Unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Luke 13:3 NIVUK
A number of years ago, there was a very significant event taking place in my country, Scotland. The people in the country were being asked to vote on whether it should be independent.
If there is something you should know about Scottish people, it’s not just that they have a wild sense of humour and can be a little tough, it’s also that they can be incredibly tribal and divided. Scots can argue and fall out over just about anything. And that referendum on independence proved it.
I love my country. I’ve supported it in football matches, cheered for it during other sports events, sung its national anthem on numerous occasions, worn its national dress... you get it, right? But at the time I disagreed with independence because I was working a lot with companies based in England and independence would disrupt my work.
So, like many others, I put my opinions on social media, stating that I would not vote for independence because I did not feel that the pro-independence parties had made their case well enough and were too light on the details of how it would work.
I was taken aback by the reaction it received.
Friends I’d known for decades, went to church with, socialised with, whose parents I knew, whose kids I knew, fell out with me and unfriended me, some even posted insults. It was awful.
As Christians we are often asked to give our opinion on highly contentious issues. And that’s perfectly normal. We have the same rights to have an opinion and express it as anyone else. People are also curious as to how our Christian worldview affects how we see the world, and that is good. It can give us an excellent platform to share the Gospel.
But it can also be a huge trap.
Jesus is approached here about a dreadful situation. For us, with the distance and perspective of history, we can see right away that it’s wrong. No question. Absolutely.
However, Jesus’ response seems to be a little hard, if we’re honest. On the surface, it seems to lack compassion.
Or does it?
Let’s first look at the atrocity. And it is an atrocity. Let’s not disguise that fact. It’s an abomination. Completely unacceptable. Completely wrong.
What is it?
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Luke 13:1 NIVUK
There could hardly be a more offensive thing to do to any Jew. The act of mixing their blood with their sacrifices would make their sacrifice unacceptable to God and would also desecrate the altar. Think about this for a second: sacrifices were designed to hurt. Otherwise, how could anyone call them a sacrifice? There was supposed to be a cost (see 1 Chronicles 21:24). Yet here the action of Pilate and his men has rendered that sacrifice meaningless and worthless.
What an awful thing to do!
No wonder the Jews were offended by this. No wonder they were angry.
But their anger put Jesus in a very difficult position.
The injustice and barbarity is clear. It is unequivocal.
However, Jesus was also working to a plan and a timetable. He had a clear role to play. If He spoke out against the evil depravity of what Pilate had ordered, He would find Himself in direct opposition to Pilate, would be perceived as someone leading a rebellion, would likely be arrested and very probably killed – too early and for the wrong reasons.
So the heat was well and truly on.
As it is for us, when we answer loaded questions about what we believe.
As it for us every time we post on social media, especially publicly.
Once people realise we are Christians, we effectively become a press secretary for Jesus. We become His representative, His ambassador. People will ask us for what we think and will equate this to what Jesus thinks.
And in a sense, they are right to do so. We call ourselves Christians. We say we are followers of Christ. We ought to represent Him.
If we feel the pressure this brings with it, we need to hear these words:
‘When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.’
Luke 12:11-12 NIVUK
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5 NIVUK
So before you respond, pray. Before you post, pray. Before you hit ‘Send’, pray. Pray for wisdom. Pray to be a good representative for Jesus.
So how will Jesus respond to this highly pressurised situation?
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.
Luke 13:2-3 NIVUK
That is quite a response!
They are no doubt expecting Jesus to condemn Pilate. Which would be justified, because his actions were condemnable. But Jesus does not.
They might be expecting Jesus to condemn the Galileans. This might be justified according to what they believed. They believed a simplified version of the Mosaic Covenant (see Deuteronomy 28), that good things happened to good people and bad things happened to bad people. So if you were doing well, God was rewarding you for your obedience, and if you were doing badly, then God was cursing you for your disobedience.
That sounds plausible, but it isn’t true. Not all the time. It fails to take people into consideration like Job, or the entire New Testament church.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. That’s life in a fallen world.
So within their framework, flawed though it was, it was perfectly possible for these men who’s sacrifices had been defiled to have done something somehow to deserve it.
This is where Jesus does something really clever. They want Him to condemn Pilate; He instead turns the spotlight back on His listeners. He asks if these Galileans who had suffered this pain and gross indignity were worse than anyone else.
