Life at the crossroads; Luke 13:31-35

I’m sure many of you have heard the famous story concerning a young black musician that lived in the 1920’s and 30’s named Robert Johnson.  According to a mixture of actual history and  folklore, Robert Johnson was a Mississippi blues singer and songwriter, who according to legend, sold his soul to Satan "at the crossroads" in exchange for his remarkable talent on the guitar.

Robert Johnson was born and raised in Mississippi and started playing blues guitar in the late 1920s. His wife and child died in childbirth around 1930 and afterwards he is said to have become bitter towards God and devoted himself to the guitar, heavy drinking and a wanton lifestyle. The crossroads story emerged after he dropped out of sight for a while in the early 1930s and returned as a great guitarist, much to the surprise of many of his contemporaries.  His friend and fellow blues legend Son House once told the story of him selling his soul to the devil as an explanation of Johnson's astonishingly rapid mastery of the guitar.  As the story goes, Johnson went down to a lonely crossroads at midnight and made a deal with the devil, who tuned his guitar and showed him how to play.

Some people said that Robert’s deal with the devil came due and offered as  evidence that they had seen him on all fours, howling at the moon the night he died. Johnson died of mysterious causes at the young age of twenty-seven, and left a legacy of Delta Blues music that has influenced guitar players like Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones. In 1986 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His songs included "Crossroad Blues," "Me and the Devil Blues" and "Hellhound on my Trail." In 2003, Johnson ranked fifth in Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

I use such a dramatic illustration to bring to your attention the importance of the crossroads that we all come to at some point in our life.  Most people’s life’s journey is punctuated by a number of crossroads, where we have to choose a direction or choose a response.  And while most of  us would never knowingly make a deal with the devil as Robert Johnson was supposed to have done, yet I’m afraid that we routinely make decisions at these crossroads of our lives without fully appreciating how momentous an effect these decisions might have on our life and even potentially disastrous consequences.  Though most of us would never intentionally make  a deal with the devil, we often inadvertently or even deliberately make a choice to turn away from the truth of God’s word for the lie of the devil.

I’m afraid that most of us view these types of crossroad decisions in our lives like the famous Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.”  We see two roads diverging in a yellow woods, and we cavalierly choose one above the other, and somehow though we know it makes a difference, yet we fail to understand the full significance and long reaching consequences of our decisions.

If you remember out study last week, you will recall that Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 7 that not all roads lead to heaven.  He warned that the road that seemed easier, that seemed more popular, the road everyone else seemed to be on, was actually the road to hell.  And He said that the way is narrow that leads to heaven, and few there be that find it.  Jesus referenced that narrow way in our text when He answered the question posed in vs. 23, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

I’m afraid that most people today don’t give proper consideration to the day to day decisions that we all make on a routine basis. I have been appalled at some of the conversations that I have had with people over the last few years regarding decisions they have made in regards to jobs, or where they would live, or where they wanted to go to church.  Often, they had heard the truth, they may have even recognized it as the truth, and yet they made decisions to reject the truth for another version that they liked better and they didn’t realize the consequences of what they are doing.  They didn’t understand that the decision that they made so glibly, so blindly, was really a diversionary tactic of the devil and will lead them eventually to destruction if they don’t repent.  Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” We don’t recognize the seriousness of decisions that we make.  We don’t really understand the consequences of our decisions as we come to crossroads in our lives.  We think we can accept a less narrow path, or a less stringent gospel, and we will still be ok.  But Satan knows that a series of little deviations from the straight path of God will add up to a big difference in destination. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Starting in chapter 12, Luke has been recording a running sermon that Jesus has been preaching, which is really a warning of just this very situation.  The Jews were making the wrong choice time after time, in decision after decision, and the underlying message that Jesus has been giving is that there will come a day when their opportunity will be finished.  They have consistently rejected His message, and John the Baptist’s message before Him.  In fact, He says in vs. 34 that this rejection has been the history of the Jews since the time of Moses, rejecting prophet after prophet, even to the point of killing the prophets.  And ultimately, they would even kill the Son of God Himself.

But what they failed to realize was that their time to repent was coming to an end. John the Baptist said that the axe was already laid at the root of the tree.  And in this chapter Jesus gave a parable about the fig tree which was about to be cut down because it failed to bring forth fruit.  They failed to realize that they were at a crossroads in history and they were making a disastrous decision.

In our Wednesday evening service we are studying Genesis, and we discovered in recent weeks that contrary to evolutionary theory, according to the genealogy given in the Bible, mankind is only about 6000 years old.  And the significance of that is born out by understanding God’s timeline.

If we break down this 6000 years, we find that from Adam to Abraham was 2000 years, and from Abraham to Jesus was 2000 years, and from Jesus to our day is 2000 years.  If we consider the first 2000 years, then you will notice that Abraham was a descendent of Noah’s son Shem, and Shem was still alive in the early years of Abraham’s life.  And of course, the flood was God’s act of judgment upon the sins of the world during this first 2000 years. God found one righteous man, Noah, and preserved this man during the flood from whom came Abraham.  And God made a covenant with Abraham that from his seed would come One through whom all the world would be blessed.  It was the promise of the Messiah.

