When Calamity Strikes: A Lesson in Repentance Luke 13:1-9
Notes
Transcript
In our passage this morning we begin by seeing Jesus response to something that is common to all of us.
Calamity.
Some catastrophic events have taken place.
When we see things like this happen, often times the first response that comes to peoples minds are questions.
In the time immediately following a disaster of some sort, people always ask the same questions that cannot be answered.
Who is to blame for this?
Why did God allow it to happen?
What did the victims do to deserve such terrible suffering?
People asked these questions a year ago with the fire that swept through Hawaii, killing 102 people.
Landslides, earthquakes, all nature of disasters cause us to wonder.
Tragedies are nothing new.
They have happened throughout time.
Disasters change, but the questions remain the same.
Sometimes death and destruction are caused by human beings: military aggression, religious persecution, violence in the city streets.
Other times the disaster has a natural cause: tornado, earthquake, tsunami, disease.
But whatever the cause, people ask the same questions:
Who is to blame, and why didn’t God do something to stop it?
Here is our passage for today, we get a glimpse of how Jesus viewed these events.
More importantly we learn how we ought to think about a relate to tragedies as they occur around us today.
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
We must remember the context of our scene, what is happening.
This event is still in the context of many thousands of people gathered that were trampling one another that we saw back in the beginning of chapter 12.
Jesus warned about being religious for religious sake.
He warned against the leaven of the Pharisees.
He was interrupted by a man wanting Jesus to make in an inheritance dispute between himself and his brother.
He went on to speak directly to his disciples about God’s care for His children and then to the crowds again about the need to be ready and get right with God.
This chapter begins with another interjection.
Some present bring in some news from around town.
Probably a situation that was being discussed in the local market.
The first event that was brought up to Jesus was a horrible act that had been carried out by Roman soldiers against a group apparent good Jewish people.
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
We do not know anything else about this incident because this is the only place it is mentioned in the historical records.
Apparently a group of Galileans had been offering animal sacrifices.
Presumably they had done this at the temple at Jerusalem, and probably during Passover, which is when pilgrims typically made their sacrifices.
While they were engaged in this religious act of worship to the one true God,
the Galileans were viciously murdered by soldiers under the governance of Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea.
Pontius Pilate as he is portrayed in the Bible comes across as a reasonable man.
After all, he found to fault with Jesus when the Jews brought Jesus to him.
Other sources give us a different picture of Pilate though.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Historical Pontius Pilate
Philo and Josephus present Pilate as a cruel tyrant
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Conflict with the Jewish People
Pilate’s cruel behavior and disregard for Jewish customs began immediately upon his arrival in Palestine in AD 26. He obtained his position through his mentor Sejanus—who was commander of the Praetorian Guard and known to hate Jews
Luke 13:1 is the only place that we have this specific event recorded so we don’t know anything else about it.
What we know is that a group of Galileans were offering animal sacrifices.
The only time this was done by individuals was during Passover and it was done at the temple at Jerusalem.
For some reason they were murdered by soldiers under the instruction of Pontius Pilate.
Commentator Phillip Ryken notes that
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 A Terrible Atrocity
The Galileans were fiercely independent in those days, so perhaps Pilate saw these men as a political threat. Certainly such senseless slaughter was in keeping with the governor’s bloodthirsty reputation, for “many massacres marked his administration.” In this particular massacre, the blood of the victims mingled with the blood of their sacrifices, turning their sacred ritual into a sacrilege.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 A Terrible Atrocity
Art Lindsley makes the following comparison: “It would be as if terrorists came into a church and shot worshipers as they were partaking of Communion, then mingled their blood with the Communion wine.”
A tragedy none the less.
This sort of thing still happens today.
As I was growing up, our pastor traveled to the middle east and taught in a church, just after he left, someone came and threw a grenade in the church as the people were worshipping.
Whenever something terrible happens to someone, there are always some people who say that it must be the person’s own fault.
Bad things only happen to bad people.
This theology of sin and suffering was especially common in ancient Israel:
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition and Notes The Murder of the Galileans (13:1–5)
At that time it was a generally accepted notion that whenever calamities visited people this was a proof that they were exceptionally sinful and that for this reason God allowed them to be overtaken by such disasters.
Some people still think the same way today.
They believe that suffering is always and only caused by the sin of those who suffer.
If something bad happens—if you lose your job, or come down with a serious illness—then you must have done something bad to deserve it.
You have brought your troubles on yourself.
Sometimes people do suffer the consequences for their own actions.
However, not all suffering is caused by someone’s sin.
Even when it is, we do not know all of God’s reasons for doing what he is doing in someone’s life—including our own lives.
Here we see Jesus reject this line of reasoning.
He tells the crowd that no one should see these people who were killed as any worse than anyone else.
When their blood was shed, God was not singling them out to punish them for their sins.
Jesus actually uses this even to turn everyone’s thinking around.
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
When something bad happens, rather than leaping to conclusions about how guilty someone is,
we have something far more important to think about: our own sin and the punishment that it deserves.
Spurgeon - This was a matter of common town talk, so of course they brought the news to Jesus. Notice how wisely he used this shameful incident. You and I too often hear the news of what is happening, but we learn nothing from it; our Saviour’s gracious mind turned everything to good account; he was like the bee that gathers honey from every flower.
Jesus further emphasizes his point by bringing up an accident that took place in Jerusalem.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Some have speculated that it was a construction accident.
The tower may have fallen while workers were building an aqueduct at the famous pool of Siloam.
But in any case, the way Jesus referred to the accident shows that it was common knowledge.
Everyone knew about the fallen tower.
They knew where it happened, and how many people were killed.