The answer is ‘No’.
That being the case, then everyone listening to Him ought to repent, because if something so shocking had happened to them, it could happen to anyone.
That is quite a thing to say!
He has simultaneously cut the link between our situation and our sin (because, although sometimes our situation is directly caused by our sin, sometimes it is not), and also shone the spotlight on His audience, challenging them about their sin.
What an answer!
Jesus then shifts from an atrocity to a tragedy.
And again, it’s quite a tragedy:
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.’
Luke 13:4-5 NIVUK
Scholars have long struggled with what this tower might be. Siloam is an area of Jerusalem just beyond the city walls. One quite plausible theory is that this tower was there to assist with the construction of an aqueduct to bring water from the Gihon spring into the city. In that case, what we would be looking here is a construction accident that could have killed its workers, or perhaps passersby on their way into Jerusalem.
At any event, we are talking about something that Jesus’ audience knew about, likely had talked about, and had been affected by.
Again, at first glance Jesus’ response to the tragedy seems to be lacking in compassion. But digging further reveals something different.
Again, he decouples the tragic outcome from any sense that these victims were any worse sinners than the Jews in the city of Jerusalem.
Again, that would mean they had to repent because a tragic event could easily happen to them too.
But why would Jesus do this? Why would He be so astonishingly direct about two events were we would be so careful and sensitive?
The answer lies in what follows – a short parable about a fig tree.
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 round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” ’
Luke 13:6-9 NIVUK
To understand this parable, we need to realise two things.
Firstly, this parable is about gardening, in the sense that any gardener will plant a fig tree for its fruit. They don’t plant it to have a pet. They don’t want a nice Instagrammable view at sunset. A fig tree us planted for its fruit.
Fig trees are common around the Mediterranean basin, but resources in Israel are scare. So scarce that even the current Israeli government has spent small fortunes on irrigation projects to provide for their people.
So if nutrients and water are so scarce, any fig tree gardener will not want to have a barren tree that bears no fruit. That tree will take resources – nutrients and water – from healthy trees, potentially affecting their fruit. So the decision to dig this tree up is perfectly correct and fully justified.
But at the same time, this parable is not just about gardening. It’s about more than that.
The fig tree represents Israel. The gardener is God. Jesus is the One who will do His best to get fruit from the tree.
And what fruit is He looking for?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Luke 3:8 NIVUK
Primarily, the fruit that comes from a soul that has been repented and a life that is how lived for God. Fruit, for example, like this:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIVUK
So Jesus is looking for evidence. Not just evidence that you have decided to follow Him: not just raised hands or completed response forms or a baptismal certificate. No, He is looking for a changed life; for firm evidence of repentance.
He will give ample opportunity for this.
A fig tree can take three to five years before it is ready to bear fruit. So this farmer is likely to have waited at least six to eight years. You can understand his impatience. He has waited long enough.
And that is the point of this parable. God will not wait forever for us to repent, and to live up to the commitment we have made to God. Eventually, He will come looking for fruit - something His efforts and investment in hs completely deserve.
So we have seen three pictures here: one of a cruel and heartless atrocity, the other of a dreadful tragedy, and the third of a fig tree.
However, there is one aspect of this teaching that provides it with a chilling edge. Around thirty years after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. It isn’t hard to see that Jesus is giving His people a warning, just as He did when He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44).
This isn’t coercion. Not at all. It’s as if your friend was standing in the middle of a busy highway and you told them to move because a truck was coming. Jesus is doing that for these Jews. He is telling them how to get out of the way.
And yet, even the Romans are not the main disaster Jesus is trying to help then avoid. A far bigger disaster awaits those who refuse to repent: the disaster of hell.
So yes, this is Jesus telling His people to repent, not just because people had already fallen victims to disasters, but because a bigger disaster was coming.
But what about you? Will you repent?
Will you get out of the way?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I take Your warnings here very seriously. I know they come from a heart of love. I want to be saved. I repent here and now of all my sin. Help me to live for You. Amen.
Questions
1. Why does Jesus use this atrocity and calamity to tell people to repent? What is He saying to them?
2. What does the Parable of the Fig Tree mean? How do we see this worked our in Jewish history not long after Jesus was ascended to heaven? What does this mean for us?
3. How do you feel about these difficult verses? Will you repent?
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