Luke 13.1-9 (NRSV)

Luke 13.1-9 (NRSV)

Repent or Perish

13At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.²He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” ⁸He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” ’

In the first part of this lesson Jesus refers to two recent disasters. He was told that Pilate had just done something absolutely dreadful. In verse 1 Luke records:

            Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices.

From Jesus' reply, we know that there were many in his audience who believed that these people had suffered because of their dreadful sin. They believed that because the Galileans had suffered such a terrible death at the hands of Pilate, they must have been very sinful people. Many people today are also under this delusion. They believe that they are suffering greatly because they must have been terribly sinful. When they look at the suffering of others they hold that they must be going through such hell on earth because they too must be terribly sinful.

Jesus rejects this notion. Disasters and accidents and pain and suffering are not inflicted by God on people as a punishment for their sin. This is totally contrary to the image of God that we know so well and which is perfectly revealed to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God does not want any single person to suffer. Rather, God wants all people to turn away from sin and turn to him so that they might realise their true potential.

In order to stress this point, Jesus provides his audience with another illustration. 18 people had been killed in Siloam when a tower fell on them. This sort of thing always seems pointless. But we can be sure that it is not the hand of God we are seeing at work, punishing people for being sinners.

This mistaken view was expressed in Job - perhaps the best study of suffering known to humankind. Job's friends said to him that he was suffering because he was a sinner for if he was right with God; this is evident because things go right with you. The fact of the matter is that things very often do not go well, even for Christians.

We can be very grateful for the fact that God does not treat us as we deserve - if He did - our suffering would be unbearable.

It is true, sin causes suffering. But it is also true that the sin of one person can cause an innocent person to suffer. This is why God hates sin and why he commands all people to turn away from all sin and follow him in faithful obedience. Satan also causes people to suffer - sometimes innocent people, Godly people, and people like Job.

We must be careful not to think that people do not suffer as a result of their own sin - they often do. Chain smokers who have emphysema have brought their suffering on themselves. People who commit adultery often have their marriages break up and find themselves alone. But the sadness is that sin always causes innocent people to suffer as well - the passive smokers - the families of heavy smokers also often suffer respiratory problems. The children of unfaithful parents are often messed around and suffer terribly through divorce proceedings and custody arguments.

All people have things in common with those who suffered the atrocious death at the hands of Pilate or those who were killed in the accident in Siloam - because all people are sinners. These sort of incidents should warn us of the fickle nature of life on earth. There are no guarantees. Your life might be alright now, but for how long we can never tell. All of us could face injustice or unfairness. In keeping with the tenor of what Jesus had been teaching in the previous chapter about being prepared for the end - Jesus stressed the need here once more. In verse 5 Jesus states:

            ... you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, everyone of you will also die. (CEV)

It always comes down to the same thing. Is a person in a right relationship with God? If so, then there is always meaning in everything, even suffering, because we know that while our bodies and minds are weak and frail and in torment - our souls and spirits are being renewed, purified and strengthened. We can know that we are right with God if we bear spiritual fruit. Jesus explains this in a parable and demonstrated this truth in practice by healing a woman on the Sabbath.

Fig trees and vineyards were symbols of the Israelite nation which God had cultivated and cherished in the hope that they would bear spiritual fruit. According to Leviticus, fruit from a newly planted tree could not be eaten for the first three years. The crops of the fourth year belonged to the Lord. This tree had nothing to give to the Lord. The tree is an image of Israel. The special relationship that God had with them had turned into a barren religion. In the parable, the barren tree is given yet another chance to bear fruit. Later, just before Jesus' death we encounter the fig tree again - but still there was nothing - no fruit. Jesus then cursed it and declared that it would never bear fruit again. But only as a dramatic hyperbole, never meant to be understood literally, shocking us into considering what we miss out on if we persist in turning our backs on God.