In talking, there were many who likely concluded as those who asked the first question that the victims were somehow at fault.
This way of thinking is wrong for a couple of reasons.
To begin with, this life is not the life of ultimate reward.
Evil often goes unpunished in this life and good goes unrewarded.
In the grand scheme of things, God does not balance to books so to speak of good and evil until the final judgment.
There is another problem with assuming that God treats us better or worse according to what we do.
The problem being that we are all sinful enough to deserve the wrath of God.
Notice Jesus statement in verse 4.
English Standard Version Chapter 13
do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
He did not say they were wrong to hold God responsible for the fall of the tower.
Jesus knew that this too was under God’s sovereign control.
No, the place he disagreed with them was in their assumption that they were morally superior to the people who died at Siloam.
The Greek word there for offender is one that describes someone who owes a debt.
This describes each and every one of us because we all owe God something for our sin.
All of this leads to Jesus saying
5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
If being in debt is our true spiritual condition, which it is, then what we need to do is to obey the command of Christ and repent.
Jesus tells this parable of the barren fig tree to describe then what repentance is and show the position the people of Israel were in, in relation to God.
The fig tree had been planted in a choice place, in a mans vineyard.
This was not a random tree, but a tree that had been placed in a position to thrive.
The tree matured and man came out to retrieve the fruit that should have been their, and for 3 years, he found none.
He spoke to the worker taking care of the trees and said, cut it down, why should this worthless tree use up the ground.
The vinedresser though asked for another year to dig around it, give more nutrients to the soil and see if it would bear fruit the next year.
In this parable we see a few different characters represented.
The man represents God, the tree represents Israel, the vinedresser represents Christ.
I think we can safely say that God was feeling this way about his people Israel.
I wonder if Jesus had the story in Numbers 14 of Moses interceding on behalf of the people before they even entered the promised land in mind as he told this.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 A Barren Tree
God often used the image of the vine or the fig tree to refer to his people.
Hosea 9:10 (ESV)
10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers.
God cultivated Israel to be a fruitful tree in his vineyard.
He had every right to expect them to bear good fruit.
They had every spiritual advantage: the Word of God in Scripture, the promises of the covenant, and the sacrifices of atonement.
Now they were in the presence of the Messiah.
They should bear the abundant fruit of obedience to God.
What was missing was repentance.
The thing we need to take from this is that God expects the same thing from us as Christians.
We are in a greater position than the people of Israel.
We have heard the gospel, the good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.
We can read the Bible in its entirety.
We have received the Holy Spirit who is working in us to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control.
We are connected to Jesus, the living vine.
We ought to be growing in godliness, gaining spiritual ground in our struggles against sin.
We should be active in ministry.
Doing something for the service of God.
We should be sharing Jesus with others, doing the work of evangelism.
Share God’s story of what He has done in our lives (our testimony).
Otherwise, we are just taking up space, which was the problem with the fig tree in the parable.
Because it failed to bear good fruit, it was wasting valuable soil.
By using this analogy, Jesus was saying that the Israelites were just as barren.
They had no spiritual vitality.
God was looking for good fruit in their lives, but he was not finding any, so he was getting ready to cut them down
What was missing in their lives to begin with was what Jesus was calling them to - repentance.
What is true repentance?
True repentance is not wordly sorrow.
Worldly sorrow can be defined as sadness or grief over the consequences of sin.
It is grief in connection with the results sin brings.
A person operating in worldly sorrow is sad because of the consequences they face without considering God.
This person is afraid of what is going to happen to them as a result of getting caught.
Sadness over sin without a change of purpose of life away from sin.
True repentance is having Godly sorrow.
Godly sorrow can be defined as having grief over sin in regards to God.
A person operating in Godly sorrow is grieved over the reality that they have offended the almighty God.
This person has a sense of guilt with a desire and will to turn away from the sin that has offended God.
Godly sorrow has emphasis on the relationship that you have with God instead of the consequences of sin.
A truly repentant person, showing Godly sorrow is sorrowful because of offending God, not because of the punishment they will get.
(If you want to learn more about this I will point you to one of the sessions we attended at the conference Tiffany and I went to a few weeks ago by Dr. Nicolas Ellen.)
Paul gives us a definition of repentance in
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.
How fruitful are you?
Are you bearing the good fruit of spiritual growth, faithful service, and influential discipleship?
Are you as fruitful as you ought to be, or are you spiritually scrawny?
Are you producing Golden Delicious, or is it only crabapple?
God is looking for good fruit, and if he cannot find any, we need to repent before we perish.
This parable is about God’s patience with his people Israel.
They had every opportunity to come to Christ and bear good fruit.
For nearly three years, Jesus had been healing them and teaching them to follow God.
But, they were bearing so little fruit!
Most of the Jews rejected Jesus.
Yet in his mercy, God would give them one final opportunity.
Jesus would die on the cross; he would be raised from the grave; his gospel would be preached in Israel.
So there was still time for people to repent and bear good spiritual fruit through faith in Jesus Christ.
This window of opportunity will not last forever though.
None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
And at some point in the future, the owner of the vineyard will come and cut down the fruitless tree.
Today many people are in a similar situation, including many people in the church.
They are not bearing good spiritual fruit.
If they remain barren, then eventually they will be chopped down. God will not spare us forever.
The day of disaster will not be delayed indefinitely.
Judgment will come.
But it has not happened yet, and therefore there is still time to repent.
There is still time to believe in Jesus Christ and bear good spiritual fruit.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Whatever you do, do not take advantage of the patience of God.
While others have perished in the day of disaster, your life has been spared.
Do not let the delay of death mislead you into thinking that you will escape disaster forever.
How merciful is Jesus to tell us of the coming judgment.
