GOSPEL READING:
Luke 13:1-91 There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? 3 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." 6 And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, `Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?' 8 And he answered him, `Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. 9 And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"
SCRIPTURE READING:
Exodus 3:1-8,13-151 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Meditation: What causes suffering or affliction and what
does God want to teach us through it? The people of Israel
suffered greatly under the oppressive rule of Egypt for more than
400 years. Did they suffer unjustly or was God angry with them?
God was faithful to his people Israel even in the midst of their
affliction and ill treatment by their Egyptian taskmaster. God in
his mercy did not forget them nor forsake them. Throughout their
long history of exile and suffering God made them strong and they
grew in number. God listened to their plea for mercy and freedom.
And God raised up a savior for them, called Moses, whom he taught
and tested in the wilderness until he was ready to hear and obey
God's call.
The fire of God's purifying love and deliverance
When Moses came near the mountain of God at Horeb (which is also
named Sinai), God made his presence and will known to Moses
through an extraordinary sign - a bush inflamed with a
fierce fire that did not harm or destroy the bush. This burning
bush was a sign of God's presence and power to save his people
from destruction. The fire of God's presence always demonstrates
his purifying love and mercy that burns away sin and refashions us
in his holiness and righteousness (moral goodness). Just as gold
is tested through fire, God tests and purifies his people and
fills them with the fire of his love and holiness.
When Jesus preached the coming of God's kingdom of peace and
righteousness to his people, he called them to repent and believe in
the gospel - the good news of pardon, peace, and new life in the
Holy Spirit. His numerous signs and miracles demonstrated the power
of God's kingdom breaking into the lives of all who turned to Jesus
with faith and obedience. Many recognized that Jesus was the Messiah
whom God had promised would come and do even greater signs and
wonders than Moses has done.
Jesus addresses the issue of suffering and sin
Jesus on a number of occasions warned the people to turn away from
sin before it was too late to repent and receive God's mercy and
pardon. Luke recounts two current disasters which Jesus addressed
with the people. The first incident occurred in the temple at
Jerusalem. Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Jerusalem at the
time, ordered his troops to slaughter a group of Galileans who had
come up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice in the Temple. We do not
know what these Galileans did to incite Pilate's wrath, nor why
Pilate chose to attack them in the holiest of places for the Jews,
in their temple at Jerusalem. For the Jews, this was political
barbarity and sacrilege at its worst!
The second incident which Jesus addressed was a natural disaster,
a tower in Jerusalem which unexpectedly collapsed, killing 18
people. The Jews often associated such calamities and disasters as
a consequence of sin. Scripture does warn that sin can result in
calamity! Though the righteous fall seven times, and rise
again; the wicked are overthrown by calamity (Proverbs
24:16).
The time for repentance and forgiveness is right now!
The real danger and calamity which Jesus points out is that an
unexpected disaster or a sudden death does not give us time to
repent of our sins and to prepare ourselves to meet the Judge of
heaven and earth. The Book of Job reminds us that misfortune and
calamity can befall both the righteous and the unrighteous alike.
Jesus gives a clear warning - take responsibility for your actions
and moral choices and put sin to death today before it can destroy
your heart, mind, soul, and body as well. Unrepentant sin is like
a cancer which corrupts us from within. If it is not eliminated
through repentance - asking God for forgiveness and for his
healing grace - it leads to a spiritual death which is far worse
than physical destruction.
The sign of the barren fig tree
Jesus' parable of the barren fig tree illustrates his warning
about the consequences of allowing sin and corruption to take root
in our hearts and minds. Fig trees were a common and important
source of food for the people of Palestine. A fig tree normally
matured within three years, producing plentiful fruit. If it
failed, it was cut down to make room for more healthy trees. A
decaying fig tree and its bad fruit came to symbolize for the Jews
the consequence of spiritual corruption caused by evil deeds and
unrepentant sin.
The unfruitful fig tree symbolized the outcome of Israel's
indifference and lack of response to God's word of
repentance and restoration. The prophets depicted the desolation
and calamity of Israel's fall and ruin - due to her unfaithfulness
to God - as a languishing fig tree (see Joel 1:7,12; Habbakuk
3:17; and Jeremiah 8:13). Jeremiah likened good and evil rulers
and members of Israel with figs that were either good for eating
or rotten and wasteful (Jeremiah 24:2-8). Jesus' parable depicts
the patience of God, but it also contains a warning that we should
not presume upon God's patience and mercy. God's judgment will
come in due course - very soon or later.
Why God judges
Why does God judge his people? He judges to purify and cleanse us
of all sin that we might grow in his holiness and righteousness.
And he disciplines us for our own good, to inspire a godly fear
and reverence for him and his word. God is patient, but for those
who persistently and stubbornly rebel against him and refuse to
repent and change their course, there is the consequence that they
will lose both their soul and body to hell. Are God's judgments
unjust or unloving? When God's judgments are revealed in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (Isaiah
26:9). To pronounce God's judgment on sin is much less harsh than
what will happen if those who sin are not warned to repent and
turn back to God.
Don't tolerate sin
God, in his mercy, gives us time to get right with him, but that
time is now. We must not assume that there is no hurry. A sudden
and unexpected death leaves one no time to prepare to settle one's
accounts when he or she must stand before the Lord on the day of
judgment. Jesus warns us that we must be ready at all times.
Tolerating sinful habits and excusing unrepentant sin and
wrongdoing will result in bad fruit, painful discipline, and
spiritual disease that leads to death and destruction. The Lord in
his mercy gives us both grace (his gracious help and healing) and
time to turn away from sin, but that time is right now. If we
delay, even for a day, we may discover that grace has passed us by
and our time is up. Do you hunger for the Lord's righteousness
(moral goodness) and holiness?
Lord Jesus, increase my hunger for you that I may grow in righteousness and holiness. May I not squander the grace of the present moment to say "yes" to you and to your will and plan for my life.
Psalm 103:1-8,11
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Lord's three visits through the Patriarchs, Prophets, and the Gospel, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The Lord also has something very fitting to say about a fruitless tree, 'Look, it is now three years that I have been coming to it. Finding no fruit on it, I will cut it down, to stop it blocking up my field.' The gardener intercedes... This tree is the human race. The Lord visited this tree in the time of the patriarchs, as if for the first year. He visited it in the time of the law and the prophets, as if for the second year. Here we are now; with the gospel the third year has dawned. Now it is as though it should have been cut down, but the merciful one intercedes with the merciful one. He wanted to show how merciful he was, and so he stood up to himself with a plea for mercy. 'Let us leave it,' he says, 'this year too. Let us dig a ditch around it.' Manure is a sign of humility. 'Let us apply a load of manure; perhaps it may bear fruit.' Since it does bear fruit in one part, and in another part does not bear fruit, its Lord will come and divide it. What does that mean, 'divide it'? There are good people and bad people now in one company, as though constituting one body." (excerpt from Sermon 254.3)
