Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
Sermon
Murder by brutal rulers and accidental death seem to be divine punishment for sin, and Jesus says, “You will all come to the same end unless you begin to reform.” Jesus’ hearers shared a common world-view that sudden death was a punishment for sin, and that since things were going well in their lives, they had no need to repent. The point of comparison in the stories of the death of the Galileans and those killed by the falling tower is the suddenness of the event, not primarily that these events are divine punishment.
With the beginning of spring a few days away, thoughts of gardening arise. Lent is a time for a little pruning and nurturing of our personal fig trees. After all, God is pretty unpredictable, and who knows what may blossom in a few weeks?
Jesus then adds a parable about a patient God, who gives time for conversion. The owner of a fruitless fig tree wants it destroyed, but the vinedresser asks for more time to cultivate it so “perhaps” it will bear fruit; but if not, it can be cut down. Jesus never tells what happened. Did the tree bear fruit? His hearers and we ourselves must answer this question in our own lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment