Luke 13:32

‘And he said to them, “Go and say to that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected.' ”

But Jesus replies without fear. As in His reply to John the Baptiser He points to His signs and wonders. Let him consider those. (Even for Herod the door was open if he would listen). But Jesus' words were not this time spoken in the hope that they would be effective. They had revivified the one who lay in Herod's dungeons, they would leave unmoved the one who sat on the throne. Indeed His reply is probably acknowledging that He knows that He will not have long to live. He has only ‘today and tomorrow', that is a comparatively short while. Nevertheless He knows that it is within God's plan, for its ending on ‘the third day' indicates completeness. Perhaps again He has Hosea 6:1 in mind. This would suggest that His perfecting at least includes the resurrection. Meanwhile He will continue His ministry, casting out evil spirits and healing the sick as He has always done. He will not be put off that by Herod's threats. Let the fox bark as he will. And then in God's perfect timing His career will achieve all that it has set out to do. He will be ‘perfected', not at Herod's choice but at God's. To his listeners ‘perfected' signified that He would consider His work complete, to Him it indicated that having risen from the dead as the perfect sacrifice for sin He would be enthroned as Messiah and Lord and share once more the glory of His Father (John 17:5).

“Go and say to that fox.” This is probably saying that Herod is nothing to be afraid of, for he is but a fox, not a lion or a wolf or a bear. He tries to roar, but all he does is bark. Whoever heard of running away from a fox? Some, however, see it as suggesting that he was to be seen as sly in his behaviour (a Jewish view of the fox), or even as despicable, like a scavenger, or a wrecker of vineyards (Song of Solomon 2:15). Or possibly like a fox which is content to linger among the ruins and does not seek to build them up (Ezekiel 13:4). In all cases they are only concerned for themselves and their own welfare. Foxes are of advantage to no one but themselves. But Jesus was not wont to insult people, even kings, so we must see it as a warning not name-calling.