Luke 13:1-9
Notes
Transcript
More reports of great tragedies in the news this week.
Like past tragedies (9/11, Tsunamis, earthquakes, historical wars), provokes many questions. Why do bad things happen? Why do people do bad things? Where is God in it all?
Many people wrestle with these questions, or use them as a way to dismiss the idea of God altogether, or question the goodness of God.
Maybe that’s you?
This is nothing new.
In this passage, Jesus is responding to questions about tragic events in his day. He uses the opportunity to correct some false assumptions, and to talk about what these kinds of events mean for the rest of us.
These things are always hard to talk about, because whether it’s an event from 2000 years ago, or 2000 miles away, or an event in our own country or our own lives, it involves real people and real suffering.
Jesus doesn’t at any point downplay or diminish the tragic nature of these events, and nor should we.
Instead, he is simply answering the questions that have been put to him.
And responding with one simple message: repent while you can, and bear fruit in keeping with repentance while you can.
Repent while you can
Repent while you can
At the end of chapter 12, Jesus told a parable to illustrate the importance of getting right with God before the judgement of God falls on us.
It seems that this prompted some people in the crowd to raise an issue with Jesus.
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judea at the time. It seems that he had ordered an attack on some Jewish worshippers from Galilee in the Temple in Jerusalem, so that their blood was mixed with the animal sacrifices that they were making.
No record of this outside the Bible. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just that there is no account of it elsewhere, as with many other things in history.
However, it does line up with what we know of Pontius Pilate from other historical records, especially Josephus. In short, Pilate didn’t have the best relationship with the Jewish people he was governor over, so this fits with what is known from other events.
So, why did these people raise the issue with Jesus? Remember, he's just been talking about the “fire” of God's judgement that must fall.
So, you'd think they were complaining about Pilate, pointing out how terrible he is, and how deserving he is of judgement.
But notice how Jesus interprets what they're saying...
2 Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?
Jesus understood them to be suggesting that those Galilieans deserved to die in the way that they did. That they had somehow warranted God sending Pilate to be his agent of judgement on them because of some terrible sins they had committed.
In fact, Jesus seems to interpret them to be saying that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galilieans. The worst of the worst.
(It's quite likely that Judean Jews viewed Galilean Jews with some measure of suspicion, possibly seeing them as not very devout in their faith.)
But Jesus is quick to correct their assumption, and to also provide a strong warning to those who have raised it.
3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
That No! is emphatic (οὐχί). More than a simple no (οὐ).
“By no means. Under no circumstances. Absolutely not!”
But, he says, unless you repent, you too will all perish.
In other words, the Galileans weren't any worse than you. In fact, you are every bit as sinful as they were. Regardless of what they had done, even if they'd committed the worst atrocities, we all stand guilty before God.
No one is more guilty than anyone else. No one is more deserving of God's judgement than anyone else.
No, Scripture says:
22 There is no difference between Jew and Gentile [or Judean and Galilean], 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and...
23 For the wages of sin is death,
3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Not that the exact same thing will happen. But because we are all equally sinful, judgment will fall on us all.
Unless, we repent. Turn from our sinful rejection of God. Turn to him in faith, specifically faith in Jesus who died - judged on our behalf.
Jesus then says the same things using a different example.
The first example had been a bad person doing bad things. Similar to the wars that are dominating the news at the moment. Human suffering at the hands of other humans.
The second example is a bad things happening to people.
Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’
This is more like the plane crash in India this week. A horrible accident, it seems, with tragic loss of life.
Again, no record of this incident anywhere else, although it’s thought that the tower is described by Josephus.
But again Jesus makes the point: Were those under the tower, or those on the plane, more guilty than anyone else? More guilty than you or me?
οὐχί, λέγω ὑμῖν! NO! I tell you.
Get that idea out of your heads.
Of course, we want answers. We want to know why these tragic things happen. We want to be able to explain them. Make sense of them. Apportion blame. Make them fit our understanding of reality and morality, so that we can find some measure of peace with the world.
But the Bible’s answers to those sorts of questions aren’t straightforward.
There’s a whole book of the Bible where a man suffers great loss, and never discovers why it happened. But he does learn that God is good and great!
In saying these things, Jesus isn’t trying to avoid answering the hard questions about tragedy and suffering. He’s not explaining it away.
