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A seasoned ministry colleague wrote to me last week asking for assistance. “I need some help with exegesis of Luke 13:31-32,” he said. “I spoke at a conference last week with many pastors who used that passage where Jesus calls Herod a fox as their rationale for using coarse language about Harris/Walz and the other political side. I was quite disturbed by the name calling and mocking from the pulpit, and I reproved them all when it was my turn to speak.”
He continued, “I was shocked that the pastors used that passage to justify their mocking and name calling from the pulpit, citing Jesus as our example. Do you, as a Messianic Jew, have any insight into the historical/contextual usage of ‘fox’ in 33 AD? I need to be able to answer pastor’s defense of their name calling using that passage.”
He then sent me an excellent response compiled by our mutual friend and colleague, Dr. Joseph Mattera.
Dr. Mattera explained, “The term ‘fox’ here carries connotations of craftiness, cunning, and deceit, but also weakness and insignificance compared to a lion or other more powerful animals. In ancient Jewish culture, calling someone a fox could imply that they are untrustworthy, deceptive, and sly, but it was not necessarily the most severe insult. It might also suggest that Herod, despite his political power, is insignificant in God’s larger plan.
Continued below.
www.christianpost.com
He continued, “I was shocked that the pastors used that passage to justify their mocking and name calling from the pulpit, citing Jesus as our example. Do you, as a Messianic Jew, have any insight into the historical/contextual usage of ‘fox’ in 33 AD? I need to be able to answer pastor’s defense of their name calling using that passage.”
He then sent me an excellent response compiled by our mutual friend and colleague, Dr. Joseph Mattera.
Dr. Mattera explained, “The term ‘fox’ here carries connotations of craftiness, cunning, and deceit, but also weakness and insignificance compared to a lion or other more powerful animals. In ancient Jewish culture, calling someone a fox could imply that they are untrustworthy, deceptive, and sly, but it was not necessarily the most severe insult. It might also suggest that Herod, despite his political power, is insignificant in God’s larger plan.
Continued below.
Did Jesus give Christian leaders right to use coarse political rhetoric?
The higher we step, the more clearly we can be God s prophetic spokesmen
www.christianpost.com
