Thanks to the work of Jim Henson and Fred Rogers, generations of children have grown up with friendly puppets teaching, encouraging, and being a friend on days when the world feels lonelier than it should for a child. Henson’s puppets we know were more exciting, larger than life, while Rogers used softness and empathy to connect with audiences of children (and their parents listening from the next room over).

Bert and Ernie, King Friday, Kermit, Big Bird, Daniel Tiger, Fozzie Bear, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Henrietta Pussycat, and Oscar the Grouch were vehicles through which educational lessons and mantras for living could be transmitted with tenderness and grace.

Even Statler and Waldorf were able to show tenderness and grace while retaining their unique personality. Wait, those guys look familiar.

The use of puppets to teach and entertain is not limited to children. In comedy, puppets say the things well-adjusted and good-mannered people would never say in front of company, or at the least, in front of their dear sweet granny. Comic Jeff Dunham, depending on your perspective, entertains or annoys his audiences with the help of puppets.

We have jumped from where we were last Sunday, in the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, to the 13th chapter. Much has happened in Jesus’ ministry throughout the chapters we have skipped over, but I will not recap them for you today because I know you have brunch reservations in 40 minutes. What you need to know is that Jesus has been teaching, healing, and irritating the Pharisees. Today, Jesus is looking over Jerusalem, David’s city, when the Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod wanted to have Jesus killed. Herod, the hand-picked puppet ruler, regional middle-management, according to the Pharisees, wants Jesus dead.

This is the same Herod that had John the Baptist beheaded.[1]

Were the Pharisees giving Jesus a fair warning? Are the Pharisees doing Jesus a solid by letting him know that Herod wanted him dead?

Maybe.

Luke does recount Herod questioning who and what Jesus was doing.

Herod the ruler heard about everything that was happening. He was confused because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. Herod said, “I beheaded John, so now who am I hearing about?” Herod wanted to see him.[2]

I’ll leave that you to figure out.

Today, I want us to look at Herod of Antipas, the puppet ruler of first-century Galilee. You might remember Herod from Christmas, well the Sunday after Christmas when the scriptures tell us he ordered the slaughter of every newborn male in Bethlehem, infanticide, in an attempt to stop the in-breaking of God in a Bethlehem manger.

Herod began his career/reign as an aspiring administrator and was eventually named “King of the Jews” by Rome in 37 BC. Herod’s title will be problematic for Jesus as we approach Good Friday.

Herod’s building projects may have won over some of the citizenry living under his rule but at the end of the day, it was Herod’s job to do the bidding of the Roman Empire. He was the puppet of Mark Anthony and Augustus.

Luke places two kings before us – one, the puppet king who build for his own glory and gain, and Jesus, the king of kings who continually pointed to the One who had sent him to reveal the goodness of God’s grace and would save a world who had turned away from God.

The puppet king and the king who laments Jerusalem because Jerusalem is no longer the city it was established to be.

“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. Look, your house is abandoned. I tell you, you won’t see me until the time comes when you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord’s name.” [3]

Jesus is lamenting what might have been. He is grieving what Jerusalem could have been.

He laments the people and rulers, including Herod, who have, as Bishop Will Willimon puts it, “sunk to replication of the worst aspects of their history rather than following their better angels.”[4]

Jesus is told Herod wants to have him killed, and instead of running away to hide, Jesus laments because, as Jesus sees it, Jerusalem has lost its way. The hand-picked, empire-colluding king is the least of Jesus’ problems. This moment is enough to bring Jesus to the brink of tears.

Jesus wanted to gather all of Jerusalem under his wing, all of creation under his wing. Yet, we responded to his love with cries of “Crucify him!”

It is easy to criticize Herod, the puppet king, in 2022 because hindsight is nearly 20/20. Let's take a deeper look, a moment of self-reflection. There are times in our lives when we are followers of a puppet, someone propped up to do the dirty work of another, or worse, we prop someone else up to do our dirty work because we know what we have asked them to do is wrong. We want to keep our hands clean even if our conscience will not be.

In a world of Herods, Jesus is offering us an alternative.

In a world of mouthpieces and actors doing the bidding of those who wish harm on others or to advance an unjust agenda, Jesus is extending an invitation to a new way of living. This invitation does not have an expiration date.

Lent is a forty-day season to mourn the ways we have disappointed not just ourselves but also God with the things we have done and left undone. In Lent, we remember that as we lament and repent, Jesus is gathering us up and preparing us to be sent out, not to do his dirty work but to transform the world together. The mission of our church is to transform the world through discipleship.

The transformation of the world through our transformation.

Transformation through grace.

Transformation through transformation.

Not through puppetry.

Not through dirty work.

Transformation through the faithfulness of the One who did not turn his back on us after lamenting that we had turned our backs on him.

And the good news is that as you have been gathered and sent, you are not sent out covered in the dirt the world has smeared on you by puppets who would like to think they can leave a lasting impact on your life.

In Jesus gathering us up, we are made clean.

The cause of Jesus’ lament, our sin, does not hold the final word. Jesus has invited us to stop the puppet show and to step into his grace under his wing of love, protection, and transformation.

[1] Mark 6:14-29

[2] Luke 9:7-9

[3] Luke 13:34-35

[4] Willimon, Will. “What Makes Preachers Cry.” March 17, 2019. https://asermonforeverysunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Will-Willimon-2nd-Sunday-in-Lent-2019.pdf