Sermon Based on : Luke 13. 1-9; Isaiah 55. 1-9; 1 Corinthians 10. 1-13
Preached on: – Third Sunday of Lent- 24. 03.19
In our Gospel lesson for this morning there are people who have questions, people who are still shaking their heads over the tragic news they have heard. The passage can be divide into two parts, verses 1-5 and verses 6-9. I treat them in sequence, but we will see that they relate closely to one another.
The first half our Gospel passage refers to two events that were probably familiar to ancient audiences. The details, however, have been lost to time, for Luke is our only source of information about these tragedies.
So, Jesus is dealing with two forms of tragedy here: tragedy due to human causes (the massacre), and tragedy due to a natural cause (the collapse of the tower). “Tragedy, says Jesus, is not the measure of one’s sinfulness and one’s need to repent. Those whose lives are undisturbed likewise need to repent”.
Jesus
was told by some in the crowd that Pilate had killed some Galileans
while they were worshiping.
The
real issue in this passage, however, is that those Jews who reported
this to Jesus did so with the assumption that those who had been
murdered by Pilate must have been very wicked people. And they meant
by implication that they themselves must be very righteous.
Jesus uses these tragedies or disasters to direct His hearers’ attention to a far greater disaster that they all faced if they refused to repent.
Jesus spoke something in reply that was absolutely unexpected. What did he say? “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no!” He looked directly at those who thought they were righteous, who assumed they had no need for a Saviour, and warned, “I tell you, unless you repent, you too will all perish.”Jesus focused his attention on the most important issue in the life of these self-satisfied people. He was saying plainly that all people are sinners in need of a Savior. Not only the Gentiles, not only the Galileans, whom the people of Jerusalem looked down upon, but all are sinners. Notice how quickly he directed his listeners to the issues of sin, death, and hell.
In our Bible Study on Tuesday, somebody asked a very interesting question if hell is mentioned in the Bible or is it a post Biblical idea, and we all agreed on the fact that hell is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. Different terms are used to describe hell for example sheol, Gehenna, also known as the Lake of Fire, the place of Second Death or eternal torment. What is truly to be feared is not death — which must come to us all — but dying without repenting and availing ourselves of God’s mercy.
We have our own way of reckoning one person a worse sinner than another, but in God’s sight we are all lost until we are saved by the blood of the Lamb; and if a man is lost, he cannot be more lost than another.
Jesus does not always repeat things but when He does it it’s obligatory for us to “Listen Up!” We need to hear and heed His clarion call in Luke 13:3 &5 regarding the necessity of personal repentance!
The evidence of saving faith is repentance from sin or a turning from and hatred for sin. A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word “repentance.” A little boy put up his hand and said, “It is being sorry for your sins.” A little girl also raised her hand and said, “It is being sorry enough to quit.”, “Repentance is an inseparable companion of faith.” (Spurgeon)
Faith
and repentance go hand in hand, they are virtually joined together.
Repentance is a heart broken FOR sin and FROM sin. True repentance
has a double aspect. It looks upon things in the past with a weeping
eye, and upon the future with a hopeful eye. Repentance is a turning
from sin and returning to the Lord.
The Bible refers to salvation as repentance at times. Romans 2:4 2 Peter 3:9. If a person genuinely loves God, he will have a built-in hatred for sin. It is impossible to love two things contradictory of one another. If you love gardens, you will hate weeds. If you love babies, you will hate abortion. If you love God you will hate sin. There is very famous saying of St. Augustine; “Love God and do whatever you like.”
Proverbs 28:13 says “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” This verse links the two inseparable parts of true repentance: confession and forsaking sin. True repentance is more than being sorry for your sins. Some are sorry they got caught. This is not repentance. Someone said ‘Hell is full of people sorry for their sins’. Judas was sorry for betraying Jesus. He thought he could solve his problem by giving the money back to the priests. It did not work. He ended his anguish by committing suicide. We never saw any repentance in Judas or asking for forgiveness. Judas knew only the burden of broken fellowship and it destroyed him.
The truly repentant person, who wants freedom from the burden of broken fellowship, comes to the Lord with no pride, self-will, rights, and no claim to worthiness. She or he sees herself or himself as a repulsive sinner who has no claim to salvation apart from the abundant grace of God. Without repentance, we will perish.
Now comes a parable that brings out two things: the need for repentance and God’s slowness to punish. The preceding passage has stressed the importance of repenting and this one highlights the fact that the opportunity does not last for ever.
The Jews as a nation were more highly favoured than any other. Taken out of barren Egypt and planted by the hand of God in fertile Canaan, with all the care and protection that divine wisdom and power could bestow, much fruit was naturally expected. But the heart of Him who planted was grieved and disappointed. For three years God in Christ sought fruit and found none. Yet the compassionate Saviour interceded, crying, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34).
The Dresser’s Intercession. He—
I thought of the words of Jesus found in today’s Gospel. Why did those people die? Why people suffer? We see tragedies all over the world and all around us due to human causes and tragedies due to natural causes. We see people dying not because they were any better or worse than the rest of us. Since all of us sin, none of us has a right to think we are too good to die this way. There’s no room for self-righteous smugness. Nor is there room for bitter complaint. In this Sunday’s Epistle Paul warns the Corinthians that spiritual privilege doesn’t guarantee success. He reminds them that God’s gracious offer of forgiveness requires them to leave their former ways. Like our Gospel reading, this Sunday’s epistle contains a summons to repentance.
In our fallen world, death comes to all of us–one way or another–in God’s own time. Disasters are a call to repentance. They should remind us of our need to confess our sins and turn to Jesus for salvation or renew our commitment to Him.
In the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen