Haven't we all ever thought
like those people in Luke 13:1, who came reporting to Jesus concerning the
plight of the pilgrims from Galilee? They thought that people who have
experienced a calamity must have committed a grave sin. The calamity was seen
as a divine judgement and a revelation of the degree of their sinfulness. Luke 13:1-5 tell us about two
tragedies. The first was when some Galilean pilgrims celebrating the Passover
in the temple were killed by Pilate. They expect Jesus who hailed from Galilee
to be more sympathetic toward the victims and hope to catch him making some
seditious remarks that would get Him into trouble with the authority.
The second tragedy was
brought up by the Lord Himself. It's about an incident where eighteen people
were killed while building the tower of Siloam which collapsed on them. Here
Jesus voiced their thoughts. They were reading into the tragedy and concluded
that the eighteen killed were worst sinners than others from Jerusalem. His answer
to them was the same for both tragedies, "...unless you repent, you will
all likewise parish." Tragedy notwithstanding, sin is sin. There is no
greater or lesser sin as far as God is concerned. For truly all have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone needs to repent.
Repentance is not the same as
remorse. It's not just an emotional experience where one merely cries over a
sin. The tears of remorse are usually not so much because of the weight of the
sin but more for the fact that one’s sin had now been discovered. True
repentance, on the other hand, is a definite change one would make to one's
life. It results from a radical change in one's heart and mind concerning sin.
It always affects the will and decision to act rightly to amend for the sin. The
first aim of repentance is to mend one's fractured relationship with God. It is
a pre-requisite for growth in Christ. In life's journey, one would have at
times offended God knowingly or unknowingly, and sometimes through wilful disobedience.
We need to repent if we want to move on with Him.
In verses 6-9, Jesus then
told a parable to challenge the crowds to respond to God's grace and mercy
toward them. To understand the parable we need to know that the owner of the
vineyard represents God, the vineyard keeper represents Christ; and the fig
tree represents Israel (and by extension, the church). Israel, the barren fig
tree planted by God was scheduled for destruction. But Christ came in His mercy
with the view to see a response to His grace. For three years He showed the
kindness of God in the hope that Israel, the fig tree would respond to His mercy
and bear fruit. If there is no response, despite His sacrificial work, then it
would be hewed down for destruction. Like the challenge Christ made to
those people, He is also calling on us to respond positively to God's mercy.
There is a necessity to repent
over sin if we desire growth. Having acknowledged Christ's Lordship we must be
watchful over our lives. We need to repent every time sin shows up. The middle
letter of the word sin is "I". Sin is caused by putting the
"I" in the centre of one’s life. The word obedience also has nine
letters. The middle three letters spell the word "die". The
middle letter of die is also "I". To live a life of obedience, the
"I" in the centre must die. Repentance helps us to deal with the
"I".
Paul dealt with it by saying,
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." What a way to
live! It’s worth emulating!
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