So from Adam to Abraham was 2000 years during which time God judged the world by the flood.  Then from Abraham to the coming of the Messiah was another 2000 years.  During this time God raised up from Abraham’s family the nation of Israel, who would be His chosen people, to whom He gave His law, sent His prophets, and gave His presence in the temple.  This covenant was to be consummated  by the coming of the Messiah.

But we all know the history - the children of Israel disobeyed God continually.  They wanted self rule.  They worshipped pagan idols and lusted after the pleasures of the pagan world.  They rejected God again and again.  And so God brought calamity upon them.  And when they continued still in their rebellion He brought the Chaldeans to kill them and destroy their palaces and the temple and take them away into captivity.  Eventually there was only a remnant of the Jews left who returned to Palestine to rebuild the temple under Nehemiah.  But by the time Jesus comes as the Messiah, they have once again returned to an external form of religion, but denied the power of it to change their hearts.  Judaism has become a religion of self righteousness by performing religious rituals, but their hearts are far from God.

So this is the situation during the ministry of Christ.  Though great crowds accompany Him, they are looking for miracles and following Him for the free food and to see what He might do next.  But very few are being saved.  For the most part, the religious leaders reject Him and even hate Him.  Their hatred will eventually result in crucifying Him.

But Jesus is the Son of God, and He knows not only what is in their hearts, He also knows the Father’s plan and purpose for His coming is not subject to the whims of these rulers. Vs. 31 says at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.  Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.”

These Pharisees were not concerned about Jesus.  They didn’t care that Herod was seeking to kill Jesus.  They just wanted Him to go away.  They hated His message of sin and the need for repentance.   And perhaps they thought they could scare Him off and get rid of His annoying message.  You know, I have come to realize that people who are in rebellion towards God hate the message of repentance from sin.  They hate it.  It makes them feel uncomfortable.  It makes them feel convicted.  They want self rule, they love their sin and are proud in their self righteousness just like the Israelites were.  When I hear someone complain that they don’t like to hear about sin or the need for repentance than I know that person is either not saved or they are in serious rebellion against the gospel.  Because the gospel is the message of repentance from sin.

Even though Israel had routinely rejected God and was even now rejecting their Messiah, yet what Jesus said illustrates the compassion and mercy of God.  Jesus came to Earth, not to be their political savior, but to be their substitute, the sacrifice for their sins, their Savior.  And this is what He is referring to in that statement.  That today and tomorrow He will continue to perform cures and cast out demons, and on the third day He will reach His goal.  And what He means is that the third day He will rise from the dead, after procuring salvation for those that trust in Him.  He will be in the tomb for three days, and the third day will rise from the dead, after having triumphed over sin and the grave.  And it illustrates the compassion of God in that He is resolutely planning to offer Himself as a sacrifice even as they are planning to kill Him.

But there is also a final warning in this message.  Look at vs. 34; “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!  Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”

Jesus reiterates the compassion and love of God – “How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…”  This is the love of God, the outstretched arms of God, beseeching the children of Israel who were supposed to be His children to come under His wings, to come under His protection, but they would not.

But there is a warning  there as well.  They didn’t realize that destruction and desolation was coming on Israel for their rejection of God.  In their lifetime, within their generation, there was coming a time of judgment.  In AD 70, Titus would destroy the temple, he would desecrate the altar, and he would destroy the nation of Israel.  They trusted in the temple of Jerusalem.  It was the foundation of their faith.  They believed that it was proof of the presence of God among them.

But what they failed to recognize that God does not dwell in temples made with hands.  They didn’t realize that at some point in their continual rejection of God the glory of God had left the building.  All they had was a relic of what once was the power and pride of Israel.  Now it was just an empty building, the object of empty rituals, a place of commerce and politically appointed priests who paid bribes to Rome for the seats of authority in the temple.  God was no longer there and instead, He was bringing judgment upon them to destroy it.

The Jews trusted in the temple, and when Titus eventually surrounded the city they would seek refuge in the temple, thinking that God would spare them, but thousands would be massacred inside the temple grounds and then it would be burned to the ground.  Their house would be left desolate.  They had made one decision after another to reject the counsel of God.  They were wise in their own estimation.  They thought they were self sufficient, safe in the external edifices of their religion and Jesus pronounces judgment upon them.  For most of them listening that day, they would be slaughtered during the coming desolation of the nation of Israel.