We need to tread very carefully when it comes to dealing with suffering, because it is a mystery that defies over-simplification. The journalist, Mark Dowd, in a Channel 4 documentary entitled: Tsunami: Where was God visited a Vatican Observatory Conference on the problem of suffering where one of the scientists put it beautifully. He explained that an all-knowing God must have known of the reality of suffering before creating the universe, and because of this, probably paused and wept, because it distressed him so. But he still went ahead and created it all because he thought was worth it in the end. The love of God is so great that – even though we might not even come close to understanding it – it is there for all, especially for those in the midst of their suffering.

God is the gardener in Jesus’ parable, not the owner, and he never tires of giving us chance after chance after chance. By his grace he is always pleading our case for us willing us to be embraced by his love.

Luke 13:31-end (NRSV)

The Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ ³²He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

In this lesson, Jesus continues his theme of avoiding petty minor issues. Jesus displays this in his response to the warning of the Pharisees that he should leave the region because Herod was threatening to kill him. One cannot be sure that the Pharisee's motives were pure or whether they were being used by Herod as his agents, to frighten Jesus away. When one thinks of the reputation the Pharisees had, of trying to thwart Jesus' plans, it is likely that they were trying to hamper his work. Either way, it was clear to Jesus what the Father wanted him to do, and he was therefore not going to allow anything or any person to come between him and fulfilling his Father's will.

Jesus replies by calling Herod a fox and stressing that he will only move on when his work had been completed and not before. The fox image is interesting. In Jewish culture, this term was used to describe a person who was cunning. It was also used in contrast to a lion. A lion symbolised real greatness and power. At the opposite end of the scale was the fox which symbolised deviousness and all that was undesirable.

Jesus is also very specific in what he still needs to do. In verse 32 he stresses that he will be '... driving out demons and performing cures ...' Jesus was going to remedy spiritual evil as well as deal with physical problems. Both the dramatic and the insignificant are all important to our Lord, and he would never let anything come in his way and prevent him from loving and caring for his people. Jesus also knew that his mission would end in Jerusalem and not in Herod's territory.

Jerusalem, while a reference to the capital city, is also an image of all the people of Israel. Jesus reminds his audience of the terrible way in which the people of Israel acted towards the messengers God had sent them. The messengers had been sent by God to warn them that the path they were leading was going to lead to disaster - not that God was going to bring suffering to their lives - rather that they were going to bring it upon themselves. And how did the people respond? They persecuted them and even killed some of them. The saddest thing of all is that they were going to execute the most important prophet of all - the Messiah and saviour of the world - our Lord Jesus Christ. Herod cannot interfere in this process - he is not powerful enough. McBride explains: ‘Jesus had an ancient appointment that no mere human can thwart.) LaVerdiere adds: ‘Jesus needed to give Jerusalem's children the chance to return to their mother - Herod and no-one else would interfere with this.’

Jesus' lament over Jerusalem is another touching glimpse into the compassion and love of our God for all people. Rather than just leave them up to their own devices, and for them to reap their just rewards, God always tries to give people another chance. Like a hen tries to gather her little ones under the protection of her wing, God tries to warn people against sin and its consequences. But the little ones are not interested, because they think that they are all grown up, and they know better for themselves. God wants to gather his people into his kingdom, but the people want nothing to do with God and they make this known by the way they reject God and his messengers. At this stage in its history, Jerusalem reflected this graphically - her actions were sinful and God was absent rather than present – because they had pushed them away. But even still, God had not abandoned the city. God had been banished - repeatedly - but they were still going to be given another chance. But they needed to accept it before it was too late - before the door was closed – before they closed the door.

There are a number of lessons from this passage that we can apply directly into our lives today.

Firstly, we ought to seek to possess a spirit of calm and unshaken confidence about things that are still to come. This does not mean that we become irresponsible and do nothing for ourselves. To adopt this attitude would conflict with the testimony of the Scriptures. If we can honestly say that we have done everything that we can do, as J C Ryle puts it:

... we should therefore endeavour to leave things to come in God's hands, and not be over-anxious about health, or family, or money or plans. To cultivate this frame of mind would add immensely to our peace.

Many of us find this very difficult indeed. I have to admit that I struggle with this myself. But praise God, things are improving and I am finding, with the years, that the Lord is blessing me with more and more peace and I trust him for all things.

