Herod’s Threat.

(Luke 13:31-35 and Mat. 23:37-39).

Under the guise of friendship and concerned involvement, the Pharisees advise the Lord to leave Herod Antipas’ precincts. In response, from the fact that the Lord called Herod a fox, it can be assumed that the Pharisees were sent by Herod, with the aim of frightening the Lord and driving Him out of Galilee. Evidently, because the Lord was continually surrounded by masses of people, Herod was apprehensive of causing a public riot. Not wanting to deal with the Lord himself, he therefore decided to remove Him in this manner. Through this action, Herod revealed traces of cunning and slyness of a fox. However, it is as though the Lord is saying: “Despite any threats, I shall continue with My work up to the given time.” This was the Lord’s final days in Galilee, as He was already journeying to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22), where death on the cross awaited Him — a deeply-sad, hallowed irony, because indeed, as history shows, most of the enforced deaths of Prophets, took place in Jerusalem.

This evokes the deepest sadness in the Lord over this holy city: as Saint John Chrysostom notes on the Lord’s demeanor “voice, grace, compassion and great love. Here we have a prophecy about God’s judgment that befell on Jerusalem in the year 70, when the Romans devastated it. “You shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” — this means Christ’s Second Coming, when the disbelievers will involuntarily worship the Lord.