So in AD 70 the desolation of the house of Israel happened just as Jesus had warned them.  And the time of the Gentiles was ushered in.  We live in the church age which has characterized the last 2000 years.  We live in the light of the gospel.  A greater light than that which the Jews had because we have the complete word of God to reveal God’s finished work of Christ.  We live in a greater age than the Jews because we live under the new covenant, whereas they lived under the old covenant.  We are fortunate enough to live under grace, whereas they were under the law.  But in spite of our great advantages I’m afraid that there are many similarities between the church and the nation of Israel.

It’s been another 2000 years in the timeline of God.  6000 years now since creation.  The number 6, the Bible says, is the number of man.  And I’m afraid that our time is nearly up as well.  As Jesus said in chapter 12, we know how to ascertain the signs of the weather, but we don’t know how to ascertain the signs of the times.  In spite of God’s great compassionate gift to the world, we have turned the grace of God into licentiousness.  We have used the grace of God to say as in chapter 12 vs. 45, “my master is a long time coming…”  and we have begun to live in self indulgence and wickedness and accept evil.   We have sinned against God and said it doesn’t matter.  We have turned to another version of the gospel that doesn’t ask for righteousness, that doesn’t require purity, that doesn’t require sacrifice, and we have turned the church of God into a marketplace and a place of self righteous ritualistic religion that denies the power of a consecrated, holy life.

It’s been the church’s turn at 2000 years and what have we done in response to the gospel which Jesus Christ suffered and shed His precious blood to procure? Look at Hebrews 10:29 which was written to the church.  It contrasts the old covenant with the new covenant and says, “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Hebrews says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”
So with that in mind, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Listen, the day is drawing near.  I believe that we may be in the very same situation that the Jews were in the day Jesus preached this message.  This tree is about to be cut down.  This church that has become bloated and monstrously overgrown so that rather than bringing forth fruit it is become the roosts for demons and the doctrines of demons, this church that has harbored sin and not repented that is corrupted and bloated is ready to be judged by God.  He is right at the door.  He is coming back.

1Pet. 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”  Listen, don’t be deceived.  God is going to purify His church.  Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of God.  But those that do the will of God.  The Lord will judge His people.

Oh Christian, be careful the decisions you make.  Be careful when you come to a crossroads in your life.  Don’t lean on your own understanding.  Don’t make a decision based on appearance or what your mind says is a natural decision.  Don’t make a decision based on your desires or your lusts.  We need to stop serving the almighty dollar and start serving the Almighty God. We need to sacrifice our bodies on the altar to God as an acceptable sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. Listen, the time past is sufficient to have carried out the lusts of the Gentiles.  God is right at the door.  The decisions you make today will have lifelong consequences.  Fear God.  The problem with the church today is there is no fear of God before their eyes. These are like the times of Noah when every man did what was right in his own eyes.  I believe we are at a crossroads in history.  We are at the crossroads of the last days.  And I’m afraid most Christians are blithely going about their business, living for the moment, buying and selling as if things were going to continue this way forever, and we don’t realize that Christ is right at the door.

Jesus said earlier in chapter 12:5 in this same sermon; “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”  He continues in vs. 45, “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,
but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”  O listen church, we have been entrusted with much.  Much will be required of you.  God is at the door.  He is coming soon.

And for those of you that aren’t saved, remember what Jesus said in chapter 12 vs. 49, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!” Listen, at the end of the first 2000 years the world was destroyed by water.  But Peter says in the last days it will be destroyed by fire.  2 Peter 3:4, ““Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

Listen, there is coming a day of judgment upon all the world.  And salvation simply means being saved from the judgment that is coming upon the world.  Jesus said in Luke 13:34, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!”  When I was a little boy in Sunday School in North Carolina, I remember my mother teaching a story on what they used to call a flannelgraph; a board covered in flannel that you could put pictures on and they would stick to it.  And the story I remember best that she told was of a farmer who had livestock that he housed in a great big barn.  And a mother hen had just had her eggs hatch and she had three little chicks.  But that night a fire broke out and the barn burnt down.  The next morning the farmer was examining the ruins of the barn and he noticed a burnt carcass on the ground.  He walked over to it and pushed it over with his hoe and discovered three little chicks came running out from beneath.  The burnt carcass was the mother hen who had sacrificed herself for her chicks by covering them with her wings.

Jesus says in this passage that this is the purpose that He came into the world.  He came to offer us salvation for the judgment that is coming on the world for sin.  He stretches out His arms to you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  Will you come under His wings?  Or will you be like the stiff necked Israelites who would not come? Who would not accept God’s Son?  I pray that you will humble yourself today and repent of your sins, and ask God to save you. God promises that in response to faith and repentance He will transfer your sins to Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness to you. Jesus is waiting with arms outstretched for you.  But He won’t wait forever.  One day the door will be closed and God will come in judgment.  I pray you won’t be found lacking in that day.  Today you stand at the crossroads, and the only way anyone will escape that day of judgment is by the cross of Christ: if we are under the wings of God’s grace, having repented of our sins, and trusted in the righteousness of Jesus Christ to cover our sins.  Let us pray.