Here, as in all things, we should try to follow Jesus' example. There is no such thing as luck or accident or fate in the life of a believer. We need rather to exercise our faith and with Jesus be enabled by the Spirit of God to say - I will continue now until all things are accomplished and nothing is going to be allowed to thwart God's plans.

Secondly, we must never lose sight of God's compassion towards all people. Here to, we need to follow Jesus' example and show patience and compassion for those who are not at the same stage on the path of our spiritual pilgrimage. What a wonderfully caring picture the Scriptures paint of our Lord. God's attitude is beautifully portrayed by the prophet Ezekiel who records God's message to his people:

Tell them that as surely as I, the sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die? (Ezekiel 33:11, TEV.)

Peter reiterates this truth:

The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins (2 Peter 3:9, TEV.)

God's desire is that all people repent and return to him and receive the free gift of salvation achieved for them in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself made this point when he called people to be saved by turning to him. But they persisted in rejecting him and so he mourned and said: ‘Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life’(John 5:40, TEV).

Let us take care to guard against being over-anxious about things that we can do absolutely nothing about. If we have done everything in our power and if we know that we are being faithful to what God is calling us to do - relax and allow God to take control. God is our heavenly Father. He loves us very deeply. If we turn to him, he will never reject us. Like a hen mothering chickens God wants to surround all people with the wing of his protection and care. Even when we have turned our backs on God he will never tire of welcoming us back when we turn to him. If we are willing, we can come to him and have life. Amen.

References:

Barclay, The Daily Study Bible

LaVerdiere, E, Luke

McBride, D, The Gospel of Luke

Ryle, J C, Expository Thoughts of the Gospels: Luke

The Temptation of Jesus

Luke 4:1-13 (NRSV) First Sunday in Lent

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ ⁴Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’

⁵ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ ⁸Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
   and serve only him.” ’

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
   to protect you”,
¹¹and
“On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
¹²Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 

Luke records an interesting detail neglected by the other evangelists - the fact that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. This is of great significance for us today. Satan often increases his attack on people, especially after they have drawn close to God in a special way. There are countless examples of this in the Scriptures. When we are at a high point in our spiritual lives, we must be particularly careful to be on our guard against Satan and his devices.

It is also important to remember that the Holy Spirit leads us not only beside quiet waters. As he led Jesus into the desert, the Spirit might also lead us into difficult situations. God never causes anything evil or bad to happen - he cannot - he is the source of everything that it good. But evil and suffering exist because of human disobedience and Satan's evil devices. When we find ourselves in difficult situations we need to first make sure that we have not brought the problems upon ourselves because of our sin. If we find no sin or unwise behaviour to repent of then we can know that God will take us through the trial in the power of his Spirit and so we need to be open to the Spirit's leading.

Let us examine the perfect example of Jesus.

We are not fundamentalists, but the existence of evil is real. Caird provides (for me) a good explanation of the significance of referring to the ‘Devil’. For many modern readers, the mention of the devil ‘… invests the story with an air of unreality and even of superstition.’ The devil is obviously a mythical figure, but myth must not be confused with legend or fairy-tale. ‘Myth is a pictorial way of expressing truths which cannot be expressed so readily or so forcefully in any other way …’ Caird suggests that there are five (at least) truths that are safeguarded by belief in a devil: (i) Evil is real and potent – there is a power that can get a grip on human life and society; (ii) Evil is personal – there is often a choice to obey God or dismiss him and his ways; (iii) Evil is distorted good – evil persists when the good things of God become distorted (iv) Evil masquerades as good – often good things for the wrong motives and at the wrong time and (v) Evil is the enemy. The use of the Devil symbolizes all of this – a mythical character who represents all this – and all this is real.

Jesus recognised this. We need therefore to learn from Christ, our saviour and Lord, how best to deal with our common enemy. Notice that the Satan is subtle. Satan is very clever and knows exactly where our weaknesses lie. Note how expertly he tried to trap Jesus. He knew that Jesus had just heard those beautiful words “You are my beloved Son ...” and so Satan tries to sow the seed of doubt by questioning Jesus with the words “If you are the Son of God?” The first thing that Jesus needed to do was determine whether this was the same voice that he had heard at his baptism or a different voice. Satan seldom makes his presence obviously felt. In this instance, we can presume that it was not absolutely obvious to our Lord whose voice it was and so he had to put what was said to the test.

