John Calvin Commentary Luke 13:32

"And he said unto them, Go and say to that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third [day] I am perfected." — Luke 13:32 (ASV)

Go, tell that fox: it is certain that the person spoken of here is Herod Antipas. Though he consistently had the character of a fox, and was as remarkable for servility as for cunning, I do not think that the term fox, is intended to refer generally to the cunning of his whole life, but rather to the insidious methods by which he labored to undermine the doctrine of the Gospel, when he did not venture to attack it openly.

Christ tells him that, with all his craftiness, he will gain nothing by his schemes. “Whatever artifices he may devise,” says Christ, “today and tomorrow I will discharge the office which God has enjoined upon me; and when I shall have reached the end of my course, I shall then be offered in sacrifice.”

So that we may perceive the meaning of the words more clearly, Christ acknowledges in the former part of his message that on the third day—that is, within a very short time—he must die. In this way, he shows that he could not be deterred from his duty by any fear of death, to which he advanced boldly, with a fixed purpose of mind.