Still even here He had to encounter hostile opposition. His indefatigable enemies, the Pharisees, penetrated His seclusion and represented that Herod Antipas, within whose dominions He now was, sought opportunity to kill Him (Lk. xiii. 31). But He saw through their cunning and hypocrisy, no less than the fox-like (Lk. xiii. 32) craft of the Tetrarch, by whom they had been probably suborned[410]. He, doubtless, would be glad to get out of his territory[411] One, whose fame caused him so much perplexity, and they would be no less anxious to drive Him from a quarter, where He was comparatively safe, to the hostile neighbourhood of Jerusalem[412]. But though it was impossible that a prophet could perish elsewhere than in a capital, which had slain so many who had been sent to it[417], yet there was still time for the performance of works of mercy (Lk. xiii. 32, 33), for the healing of the sick, and the expulsion of demons, before He went up to Jerusalem, whose children He would so often have gathered together _as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing[418], but they would not, and whose house was now left unto them desolate_ (Lk. xiii. 34, 35). Of the works of mercy here mentioned, apparently but one is actually recorded by the Evangelist. At the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, to which He had been invited (Lk. xiv. 1) on the Sabbath-day, for a hostile purpose[419], the Holy One healed a man afflicted with dropsy (Lk. xiv. 2–6), and taking occasion from the associations of the time and place, not only rebuked the haughty selfishness with which the Pharisees claimed the chief seats at feasts (Lk. xiv. 7–14), but also uttered the appropriate parable of the _Great Supper_ (Lk. xiv. 15–24). In the same neighbourhood also, finding Himself surrounded by great crowds, amongst which some indicated a wish to follow Him, He addressed them solemnly on the self-denial required of all who would be His real disciples (Lk. xiv. 25–35), and the necessity for first counting the cost, and taking up the cross if they would truly follow Him. On another occasion a great number of tax-gatherers, who were very numerous near Jericho and the Jordan fords[420], gathered round Him, together with many regarded as profligate sinners. Their eagerness to listen to His teaching, and His willingness to receive and eat with them (Lk. xv. 1), roused again the hostility of the Pharisees and Scribes, and provoked them to open murmuring. But, undeterred by their opposition, the Good Shepherd, with striking appropriateness now, gave utterance to the parables of the _Lost Sheep_ (Lk. xv. 1), the _Lost Coin_ (Lk. xv. 8–10), and the _Prodigal Son_ (Lk. xv. 11–32), and afterwards addressed to His disciples, though in the hearing of the Pharisees, those of the _Unjust Steward_ (Lk. xvi. 1–13), and of _Lazarus and the Rich Man_ (Lk. xvi. 19–31). CHAPTER V.