Notice also how the subtlety of Satan also extends to tailor-making temptation for the person being tempted. Satan knew that Jesus would not be tempted to do anything that was obviously immoral or antisocial and so he tried to tempt Jesus to do good, virtuous and blessed things. All temptation is to do what is attractive, but the most powerful is that which tempts one to do what appears to be good.

Let us examine, then, the three temptations of Jesus. (i) In verse 3 we read: ‘The devil said to Jesus, "If you are God's Son, tell this stone to turn into bread."’

Imagine the struggle that this question posed for our Lord. Was this his Father speaking to him? Did the Father intend him to provide materially for the people? Was it not the Father's will that the starving masses of the world be fed? Would it not be proper for the Messiah to devote himself to meeting this most significant and real of all human needs? No person can doubt that it is good to feed the hungry. Jesus therefore needed to find out if this was the Father's will. This is one of Satan's favourite ploys, i.e. to persuade people to take action - even the right action - but for the wrong reason and at the wrong time. What Jesus did and what we all need to do is put everything to the test.

We cannot simply convince ourselves that it must be God's will because what we feel motivated to do is good. How we put things to the test is quite simple - what does not agree with Scripture does not come from God. According to Scripture, people are higher than animals which live on the level of physical needs. Humans must be concerned with many things beside just our physical and material needs. Caird writes: 'To give priority to man's physical needs is to strip him of his dignity and make him one with the beasts that perish'. Nobody would deny that people need food - but food is not our only or our deepest need. Fellowship with God growing out of obedience - even if this might mean experiencing hunger - is the deepest need of all people. Jesus therefore refused to be diverted to meeting peoples’ superficial needs in place of their deepest needs. He also refused to abuse his power by meeting his own personal needs by satisfying his hunger. Hence Jesus' reply in verse 4: '"The Scriptures say, 'No one can live only on food'"'.

(ii) Verses 5-7 record Jesus' second temptation: Satan led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. Satan said, "I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. Just worship me, and you can have it all." In Psalm 2:8 we read: 'Ask me for the nations, and every nation on earth will belong to you.'

All the nations of the earth in fact do belong to Christ by right. Jesus knew this. The question that remained was how were they to become his in reality? Just think of what Jesus could have achieved if he were to have become an earthly political and military ruler. How simple would the task of world-wide mission have been? Among the Jews, the Zealots actually expected the Messiah to come as a conqueror who would lead them to victory in a war of liberation. Miller points out how strong this temptation must have been for our Lord. He reminds us that Jesus had grown up under Roman authority. Much of what he had earned as a carpenter would have gone to pay unfair Roman taxes. He had also experienced first-hand the havoc wrought by Rome to his people - and he too must have longed for a time when his people would be set free from oppression. But Jesus knew that His kingdom was meant to be of a different kind. He had already, through his baptism, identified himself with sinners whom he had come to save. He knew that the Father had called him to a lowly path, not one of earthly glory. It meant a cross and not a crown. To look for earthly sovereignty was to worship wickedness and Jesus decisively renounced that. He could only receive power and authority from the Father. Satan's dominion over this earth is for a limited period of time. Jesus took it from him - he did not need to receive it from him - he had the power to take it from him - which he did on the cross. Once again Jesus appealed to Scripture, i.e. Deuteronomy 6:13: We read in verse 8: Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only'."

(iii) Verses 9-12 tell us of the last temptation: Finally Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on top of the temple. The devil said, "If you are the God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: 'God will tell his angels to take care of you. They will catch you in their arms, and you will not hurt your feet on the stones'."

Jesus was tempted to perform a spectacular, but pointless miracle. Satan misused Scripture to assure Jesus that he would be kept safe. What Psalm 91 actually says is: 'If you love me and truly know who I am, I will rescue you and keep you safe ...' Therefore, it is in the obedient service which flows from loving fellowship with God that His promises are validated, not at any time and under any circumstances and especially not to cause sensation and draw attention to ourselves - which is what Satan was tempting Jesus to do. And so Jesus responds in verse 12: '... Don't try to test the Lord your God!' Once more Jesus did not chose the easy road to success through sensationalism that would never last, rather he remained on the hard road of service and suffering that would eventually lead to the cross - but afterwards also to the crown of glory.

