Luke 13:1-9 * March 11, 2007 * Lent 3 * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the 15^th Century many people (although certainly not all) commonly assumed the earth was flat. To state the obvious, today we know it is not. But it took explorers like Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan to set the record straight.

A little later on an astronomer named Nicholas Copernicus postulated that the earth revolves around the sun. Up until that time it was generally accepted truth that the earth was the center of the universe. Today we know he was right, and the conventional wisdom of the time was wrong.

We could cite other examples, some within our own lifetime, of things once assumed to be true which in fact were never true at all, but you get the picture. Live long enough and we’ll see all kinds of supposedly bullet proof theories bite the dust along the way.

In our text for today Jesus reacts to one of those commonly held truths (in both His day and ours), which really wasn’t a truth at all. The subject matter has to do with the very important and very personal topics of death and trouble and sin and repentance. This morning some misinformation is cut through and cast off as

JESUS SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT

1. About the consequences of sin

2. About the necessity and nature of true repentance

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 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 perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower of 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”

Our text takes place as Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem for the last time. A couple of events we know little about now but were certainly known to the people back then are reported to Jesus. The incident about the Galileans was a political atrocity consistent with what the Bible and other sources tell us about the way Pontius Pilate operated. The other appeared to be an unfortunate accident that claimed eighteen lives. Both cases seemed to involve people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or maybe not. Jesus responds by asking the real question that was on the minds of those who brought Him this report. Given their fate, could it possibly be that the Galileans killed by Pilate’s command or the eighteen who died when a tower collapsed on them were somehow worse sinners than everybody else? The answer He gives couldn’t be clearer: “I tell you, no!”

Here Jesus denounces a commonly held truth that in fact was no truth at all. Specifically, the belief that these people had somehow brought these consequences upon themselves… that they were being punished for some great sin in their lives… that in the big cosmic scheme of things known only to God they were simply getting what they deserved.

This was not a new idea. It’s been around, literally, forever. If you are familiar with the book of Job in the Old Testament, you will remember this was the line of reasoning suggested by Job’s friends. Job was allowed by God to go through a difficult period of testing. When it first began, Job’s three friends simply grieved with him. But after a while, they began to offer advice.

And each of them essentially said the same thing. They told Job that God didn’t bring these events into his life by accident, that what he should do is retrace his steps to see what he did to get God so mad at him, and repent. Then maybe God would lighten up.

Jesus’ disciples applied the same line of reasoning when they came upon a man blind from birth. Their initial reaction was to ask Jesus who sinned, this man or his parents. Their thinking was that somebody did something wrong (perhaps even while this man was still in his mother’s womb!) to bring about such an unhappy situation.

And, truth be told, this idea is still around today. Even among Christians. We live in a cause and effect world. If this takes place, then that will be the result. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is easy to transfer those kinds of equations into our spiritual lives. So when tragedy or difficulty strikes the believer, there is a tendency to mentally go through the past and wonder if God is “evening the score” for previously committed indiscretions or transgressions.

It is then we must remember the important distinction Scripture makes between the concept of punishment and discipline (although practically speaking we often use the words interchangeably, as does Scripture). Failure to make this distinction can lead to the faulty thinking Jesus addresses in our text, as well as paint an absolutely dreadful picture of our Heavenly Father. So let’s spend just a moment or two reviewing this…

Behind punishment is the idea of justice or retribution for doing wrong. Behind discipline is the idea of instruction and love. We punish criminals. We discipline our children. God doesn’t punish us for our sins because He punished Jesus in our place. As Isaiah the prophet puts it so beautifully, “The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” As mankind’s substitute, Christ bore the punishment for the sins of the world. That includes each of us.

But discipline for the sake of spiritual growth and instruction and as part of the process of our ongoing spiritual formation is another matter. Hebrews 12 is the clearest portion of Scripture on this topic. There we are simply told “the Lord disciplines those he loves,” and that in the big picture such discipline is never detrimental but always beneficial. Consequently, it is something to be both expected and willingly embraced.

So we come to this conclusion: Does God punish His children, in the sense of extracting justice or retribution for our sins. No, He punished Jesus in our place. On the other hand, does God discipline His children? Yes, as a loving, caring Heavenly Father who is vitally interested in the eternal welfare of His own.

Getting back to our text, Jesus speaks to what is far more important than speculating on the sin of others when He states: “But unless you repent, you too will perish.” Repent literally means to have a change of mind. When used alone like it is in this statement, it refers not only to a recognition and sorrow over sin, but also faith in the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

What Jesus is saying here, then, is rather than worrying about the sin of others, we must repent of our own, for the person who does not repent will someday perish just as surely (although not necessarily in the same manner) as did those Galileans and the people upon whom the tower fell.

On the other hand, the person who does repent (that is, those who recognize their sinfulness and their need for a Savior, and cling to that Savior, Jesus Christ, in faith)… “will not perish but have everlasting life.”

And by a negative illustration Jesus goes on to show how the truly repentant life – that is, the life that recognizes God’s grace in Christ, the life that knows it must compare itself to God’s perfect standards rather than someone else to whom we feel spiritually superior, the life that the rejoices that “though our sins be like scarlet” in and through Christ “we are white as snow” – reveals itself by bearing fruits of faith.

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted 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 his 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.’”

If we keep in mind that the Old Testament often refers to God’s people as His vineyard, we see that Jesus is really issuing a strong warning to those at that time who, spiritually speaking, talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk. This parable was a call to repentance. It was also a clear pronouncement that God’s patience – long as it is – has limits.

And for us it is a reminder that faith in Jesus Christ is not just an intellectual exercise, but a life that shows its genuineness and its authenticity by its actions. What Jesus is simply saying is the Christian life bears fruit. Or to put it another way, the call to be a Christian is the call to be distinct before a watching world.

So let me ask you a question. Have you ever struggled with the genuine desire to “be a better Christian”? I would guess most of us have. Better yet I would hope all of us have. But think about this. Why should this be a struggle? Probably because we focus too much on what we are to do, rather than what we are.

There is a true story told about Hudson Taylor, one of the first Christian missionaries to China. At one point in his life he became very discouraged and felt depleted. He struggled to get Christ in his life and be a “better Christian.” He prayed, agonized, fasted, made resolutions and read the Bible, but the serenity, vitality and power he sought eluded him.

One day he received a letter from a caring friend. The last paragraph was a precisely aimed arrow of truth from God that struck Hudson in the heart and changed his whole perspective on things. “Not striving to have faith,” it read, “or to increase our faith, but looking to the Faithful One seems to be all we need. An abiding in the loved One entirely, from time and eternity…”

From that time on friends said Hudson Taylor was a different man. He didn’t work any less, they said, but now no longer as a man who struggled; rather as a man who was being used.

The point: Fall in love with Jesus and His Word and fruit bearing comes naturally. When we focus on what we are, what we do will take care of itself.

So, what is this text all about? Jesus sets the record straight about some wrong ideas. No, a tragedy in a person’s life is not an indication that he or she has committed some great sin and God is now collecting His due. All those dues were collected on a lonely cross on a hill called Calvary.

Likewise, the Lord gave us an opportunity to reflect on the difference between punishment and discipline. The first has been taken care of by Jesus, the second is an ongoing process from the loving hand of a Heavenly Father. Until He takes us home, He shapes and molds us into the people He wants us to be so we might give and bring Him glory.

Finally, rather than focusing on the sins and shortcomings of others, Jesus tells us to repent of our own through confession and clinging to the cross – and then bring forth fruits of repentance. Which, as we noted just a moment ago, is not hard to do when we focus on what God has done for us in Christ – now and for eternity. Amen.