I would like to invite us this morning to consider two Christian virtues. The first is courage. The second is one that some of us would not consider a virtue, but a sign of weakness. It is vulnerability. In certain circumstances these two virtues stand together, brothers at arms, so to speak. Both these virtues are found in Jesus in our gospel reading this morning.
There are two types of courage. The first is that act of jumping in without a thought in the face of danger. For example, a man or woman jumps into a rushing river to rescue someone who has fallen in, putting their own lives at risk. We use the phrase, “Without a thought” of such an action but, of course, it comes out of a character formed over years, out of ethical beliefs and choices made over a long time. Long before the action, such a person has realised that they are responsible for others, so far as they are able to be.
The second type of courage, is that which sees what lies ahead as something that has to be done for the other’s good, sees it in all its grimness, sorrow and pain - and does not turn away. This is the courage we see in Jesus in our passage today.
A group of pharisees come to Jesus who is on his way to Jerusalem. We know nothing about them. We don’t know if their intentions are good or bad. That is not the point. The pharisees warn Jesus that Herod is out to kill him and that he needs to get away. Actually, there is no evidence in the gospels that Herod was ever out to kill Jesus. But as we all know, certain elements of the Jewish hierarchy were.
By this point Jesus knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, he will be arrested, tortured and killed. Three times he has tried to tell his disciples it is going to happen, so as to prepare them – and they cannot, will not, hear him. We are told at another point in the gospels that Jesus “set his face” towards Jerusalem and the disciple, afraid, trail behind him. So, we have this picture of courage, of Jesus walking steadfastly towards the appalling thing that is to happen to him.
But as he goes, Jesus just gets on with his ministry. “Tell that fox”, Jesus says to the pharisees, referring to Herod, “that I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Jesus is continuing his ministry of healing and dealing with evil spirits. But in the crucifixion Jesus will deal with the evil of the world in a prodigious act of healing in his self-giving for the sins of the world, on the cross – and the third day, the day of resurrection, his work will be finished.
“Today, tomorrow and the next day”, Jesus says, he must be on his way because Jerusalem, the centre of the Jewish faith, God’s city, is also the place where prophets have been killed throughout Jewish history. Prophets, bringing the word of God have been slain in Zion, God’s Holy City. Now the Word of God – Jesus – will be murdered there as well. But this time the Word will not be destroyed but will bring life, healing and salvation to the world.
We see the extraordinary courage of Jesus as he walks towards his cruel fate. But where is the vulnerability? It is expressed in the second half of our gospel when Jesus surprisingly chooses a feminine image, that of a mother hen, to express his love for the people of Jerusalem.
“Oh Jerusalem, Jersualem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often have I desired to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not.
The word “courage” comes from the Latin cor – “heart” – and defines courage as living from the heart, the willingness to embrace our vulnerability in order to be our authentic selves. Jesus displays steadfast courage in moving forward to Jerusalem and the cross on behalf of the world God loves so much. Vulnerability plays an absolutely critical role in this kind of courage. To anticipate challenge and suffering and not look away is, by definition, to make oneself vulnerable for the sake of others.
And in choosing the image of a mother hen, those of us who have been fortunate enough to have children, are also reminded of the fact that the moment you hold your first child in your arms, you are vulnerable to that child in a way you have never experienced before. Even when they grow up you are only ever as happy as the least happy of your children. One cannot love and not be vulnerable. God is vulnerable to us because God is our parent, our Abba – Father, our Amma – mother. It is God’s love for us in Jesus that makes him willing to walk the long walk of courage.
Lest we forget, Jesus is fully human as well as fully God. As a human being Jesus was also vulnerable to fear, as we will see in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed that if it was God’s will, he could be spared the cup of suffering he was about to undertake for us on the cross. Vulnerability and courage – brothers in arms, walking hand in hand.
God becomes vulnerable to all the vicissitudes of human life by becoming one of and one with God’s children through the incarnation. In addition, Jesus’ choice of the image of the mother hen helps us realize that it is our vulnerability that spurs our courage and nourishes our strength simply because you can and will do things for those you love that you simply would not or could not do for yourself. And so, Jesus continues on to Jerusalem, not to prove himself fearless or a hero, not to make a sacrifice for sin to a judgmental God, not even to combat death and the devil. Rather, Jesus marches to Jerusalem and embraces the cross that awaits him there out of profound love for the people around him, a mother’s fierce love that will stop at nothing to protect her children.