Instead, he says, “you’re asking the wrong questions.” Instead of saying, why did this happen? Maybe we should be asking, “What does this mean for me?” “What can I learn from it?”
And his answer is to say, “Judgement is coming. Death is part of that judgement, however it comes. We all need to be prepared for when it arrives. So, repent now, while you still can.”
Because none of us know when tragedy might strike, or death will come. For the young especially, that might seem like something far, far away. But no one knows what tomorrow will bring - accident, diagnosis.
When we see plane crashes, or hear of untimely deaths, we can’t know why these things have happened. But we can do something in response in our own lives. We can get right with God ourselves. Get ourselves ready for death, for judgement.
Repent while you still can.
Repentance involves a change of heart and a change of life, which is the point of the parable Jesus now tells.
Bear fruit while you can
Bear fruit while you can
Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig-tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.
The keen gardener might ask: why were fig-trees growing in a vineyard?! Surely that’s where grapes are grown?
But, apparently the soil in vineyards is good for figs as well, and the fig trees were often used to help prop up the grape vines.
Don’t bother watching Gardeners World - I’ve got you covered!
In any case, in the parable, a particular fig-tree wasn’t growing any figs. Bad news for the owner of the vineyard, because it’s using up perfectly good soil but giving absolutely nothing in return.
So, the owner orders that the tree be cut down.
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”
But the vinedresser, we’ll call him Monty, begs that the tree be given another year. He’s got ideas...
‘ “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it.
But reasons…
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” ’
That’s how Jesus ends the parable. Almost like a cliff-hanger. What happened to the tree!!?
Why didn’t he finish the parable?
Because you are the tree!!!
In context, Jesus was likely addressing the nation of Israel at that time. The image of the fig tree failing to bear fruit was used of Israel before (Joel 1:7).
But this is hear for all of Jesus’ hearers, then and now.
The warning is the same: time is limited. Repentance is necessary.
But notice, too, that God is patient.
He is not an angry dictator, chomping at the bit to pour down his wrath on his victims.
No, he is a patient vine-grower, giving time for fruitless people to bear fruit.
In fact, God is more patient with us than we have a right to expect.
He is giving us every opportunity, and ample time, to respond to his offer of forgiveness through Jesus.
As we saw last week, all this talk about God’s judgement must be seen in light of the fact that the fire of God’s judgement felt on Jesus himself when he died at the cross.
God has not simply left us to rot, nor does he swing the axe at our roots!
Jesus came into the world so that he could be cut down in our place, for our sins, absorbing the just judgement of God that we deserve.
He doesn’t say to us: Sort your life out quick. Make up for all the bad you’ve done. Clean up your act. Be perfect.
No, he says, you can never be perfect. No one can. But Jesus has paid for it all, if only you would believe in him.
So, repent now while you can And bear fruit while you can.
That’s what John the Baptist said when he was preparing the way for Jesus...
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Repentance involves a change of heart and a change of life. You can’t have one without the other!
You can’t say you’ve turned from sin to God and carry on in sin. Equally, you can’t try to clean up your life and be done with sin without a changed heart.
But repentance is bad news and good news.
Bad news because it means we have to admit that we’re fruitless trees that deserve to be cut down. In means owning up to our sin.
That’s hard, because most of us like to think that we’re decent, essentially good people. In fact, we’re increasingly told to love ourselves and that we don’t deserve to suffer in any way.
But repentance is also incredibly good news. The fact that it’s possible shows that God is incredibly merciful and kind, that he is more patient than we give him credit for, and that his love is so powerful, and so real, that he sent his one and only Son to die in the place of sinners so that they could be forgiven and made right with him.
Why is the world continuing as it is? Why doesn’t God come and bring it all to an end? Bring justice on those who are tearing this world apart?
Those who ask that question often don’t include themselves among the ones who deserve to be judged by God!
But we’re told why God doesn’t end it all. We’re told why Jesus hasn’t come back yet...
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
C.S. Lewis: God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. Suffering is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
Are you listening? Do you hear God’s loving, patient invitation to repent and bear fruit while you can?
He’s calling you right now through his word. Through the news headlines. Perhaps even through the pain you are experiencing right now.
Listen. Hear. Respond. Repent.
Come to experience the overwhelming riches of God’s kindness, patience, grace and love - all expressed in his Son Jesus.
