Lk 13:31-35
Mother hen: The Pharisees’ announcement to Jesus that Herod desires to kill him may look like a friendly warning, but in effect the Pharisees are trying to sidetrack Jesus from his mission—Jerusalem, where he will be rejected, suffer, die, and rise.
Jesus’ response to the warning declares that nothing—not even the possibility of death—will stand in his way of establishing the kingdom of God through preaching, healing, and teaching.
Jerusalem is Jesus’ goal; the journey will lead him there, where his work will be accomplished. Like the prophets before him, Jesus will meet his death in Jerusalem. But until that time he yearns to gather the children of Jerusalem together. “Behold, your house will be abandoned” (v 35). Here, Luke gives the reader a hint of the full blown prediction of the fall of Jerusalem in 19:41-44. Likewise, he deals with the historic destruction of the city in 70 A.D. by the Romans by giving a reason—non-acceptance of salvation—for the city’s demolition. The prediction of the fall of Jerusalem will take place after the triumphant entry into the city. However, the city will not see Jesus until the crowds cry out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Thus, Luke ties together this aspect of the journey narrative with the final destination of the journey—Jerusalem.