REFLECTIONS ON THE SUNDAY SERMON
Linda Waltersdorf Cobourn, EdD
April 6, 2025
Mark Peters, Speaker
FOXES AND HENS
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
Mark 15:1
“Count off by twos,” Mr. Matthews instructed as we lined up at the door of my second-grade classroom. “Today we’re playing Foxes and Hens.”
Most of my classmates were delighted to be able to run outside on a warm day in April, but I groaned. Running kicked up my asthma and made breathing difficult, and the sun high in the sky hurt my eyes and reflected off my new eyeglasses in strange ways. I was never very good at running games; I was destined to always be a hen, never a fox who was stronger and had more power. The fox could capture the hen, but the hen could only run around clucking. It didn’t seem at all fair to the hen!
As an adult, however, I have had to reconsider the role of the hen. After all, Jesus Christ compares Himself to a mother hen. Luke 13:34 says this:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
Jesus clearly laments for Jerusalem. The Book of Luke mentions Jerusalem 90 times, yet the city had continued to refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah. In verse 31 (Luke 13:31), some of the Pharisees had warned Jesus to leave the area because “Herod wants to kill you.” But Jesus is not intimidated by Herod. He tells the Pharisees “ ‘Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal” (Luke 13:32). The coming death of the Savior will not be part of Herod’s plan, but about the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus, who longed to gather the people of Jerusalem as a mother hen gathers her chicks, did not fight, as a fox would, against His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could easily have called down angels to save Him, but He allowed Himself to be led away (Matthew 26:56) as the lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).
I imagine, as Mark described to us on Sunday, the image of the hen, wings spread wide, breast exposed, making no move to shield herself as she gathers her chicks. Her wings provide shade from the sun and warmth from the cold and protection from predators.
And what if the chicks refuse to come? She will continue to wait for them, patient and vulnerable, leaving herself open to harm.
It is an image to hold onto as we complete the days before Easter Sunday. The image of the mother hen, mourning for the children that will not come, leads me to think of three things:
- We are called to radical vulnerability. In the face of danger, Jesus gives us His own body. He offers Himself as our refuge. Can we do the same for others?
- We are called to lamentation, for those lost, for missed opportunities, for Israel.
We may not be able to save them, but we can mourn for them and pray for them.
- We are called to return to Him. What does He ask of us? What role are we to play in the Kingdom of God? Can we take the risk to love sacrificially, as He does?
The people of Jerusalem were not willing to come to Jesus. Are you willing to come?
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.
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2 thoughts on “Foxes and Hens”
As always, great job Dr. Cobourn! Your takeaway from the image of the mother hen is quite profound. “Three things we are called to: radical vulnerability… lamentation… and to return to Him.” It’s a really tough lesson in the face of a dangerous situation. Jesus choosing a hen to defend His chicks against the fox makes it seem like an almost impossible conundrum. But as we well know, Jesus hits it home, especially with vulnerability. No doubt that the greatest Teacher of all time provokes insights like you expressed! Thank You Jesus!
Dear Mark, Thank you for your comment. As I mentioned on Sunday after your insightful message, writing the reflection was a challenge. There was so much information, so much emotion, so many lessons to learn! As always, I let the Holy Spirit tell me what to write. I am so pleased that the post resonated with you. Thanks for taking the time to comment. We writers work in a void. It’s wonderful to know when our words touch someone.