We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
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Right order, Right Priorities, Right Relationship
Luke 13:1-9
Repent or Perish
13 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or 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? 5 No, 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. 7 So 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?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Devotional Thought:
Prior to our passage, Jesus warns his disciples about the coming judgment. He challenges them, in the face of it, to live free of hypocrisy and greed, to depend on God, and to be faithful and wise in service so as not to be fearful (Luke 12).
Now, the crowds surprisingly want to talk about judgment too (Luke 13:1-4). Their topic of choice is the violent deaths of the Galileans and the Jerusalemites, one resulting from an act of human evil and the other from a natural catastrophe. They want to know why these events happened. Undoubtedly, their concern is grounded in the Old Testament belief that calamity is a divine response to sinfulness (Deuteronomic theology).
But Jesus does not seem overly anxious to offer a theological explanation of their current events. Instead, he wants them to think about things in the right order, with the right priorities, so that they may be in the right relationship.
1. Right order: Jesus says essentially, “Let’s talk about you, rather than about other people’s sins or misfortunes.
2. Right priorities: Jesus offers them an opportunity to repent. This is an extension of God’s patience and grace, but the opportunity has an expiration date.
3. Right relationship: Responding to the time-limited opportunity of repentance will lead them to forgiveness, right relationship with God, and fruitfulness.
The season of Lent is a time of personal examination and confession. It is an opportunity to experience God’s forgiveness and grace. Even in the face of unsettling current events in our world, let’s take the opportunity to keep first things first.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for failing to spend time in personal reflection and self-examination. Search me, oh Lord. I confess my sins to you now and ask for forgiveness. [Pause for personal confession.] That you for your patience and grace that leads me to forgiveness and transformation.
Linda M. Stargel
Academic Dean
Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language