Our passage concludes with verse 13: “After Satan had finished testing Jesus in every way possible, he left him for a while.”

Each of these temptations had attacked Jesus at a point of strength - not weakness - his compassion, his commitment, his faith. Jesus was able to rebut Satan by correctly using the Scriptures. Jesus placed himself, therefore, under the authority of Scripture and therefore also the authority of God. And Satan could therefore achieve nothing and so left him for the time being. Jesus had won an initial victory, but these same temptations were to recur throughout his ministry finally culminating in the mocking cry of Luke 23:37: "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!"

Wilkinson reminds us that “… at every great moment of spiritual vision and exaltation there comes the inner struggle of thinking out how it is to be achieved in practice, and lived out in daily life …” By this time, the human Jesus must have known that he was in fact the long-awaited Messiah and in some unique sense the Son of God, but this would have raised the question: “What now? What must I do?”

We know that ’40 days’ is the Biblical way of referring to an indefinite period of time – something similar to us referring to ‘… for weeks …’ Simply put, Jesus spent ‘weeks’ exploring and rejecting one way after another as he thought out the meaning of his life and work and in the process, many tempting possibilities presented themselves to him – but he needed to resist them.

Later Jesus must have discussed the process with his disciples saying something like – “It was as though Satan was trying to get me to …” and used a form of parable to both make sense of it all for himself and to his followers. This is a powerful method because when we are trying to express something so deep and significant in our lives, ordinary cognitive language just does not always work – we need something more symbolic and allegorical if we are going to do justice to making sense of it all.

Wilkinson makes an important further observation: “… the more we meditate on them the more depths and unexpected glints of meaning they reveal to us …” One of the reasons why I often enjoy looking at different translations, is that they too often provide a different shade of meaning and can lead us on to different and interesting paths.

Jesus would have been tempted to meet the physical and economic needs of the people. The Jews were desperately poor at the time and it is difficult to listen to any good news if one is financially oppressed and burdened. But we also know that having wealth does not solve things. But it does not alter the fact that financial worries are serious and I was saddened to hear of an old lady who took out a store card only to find that her pension was not enough to meet the payments and also contemplated suicide. It must have been hard for Jesus not to take this route.

Jesus would have been tempted to be a political Messiah as this is, after all, what his people wanted almost more than anything else and he would have known as well as anyone, the difficult life lived under Roman oppression.

Many of my students still say that if they could experience a miracle they too would believe, so Jesus, wanting to give people real life, full life, life that comes from faith, would have been tempted to do the spectacular. (This was also part of the myth of the expected Messiah). But this would not have been true and in the end, when difficulties were to arise – as they always do because we live in a fallen world – this faith would dissolve.  We know that even Jesus had to face this reality as the passage ends with: “¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.” The same basic temptations would have remained with Jesus throughout his ministry and including the cry of taunt when he was on the Cross: “Save yourself!”

Wilkinson challenges us to be progressive in our thinking and theology stating: “If we are doing no more than thinking the thoughts of our grandfathers, there is something wrong with us as Christians.” We must not be like the Pharisees whose minds were closed to new thoughts. Many rejected Jesus because he was re-interpreting what was considered to be traditional orthodox wisdom. This should be a warning to us.

How are we tempted? Are we tempted to put our faith in money and material goods; political power and to do the sensational? I still far prey to these from time to time – especially the money issue – with two mortgages, school fees etc., etc., and Trish’s job coming to an end soon. I know I need to follow Paul’s injunction in Romans 12 to undergo a renewal of my mind.

Blessings to all this Lent.

References:

Barclay, W, Daily Study Bible: St Luke

Caird, G B, Saint Luke (Pelican)

Miller, D G, Layman’s Bible Commentary: St Luke

Wilkinson, W, Good News in Luke