N.E.W. Life - Luke 13
Notes
Transcript
Handout
FCF:
Reflection Question:
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Reflection Question: How do I understand repentance?
Sermon Opening:
Have you ever been scrolling through your phone, looking at social media or watching the news, and you see someone’s life completely blowing up? Maybe it's a celebrity scandal, or maybe it0's just someone from school or work who made a massive mistake. Your first thought is probably, “Wow, I am so glad that isn't me. At least I've got my life together compared to them!” It’s so easy to look at other people's mess and feel pretty good about ourselves.
This is well known phenomenon that we all do - defining deviancy downward - where we define own bad behavior as better than others bad behavior.
While we're busy pointing fingers at everyone else's trainwrecks, we often ignore the fact that our own hearts are feeling a little dry, a little empty, or a little stuck. We focus on everyone else's problems so we don't have to face our own deep need for a heart change. We pretend we're totally fine, but inside, we are starving for something real.
Text Opening:
Today, we’re diving into Luke chapter 13. The book of Luke was written by a guy named Luke, who was absolutely fascinated by how Jesus interacted with everyday, regular people. Luke wanted to make sure the world knew that Jesus didn't just come for the perfectly religious elite—He came for the outsiders, the broken, and the powerless.
This chapter occurs immediately after the last, Jesus has had dinner with a pharisee that didn’t go well and now a crowd comes up to Him and they bring up a horrific tragedy, looking for answers. They want to know why bad things happen and who is to blame. But instead of playing the blame game, Jesus turns the mirror right back on them, and on us, to show us how much we need God. Let’s look at how Jesus uses this moment to offer us a completely NEW way of life.
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 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.”
Point 1:
Explain:
Jesus here in the text is relating two stories that would be common to the people.
He is asking the question of whether tragedy happens because the people were evil.
So there Galileans who were killed at the temple as they were making a sacrifice. There blood was mixed with the blood of the sacrifice. It’s tragic.
We’re not sure what historic event it refers to.
Jesus tells another story that is unknown to us except for this reference about a tower falling and killing people.
Jesus is asking the rhetorical question - did these bad things happen because these were bad people?
He’s asking did the Galileans suffer worse than the sinners?
Were those in the tower more guilty?
The Greek word guilty here is a debtor - somebody who owes a debt.
Are they worse sinners? Are they more guilty?
Each time Jesus answers emphatically - No! He adds unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.
Their fate is a warning to his audience of the urgency of repenting.
Neither the Galileans nor those in the tower had to time to repent. They died in an instant.
Jesus is making the point that everybody is a sinner. An accident can happen at any moment to us.
Jesus point is now is the time to repent.
Point 1: Notice your Need
Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 1. People Who Perished (13:1–5)
Repentance is both a once-for-all event that shapes the whole subsequent course of the life and a day-by-day affair that keeps putting sin away.
Repentance is both a one time event that radically changes your life.
And
It’s a day-by-day surrendering to God and putting away the sin that is still in your life.
Illustrate:
Imagine you're driving a car and suddenly realize you've turned down a one way the wrong way. You don't just say, 'Oops!' and keep going. You turn around, change direction, and head towards your destination the right way. Repentance is like that. In an instant, you can choose to turn your life around. But then comes the daily decision to stay on the right path, to avoid those intrusive thoughts of tempting detours that lead to destruction.
Apply:
What (Instruction):
Repentance isn't just a one-time prayer; it's a daily choice to turn back to God and put away sin.
Where (Situation): This happens when you’re scrolling through social media, seeing someone else's life fall apart or noticing their mistakes, and you feel a little sense of moral superiority.
Why (Motivation): Because life is short, and God loves us too much to let us stay stuck in the dangerous illusion that "we are fine" without Him.
How (Enablement): Through the immediate presence of Christ. Today, you don't have to clean yourself up first. You can sit quietly right now, ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart, and hand over the hidden junk you've been hiding.
Point 2:
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. 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?’
“ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
Explain:
Jesus shares this story and at first glance it feels a bit disjointed and it certainly doesn’t wrap up well.
Jesus tells this story about a tree in vineyard that doesn’t produce fruit. The owner wants to tear it out but let’s it go for another year to see if it will produce fruit.
This demonstrates for us two things. The first is the need for repentance and the second is God’s slowness to punish.
A fig tree would take 3 years to produce fruit. This tree has been in the ground for 6. A failure to bear fruit for 3 years is ominous - the tree is unlikely to ever bear fruit again. So the owner says cut it down and plant something new.
Not only is not bearing fruit, it’s taking up ground that might otherwise be productive.
The vinedresser, the gardener says give it a year, I’ll take extra care of it, I’ll tend the roots and give it fertilizer. Then, if next year, there’s still no fruit, we’ll tear it out.
The tree is like a sinful person who continues on in the father’s field and is not producing fruit.
The context here is repentance.
Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Man Seeking Fruit (13:6–9)
The fact that evil is not punished here and now does not mean that God approves of what sinners are doing; it means that to the end God is merciful.
The story tells us there is time but it’s running out.
The lack of judgement is not a sign that all is well - it’s a sign of God’s mercy, not approval. Judgement, however, will not be held back forever.
God in his mercy is letting the vinedresser tend our roots. The Holy Spirit is at work trying to convict all people at all times of their sin so they would repent and bear fruit.
