Bible Passage: Luke 13:1-9
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: March 23, 2025

Bulletin – March 23, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about some tragic death.  The news is filled with stories of war-casualties and natural disasters and murder and overdose.  There is a human tendency in these moments to speculate.  We wonder why it happened to “those” people.  There is an underlying assumption beneath much of the speculation.  The underlying assumption runs something like this:  “Good things happen to good people; conversely, bad things happen to bad people.”  The logic is then simple, cold, inescapable:  That person met with a bad end so they must have been a bad person. 

In our text this morning, the Lord Jesus will address such thinking.  Using a parable about a vineyard and fruit and a patient gardner he will teach us a valuable lesson.  Today’s text might be summed up this way:  Better a Fruit-Producer than a Fruit-Inspector.

The whole thing begins when some people come to Jesus and tell him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. (v. 1)  We know almost nothing about this.  Evidently there was an occasion when some people from Galilee were at the Temple in Jerusalem bringing sacrifices.  For whatever reason, the Roman soldiers used deadly force against them right there at the Temple.  In that sense he mixed their blood with their sacrifices.

There is something about the way the people have reported this to Jesus that draws this reply from him:  Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? (v. 2)  Not to shy away from tough theological questions, Jesus presents another situation.  Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse sinners than all the people living in Jerusalem? (v. 4)  So here we have two tragic situations.  One case is the very intentional taking of life by wicked human beings.  The other a case of “accidental” death.  Were these simply cases where “bad” people came to a “bad” end?

To both of these questions Jesus gives the emphatic answer, I tell you, no! (v. 3, 5)  Jesus slams the door on such cruel, unmerciful logic!  To be sure, there certainly are sins that will have more earthly effect and consequence than others.  The sin of murder causes more human suffering than the sin of greed.  But they are both an offense to the holy God.  Both the murderer and the greedy man are “sinners” in God’s ledger.  Both are deserving of damnation.  When people want to debate who is a “worse” sinner, it is like two men sitting on a manure wagon arguing over whose after shave smells better.  They both stink!

If only those who are “worse sinners” meet such tragic deaths like the Galileans or those on whom the tower fell, then what shall we make of the death of Stephen in the book of Acts?  Stephen was stoned to death!  Was Stephen a worse sinner because he died this way?  But he was stoned because he loved Jesus.  What shall we make of the death of St. Paul?  He was beheaded.  For such a death Paul must have been living a horribly sinful life!  Was Paul a worse sinner than all the others?  Many times the Lord uses what we would call a “tragic death” to take a Christian home to heaven.  That does not sound like a “bad” thing.  

Rather than elevate ourselves to “fruit-inspectors” of everyone else, Jesus instructs, Unless you repent, you will all perish too. (v. 3, 5)  Jesus says, “Stop looking at everyone else!  Look in the mirror!  What about THAT person?  Is THAT person a sinner?  Repent!”  What does repentance look like?  What does repentance sound like?  It sounds like this:  “Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions.  I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good.  For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity.  But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray:  Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

That is repentance!  Confessing sin – all our sin – and trusting in Jesus’ mercy.  Some people embrace only half of repentance.  They like the “Jesus part” but skip the “confession of sin” part.  They want a Jesus who calls nothing “sin,” a Jesus who says, “Hey, I’m not here to judge!  Whatever you want to do is fine with me!  Just find what makes you happy!”  Others dwell on their sin, but don’t look to Jesus.  They promise to “do better” and “make it up” to Jesus.  Neither of these is true repentance.   Repentance confesses sin and trusts Jesus for forgiveness.

Jesus goes on to stress the urgency of repenting RIGHT NOW by telling a little parable.  The owner of a vineyard came out to check if his fig tree had any ripe figs on it.  When he found none, he told the gardener, Look, for three years now I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none.  Cut it down. ( v. 7)  But the gardener said, “Let’s give it one more year. Let me dig around it and fertilize it.  If it doesn’t produce fruit next year, then chop it down.”  The point Jesus is trying to make?  Just as the gardener was very patient with the fruitless tree but would finally chop it down if it produced no fruit, so also the Lord is patient with humanity.  He wants people to repent.  But finally fruitless trees will perish.  Peter said it very well in his second letter:  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

The writer to the Hebrews says, Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts. (Hebrews 3:7).  Today!  Repent today!  Confess sin TODAY!  Trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection  TODAY!  Repentance means you’re ready.  You are ready TODAY if Roman soldiers mix your blood with your sacrifices.  You are ready TODAY if you are walking next to a tower and it collapses on you.  You are ready for life to end, whether that comes peacefully in old age, or unexpectedly in the prime of life.  For the repentant heart knows the promise of God in Christ!  “Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Amen.