If we consider Luke 23:8 and apply it to what we are told in Luke 13:31, Herod may have been interested in seeing Jesus, but he doesn’t seem to be actively seeking his life. This doesn’t mean Jesus was never in danger from Herod Antipas, because Jesus may have used the close proximity of Herod Philip’s territory to Capernaum as a useful place of escape from time to time, when the political interest of Herod Antipas was stirred (cf. Luke 9:9-10). Nevertheless, there doesn’t seem to be a real occasion in Luke 13 whereby Herod would naturally think (without being convinced by others) that Jesus was a political threat.
If Herod was not seeking Jesus life, what might be going on in Luke 13:31? Well, it appears that the Pharisees were the ones who were threatening Jesus. It is possible, perhaps probable, that they had laid a trap for him (cf. Mark 3:6; 12:13), whereby they and the Herodians (political supporters of Herod) arranged some event, which might have aroused the political interest of Herod in Jesus, which would have resulted in his arrest and, perhaps, premature death.
If we connect the word day in Luke 13:31with the idea of season, rather than a 24-hour period, as is the case in John 8:56 and Hebrews 10:32, we could understand this day to be the season of the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22), an 8 day festival. Putting Jesus’ words about the straight gate (referring to his office as Messiah) and calling for the people to trust him (Luke 13:23-24; cf. John 10:7-9) in a context that might have given the Pharisees an opportunity to lay a trap for Jesus. They probably hoped to get him to flee Jerusalem through Herod’s territory (Luke 13:31; cf. Nehemiah 6:9-11; Amos 7:10-17; Psalm 11:1-2).
Although Herod had jurisdiction over Jesus, Jesus was in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was under Roman jurisdiction. Recently, we were informed that Pilate had many Galileans slain, while they prepared to celebrate the Passover there (Luke 13:1). This put Herod and Pilate at odds (cf. Luke 23:6-7; Luke 23:12), so the Pharisees’ plot may have been to place Jesus in Herod’s territory, knowing that Herod probably wouldn’t risk greater friction between him and Pilate at this time. So, seizing Jesus in Jerusalem was probably out of the question, if Herod was to be part of the plot.
Nevertheless, Jesus refused to be intimidated by the Pharisees’ threat (Luke 13:32-33). He trusted in the providence of God, his Father, knowing that nothing could be done to him, while he was doing his Father’s will. If it was God’s will for Jesus to be in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22), then whatever could Herod do to him that didn’t equate with the will of God. After all, Jesus knew he was destined to die in Jerusalem, just as most of the prophets before him (Luke 13:33). If this was the time for that to occur, so be it. If not, then Herod could have no power over him.
Jesus really didn’t mean for the Pharisees to take a message to Herod. He merely stated that God, not Herod, was in control of events in Jesus’ life. The meaning of the three days is that Jesus’ days were appointed by God (Luke 13:32-33). Nothing can occur to him without God permitting or causing it to happen.
It seems to me that Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34-35) shows he is probably already in Jerusalem. However, even if this is not so, it is obvious that Jesus’ lament couldn’t have meant Jerusalem wouldn’t physically see him until they said “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35; cf. Psalm 118:26). What Jesus meant was that Jerusalem wouldn’t recognize him, i.e. see him as he truly is, until the day they put their trust in him as the Messiah.
Although Jesus would have liked to have gathered all Israel together, and protected them against their enemies, they refused to allow it (Luke 13:34; Isaiah 49:15; Hosea 11:1-4). Therefore, Jesus wouldn’t act out his office, as Messiah, on their behalf until they cried out from their hearts “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35; cf. Psalm 118:26).
Instead, he would visit them as Messiah in judgment against them. Both Jerusalem and their house (Luke 13:35), i.e. the Temple, would be destroyed, because the Jewish nation, as a whole, forgot who their God really was. They didn’t recognize him in the person of Jesus (Jeremiah 2:32; Ezekiel 23:35; Hosea 8:14), and refused to submit to him.
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