"Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you."
Little did these Pharisees know, they had tried to frighten the one who came to die with the threat of death. But whatever Herod might have wanted was not going to interfere with the plan that Jesus and his Father had prepared for all eternity. Jesus would continue to carry out his mission of healing and liberation in full public view up until a moment chosen, not by Herod, but the the Triune God. Even if, at a human level, Herod was somewhat complicit in the death of Jesus, it was only because he was being used as part of a larger divine plan about which he knew nothing. It was impossible that a prophet like Jesus should die outside of Jerusalem. It was not merely that such a death would have been less poetic or had less historical resonance. Jerusalem itself had a special role in the covenant plan of God, evident at least since Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah. Herod may have possessed the shrewdness of a fox, but no matter his intentions, his actions could not help but advance the divine plan. Herod intended one thing, but God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
God's love for Jerusalem was a symbolic focal point of his love for all of Israel. Jesus came for the sake of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to gather them together from all the places they had been scattered. Jerusalem itself was meant to be a city on a hill, giving its light to all the world. But at this stage in history it was unwilling. No matter how much Jesus desired to gather her children as a hen gathers her brood it would not avail if she refused. And the consequence of not availing herself of his protection was that her house would, in 70 AD, be abandoned. This, clearly, was not the preferred option for Jesus. But neither was it the end of the story. It was a part of the consequences of this rejection that the Gospel went out to the Gentiles. But this result was not only for their sakes. It was also so that, in the end, all of Israel could be saved (see Romans 11:26). The enemy might kill Jesus thinking he had accomplished his own plan only to find that he had actually accomplished the plan of God. So too might the enemy have a temporary victory in the historical circumstances of Jerusalem only to find that he had created the conditions for a future restoration on a scale far greater than the destruction he caused.
We should learn from the example of Jesus and not let the threats of the world dissuade us from the mission that has been entrusted to us. When we walk in the plan of God the only thing that is impossible is that his purpose not be accomplished. We may encounter all kinds of opposition. It may seem so effective against us that defeat seems inevitable. But we trust the words of Paul to the church in Rome:
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Culture - Your Love Never Fails
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