I think Jesus is telling us today, Examine your own Fruit.
Point 1: Notice Your Need
Point 2: Examine Your Fruit
The parable ends without giving us the ending. We don’t know what happens next year to the tree. That’s the point - God let’s us fill in the rest for ourselves.
So we all need to examine our own fruit. We don’t know what next year will look like. That’s the point of the story of the Galileans and the tower, we don’t know.
So examine your fruit now. Let the gardener, the vinedresser tend to your roots and fertilize your life.
God doesn’t want you to exist inside his garden and not bear much fruit for him. He wants your life to be fruitful.
Illustrate:
Imagine buying a houseplant, setting it on your desk, and totally forgetting about it. Weeks go by, and it becomes dry, brown, and brittle. It’s not producing any new leaves; it’s just taking up space. You're about to throw it in the trash. But a friend who loves gardening stops your hand and says, "Wait, give it one more chance. Let me take it home. I’m going to loosen up the hard dirt around the roots, give it some rich fertilizer, and put it in the sun." That plant didn't deserve a second chance, but the gardener chose to pour extra love into its roots.
Apply:
What (Instruction): Recognize that the quiet moments in your life right now are a sign of God's immense mercy, not His absence. Let Him do the deep work in your roots.
Where (Situation): When you feel spiritually dry, empty, or like you aren't growing in your faith, and you start to wonder if God has given up on you.
Why (Motivation):
God’s patience isn't approval of your old way of living; it’s an open door of grace. He wants you to be fruitful and truly alive.
How (Enablement): Let the Holy Spirit "dig around your roots." This means opening up your heart in prayer, being honest about your struggles, and letting the transformation happen from the inside out. (And for the leaders here: it means showing that same, extended patience to the people God has placed in your care, trusting His timing).
Point 3:
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Explain:
Our whole text today is on repentance and repenting quickly because the day of the lord is quickly coming. Now in this section we see that the day of the lord may not be as the religious leaders understand it.
Jesus is healing on sabbath. The emphasis of the text is not the healing but the response of the religious leaders.
Their response to Jesus making this woman well is to say, can’t you come back on the six others day that are not the sabbath and heal people.
This woman has been made well and she is glorifying God. How incredible is that.
Yet the religious leaders are so caught up in their tradition that they can’t see the goodness of God happening right around them.
Point 1: Notice Your Need
Point 2: Examine Your Fruit
Point 3: Walk in Freedom
A key part of Luke’s message is that God delights in proclaiming that divine salvation has come to the powerless. Widows, harlots, the grieving, lepers, and cripples found that “today” God was visiting them with the salvation promised long ago
As a result, we too can delight in the wonderful things God has done. Jesus brought divine blessing of God’s kingdom to the truly poor of this world.
We walk in the freedom he offers us. We don’t have to be held down by heavy baggage. The religious leaders have heavy baggage of their own religion. Jesus wants to free them of that. This woman had heavy baggage of an 18 year old crippling disease and Jesus wants to free her of that.
Illustrate:
Imagine walking around school or work all day carrying a backpack completely loaded down with heavy bricks. Because you've carried it for so long, you’ve actually forgotten you’re wearing it. You walk around completely bent over, staring strictly at your shoes, completely missing the beautiful sky, the sunshine, and the people trying to smile at you. All you can see is the dirt on the ground. How’s the world going to look from that perspective?
The religious leaders in this story were so focused on their rulebook that they were spiritually bent over—they couldn't look up to see the beautiful thing Jesus was doing right in front of them. But Jesus looks at the woman, unbuckles her heavy pack, lifts her chin, and tells her to look up.
What heavy baggage does Jesus want to take from you?
Apply:
What (Instruction): Step away from the exhausting trap of legalism—trying to look like a perfect Christian by just checking off religious boxes—and step into the living, freeing presence of Jesus.
Where (Situation): When you feel overwhelmed by shame, anxiety, or the pressure to perform for God, feeling like you're never "good enough."
Why (Motivation): Because God's ultimate glory and holiness are revealed when He breaks the chains of the powerless and makes us whole. He delights in freeing you!
How (Enablement): Shift your focus from your performance to His goodness. In your times of worship and prayer, actively hand Jesus the invisible weights you've been carrying for years, and allow yourself to simply delight in and praise Him for who He is.
Closing:
Jesus doesn't leave us in our dry and empty places.
Jesus meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay there.
Today, He has laid out a path for a completely fresh start. He calls us to Notice our need—to stop comparing our lives to others and honestly face our own hearts. He invites us to Examine our Fruit—trusting His incredible patience and mercy as His Holy Spirit works deep inside us to help us grow. And finally, He commands us to Walk in freedom—to drop the heavy backpacks of legalism, rules, and shame, and to look up into His loving face.
We walk in NEW life.
Closing Application:
So here is our final charge today: Stop hiding behind the mistakes of other people. Do not leave this room carrying the same heavy, invisible weights you walked in with. Today, turn to Jesus. Let Him dig around the hard, hidden places in your heart. Let Him unbuckle the shame you've been carrying for years.
Right now, Christ is immediately present in this room, and He is patiently inviting you into a real, life-changing relationship. We are about to transition into a time of worship. As we sing, I invite you to respond to His Word. Give Him your dry places, hand Him your heavy weights, and choose to walk out of here today truly alive, fruitful, and set free with a NEW Life.
