth of experience to take on a reign that never ends. Jesus looks at this one who approaches him blindly not knowing what he's asking for and says, hey I'd like to follow you and Jesus is cool but it's not going to look like the foxes or the birds, the Herodians or the pilots, it's going to look like the son of

16:37 man approaching the ancient of days taking hold of a kingdom that never ends. I think if that dude understood a small piece of what Jesus was implying he would start to cry and get in line. Are you kidding me? The son of man who approaches the ancient of days who takes a seat on a throne who never

17:13 ends says without fanfare or art or without quiz or question, without test of my loyalty or fealty says when I say I'd like to follow you, says sure, forget it, right? We don't get the response if the guy knew what Jesus was saying had any sense at all. He would fall right in line. Okay but now we go on, it doesn't look like what you expect.

17:48 So if you're looking for those palaces or something, look instead to the ancient of days, to this prophetic vision of the future, verse 59, to another he said, follow me. This one Jesus approaches and invites. It's interesting. To another he said, Jesus said, follow me but the dude said back to him, first let me go and bury my father. Seems reasonable enough.

18:20 And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. I mean if Jesus is a real tough guy, this makes sense. Jesus maybe is a real tough guy without like giving people any move, recognizing what's most important, right? And that would be fair but certainly difficult.

18:54 And this book talks about leans on a couple of Middle Eastern theologians and they talk about this phrase, bury my parents or bury my father. As a cultural idiom that's like you stick around and take care of your parents until it's done. Then you can go on and do what you want. Everyone wants to move out of the country. The parents might say, but won't you stick around and bury your father first.

19:25 Meaning don't leave like you got to stay here and take care of me till I'm done. Then you can go on and do the things that you want to do. The idiom isn't that someone has died and we've got to make arrangements. It's I'm going to stick around and care for them until in the open ended future they happen to die. So Jesus, the son of man before he approaches the ancient of days or after, I don't know how things happen outside of space and time in the prophetic future.

19:56 But at some point the same person who approaches the ancient of days and receives the reign of God that will never end also approaches this dude and says, won't you come and follow me. And the dude cannot see what's happening. Maybe he can once Jesus responds. But the response to the son of man who comes to him and says, hey, won't you come and follow me. He says, I will, yes. However, I have some cultural expectations that are laid upon me.

20:28 The translator said the cultural pressure to quote, bury your father would be closest to like a peer pressure today to do the right thing by someone. And I've got this cultural responsibility to take care of my family. Let me go do that first. And Jesus says, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of God, you go out and announce the reign

21:01 of God in the world. Some theologians say that Jesus is talking about, let the spiritually dead bury take care of the ones who are dying. It's hard to put a lot of weight on that flip maybe. And then go look at the last one, verse 61. Yet another said, I will follow you Lord. But first let me say farewell to those at my home.

21:31 Are you kidding me? He wants to just say goodbye. And Jesus said to him, amen. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Apparently the plows that they used in First Century Israel were really tricky because they were really light so they could bounce around really easily. And apparently they had like three different ways to do it. You did it in three passes. And the first pass was wide just to turn up the ground.

22:05 The second pass was a little bit more narrow to channel water while you let it sit kind of in between crops. Then the third was really precise and close. The second one, sorry, the first one you turn it over and that makes the channels for the water. The second one you pass closer and narrower and you put the seeds in after that. And the third one you go in between and kick the dirt back over onto the seeds that you buried. It's kind of tricky. And they had to, they used them behind these oxen and so they would have to steady the

22:38 plow with one hand and drive the ox with the other and then keep their eye on the line so they didn't make their job harder by getting wobbly. Then all the lines are wobbling. You got to follow the wobble every time. It's easier if you go straight. It's a tricky job. Chris, no one's just going to walk in and start running a plow, right? You don't learn that right away. It takes some practice. And Jesus tells the guy, no one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit at all. This farewell thing, this thing is translated farewell is a cultural idiom as well.

23:13 It's like, let me go, quote, take leave of my parents and things. Apparently you don't just say goodbye when you're leaving a group of people in the Middle East. You ask for permission to take your leave. And sometimes it's treated as a formality but often, especially with family, it's treated as permission. So this person is saying, hey, man, I'd love to follow you. And Jesus says, I hate the guy says, hey, I'll follow you just first.

23:47 Let me go take my leave of my parents and all my obligations. Let me go make sure that everybody's cool with me following this itinerary rabbi around the world. And Jesus is like, man, you're not cut out for this. Either you believe it or you don't. Either you want to come with me or you don't. The message of these three things is that Jesus is the Son of Man given authority by the ancient of days to launch into the world a reign that will never end.

24:24 And you and I are invited into that reign and opportunity. This is the defining narrative of our people over generations. I mean, for thousands of years, this story has captivated hearts and minds, animated lives, given purpose to careers and generations.

24:55 There is in fact one, the Son of Man, who has been given authority by the ancient of days, the creator of the world, to be in charge of all things, life, death, resurrection, money, kids, wives, parents, husbands, pets, everything. And the intent of this is to ask you, the intent of these three things, including the parable

25:31 about foxes and birds, is to ask you. Where does the Son of Man fit in the things, in the obligations and the opportunities of your days, weeks, months, years, lives? Where does it fit?

26:02 It would be interesting if the reign of God still looked like it did for those maybe three years when Jesus inaugurated it. So located, fixated on the one person walking around like Samaria and Israel. And we could know exactly where our commitment to the reign of God stood, whether or not

26:33 we dropped the things and followed him around for a while and got the bread and loaves, right? I mean, fortunately for the world, challengingly for us, Jesus ascends and disperses his reign through people who are a mess. I was talking about this with somebody two weeks ago, the disciples go to the hill of Galilee to see the ascension of the risen Christ in front of them.

27:08 And it says that as they ascended the hill of Galilee to stand at the feet of Jesus as he beams up into heaven and the angels come down. It says that some of the eleven believed and some of them doubted. And Jesus doesn't separate the believers from the doubters and give the great commission to the believers and tell the doubters to go home. He gives the great commission to all eleven, believers and doubters.

27:39 The struggle for us is that the reign of God is all mixed up in our life. Your obligations are important. Your families need you. Your work is significant and above all, before all and after all, is the reign of God. You've got to sort it out how it works. All I'm saying is that the reign of God, the invitation to join in the reign of God from the Son of Man, the one who approaches the ancient of days is the greatest opportunity you will ever have.

28:10 And it will rest on you forever if you're interested. It's worth taking the time to sort out where that invitation ranks in your priorities in life. How important is it to follow the person of Jesus who invites you on the adventure of his reign forever? It's an open invitation without test, right, or proving.

28:41 He welcomes believers and doubters alike, even me and you. Let me pray that we might find ways to order our priorities in lying with him. Hey Lord Jesus, thank you for the invitation into your reign. We don't fully understand the scope and breadth of your generosity in invitation. Teach us Lord to be people who order our priorities in line with what is true and right.

29:19 To take you up on your gracious offer to follow. And then let us cling to that offer until the day that you call us home. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.