Jesus was making his way through the towns as he was headed toward Jerusalem. At one point, he was approached by some of the Pharisees in the area where he was traveling to tell him that he should leave that area because Herod was looking for him and wanted to kill him.

Jesus would not be deterred though. He replies to the Pharisees that they should report back to Herod that he would continue to heal people until he has reached his goal on the third day.

Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Luke 13:32-33

Jesus’s reply shows his lack of concern about his own safety in the face of danger. Herod’s soldiers were looking for Jesus and yet Jesus is going to continue forward to do what he was there to do, despite the danger. His primary concerns are the reestablish God’s kingdom so as to glorify God. Even if it meant that he would be placing his own physical safety at risk, Jesus concerned himself primarily with this mission, the goal that he had waiting for him on the third day.

Yet it gets even better, or worse if you are concerned about Jesus’s safety. Not only does Jesus show little concern for his safety related to Herod, he is actually headed into an even greater danger. He had just said that no prophet could die outside of Jerusalem and then he goes on to say this:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’

Luke 13:34-35

He says again, Jerusalem is where prophets go to die…and where is Jesus going? Straight to Jerusalem. He knows that he is headed there to die. He is headed straight into the heart of the beast, straight into the city that is bound to kill him. And why? He will die because he is claiming to be the Messiah that has come from God:

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.

Psalm 118:26

Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 when he says that despite his desire to gather the children of Jerusalem to him, they were not willing. He says that, despite their unwillingness, they will finally say this of him:

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

It is Messianic language from Psalm 118 that Jesus is quoting. He is saying that he has come, is coming, and will yet come again. He was there in that moment, is coming into Jerusalem where he will be killed, and yet there will be a time when he will come again from the Father. The house of Jerusalem will be left desolate. It means that it will be left empty. The presence of God is gone and the temple will be torn down. As a result of breaking the covenant…as a result of leaving God and running to other foreign and fake gods, God would no longer be with this people unless they would come to him through Christ, the one who has come in the name of the Lord.

Jesus says that they will, at that time, acknowledge that he has come in the name of the Lord. The people of Jerusalem will see for themselves that Jesus was who he said he was. He is the Messiah, the one who came in the name, and thus the authority, of Yahweh, of God himself. It is in the Lord’s name that he will come, and in that time, in their desolation and desperation, they will see him and know him for who he truly is, the one who has come in the name of the Lord.

Until that time, though, Jesus continues toward Jerusalem. He has many yet to heal. He has many yet to teach. And yet he also is not only not afraid of Herod, he is headed directly into danger, into the heart of Jerusalem.

Jesus, therefore, shows us a different way. How often do we work to set up protection around ourselves? We build our bank accounts in an attempt to stave off financial ruin. We purchase many different types of insurance to prevent the worst from happening. Some of these things could be wise and prudent, but we can also find ourselves ruling ourselves out of the very activities that God could potentially use to glorify himself through us, yet we will not consider doing them because of the risk that we could incur.

Jesus shows us a different way. He shows us that glorifying the Father is the only way. In the end, it is the only thing that matters. He shows us that it is worth the risk. It is worth the trouble because of the glory that God may gain as a result. Jesus heads directly toward Jerusalem, not to avoid trouble and difficulty but to directly take it on.