Fox in the henhouse

By Greg Jones

At the end of Luke 13, Jesus takes us from Jerusalem – that city of ancient holiness and evil – goodness and sin – faithfulness and idolotry – and he puts us on the farm. Out in the yard. Jesus, the cosmic storyteller by whose Word the World takes shape, presents the whole history of God’s people as what goes on in the henhouse. He paints a Gospel picture we can all remember, when the going gets rough.

In that Gospel picture, we see Herod, the vile puppet of pagan Rome, who defiled the Temple and Jerusalem by his own shocking ungodliness, who killed children, members of his own family, and the great prophet John, and who represents the powers and principalities of evil which do indeed run this world. Jesus calls him, ‘the sly fox.’ We see Jerusalem, the city of God, the place where God’s beloved are supposed to dwell in peace – which represents Creation itself – intended to be a kingdom of God – a Garden of Eden – but which is instead the divided and conquered realm of that sly fox himself – the devil. Jesus likens it to a henhouse. We see the Israelites – the people of God, called to a covenant of promise, of steadfast love of God, neighbor and self – who represent everybody who wants to be a of God and heir to hope. Jesus calls them to baby chicks. We see Jesus himself – who loves us – whose will and purpose is to gather up God’s people and shelter us from evil and death. He likens himself to a Mother Hen. Then we are reminded what Jerusalem does to the prophets. We are reminded of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” – an entry not into power – but into sacrifice and pain – and into the very jaws of the fox himself.

All told, the Gospel picture is pretty simple: Jesus is the Mother Hen who sees the Fox in the henhouse – slyly luring chicks to follow him. To save them, the Mother Hen will cover her chicks under her wings, knowing what the fox will do to her instead. This is what Jesus is talking about: The love of God who will offer up his own earthly life so we might live heavenly ones.

This passage from Luke 13 is about us. We are in Jerusalem. We’re living in a place that’s supposed to be good, holy and peaceful – but it’s not. It’s not because evil is around – and in. The fox is in the henhouse, and he’s looking to eat some chicks. And what’s worse, that sly fox has tricked us into thinking he’s here for us; and like baby chicks who imprint on the first thing they see when hatched, and think it’s their mama, we have imprinted our focus on the sly fox. We follow around the personalities, values, and politics of the world more than we follow the light of God. Like the ancient Israelites, we’re more caught up in the power of Rome and King Herod than in the humble grace of God. We’re like baby chicks in a henhouse following the fox around, and he’s smiling all the way home.

But, the Good News is that God knows this: God knows we can’t tell the fox from the hen. And so he’s come to gather us up – and to die for us – because that’s what it takes to save us from the fox’s fire. The fox is the one who doesn’t want what’s best for us, yet we are all following that fox around, everyday. Power, glory, pride, things of this world, self-satisfaction, security, honor, social respect, these are the fox’s enticements. Run from the fox! Christ is the mother hen who gathers up her chicks under her wings – offering her life for theirs. Take shelter under her wings!

The Rev. Samuel Gregory Jones (‘Greg’) is rector of St. Michael’s in Raleigh, N.C., a trustee of General Seminary and the bass player in indie-rock band The Balsa Gliders — whose fourth studio release is available on iTunes. He blogs at Anglican Centrist.

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