Lenten Perspective: The Fox and the Hen

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The Fox and the Hen

As Jesus came to the city and observed it, he wept over it.  He said, "If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace.  But now they are hidden from your eyes."

Luke 19:41-42 (CEB)

Tried to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
Called to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening

From "Nobody's Listening" by Linkin Park

There is an old story in which a hungry fox walks into a barn and spots a hen perched high where he cannot reach.  The fox tells the hen that he came to visit her because he heard that she was sick.  He then suggests that she come down to him so that he can check on her.  The hen replies that she is indeed very ill and insists that she is in such bad shape that she had better stay where she is because coming down could very well be the end of her.¹

This story is a warning that sometimes people have ulterior motives.

In the Gospel of Luke, we read another story about a fox and a hen.

One day, while Jesus is ministering to the poeple of Galilee, some religious leaders interrupt Him to warn Him that King Herod is seeking His life.  Jesus then says to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Look, I'm throwing out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.'"²

Jesus evidently doesn't think very highly of Herod Antipas, the Roman Empire's proxy ruler over Galilee.  According to William Barclay, in Jesus' culture, the fox is "the symbol of a worthless and insignificant man."³  N.T. Wright suggests that Herod Antipas was only king "because the Romans, recognizing his father [Herod the Great] as the most effective thug around, had promoted him from nowhere to keep order at the far end of their territories."⁴  Jesus isn't going to let anyone, no matter how powerful or violent, stop Him from doing what God has called Him to do.  In Barclay's words, "Jesus took his orders from God, and he would not shorten his work by one day to please or to escape any earthly king."⁵

It is also worth noting that a fox is a predator.  In Jesus' culture, it is considered "the slyest" and "the most destructive of animals."⁶

Jesus then thinks of Jerusalem, the great city where His journey will eventually take Him, the city where a cross awaits Him, and laments that "it's impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem."  He cries out, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you!  How often I have wanted to gather your people just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  But you didn't want that."⁷

N.T. Wright notes that there have been instances in which people have inspected the aftermath of farmyard fires and found dead hens with living chicks still sheltered under their wings.  With no means of escaping the fires, these hens sacrificed their lives to protect their chicks.⁸

The hen wants to protect the chicks, and the fox wants to devour the hen.

In Wright's words, "Jesus' destiny... is to go to Jerusalem and die, risking the threats of the fox, and adopting the role of the mother hen to the chickens faced with sudden danger."⁹  Jesus wants to protect the people of Jerusalem in the same way that the mother hens protected her chicks amid the fires, but the "fire" that concerns Jesus is the destruction of the city.

When Jesus finally reaches Jerusalem, He will ride into the city on a donkey to waving palm branches shouts of "Hosanna!" which means "Save us now!"¹⁰  Afterward, knowing that the people would really prefer the kind of savior who rides into town on a war horse over one who rides on a humble donkey, He will look over the city and weep, saying,
If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace.  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  The time will come when your enemies will build fortifications around you, encircle you, and attack you from all sides.  They will crush you completely, you and the people within you.  They won't leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn't recognize the time of your gracious visit from God.¹¹

Roughly forty years later, the people of Jerusalem will revolt against the Roman Empire, and the Romans will respond by destroying the city.

Jesus demonstrated the ways of peace and self-sacrificial love, but people rejected His ways and met with destruction.  Perhaps, during this Lenten season, we should examine our own lives and consider whether our ways are more hen-like or fox-like.  Are we striving to love as Christ showed us, or are we falling into more destructive patterns?  If we are indeed on destructive paths, may we turn around before it's too late.


Notes:

1. https://fablesofaesop.com/the-hen-and-the-fox-barn.html
2. Luke 13:31-32 (CEB)
3. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 220
4. N.T. Wright.  Luke for Everyone.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 172
5. Barclay, p. 220
6. ibid.
7. Luke  13:33-34 (CEB)
8. Wright, p. 171
9. Wright, p. 173
10. Luke 19:29-40
11. Luke 19:41-44 (CEB)

The photograph of the hen and the chicks was taken by Marcel Langthim, who made it available royalty-free.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.