Tuesday Morning Worship at St Oswald’s 22nd
March 2022
Luke 13. 1-9
Luke in writing his Gospel uses journeys around which to
frame his account.
And there is no more
important journey than the one we are travelling along now in our readings.
Jesus’ journeying to Jerusalem with his disciples.
Last week we heard Jesus
being warned that Herod wanted to kill him.
(It is a tad confusing that
last week’s readings are at the end of chapter 13, verses 31-35 and this week
we are considering the beginning verses of the chapter, 1-9)
So, chapter 13 and the
opening verse and another warning, this time about the Roman Governor, Pilate.
Jesus will meet both Herod and Pilate in due course, but for now the journey towards Jerusalem continues.
And Jesus uses the warning
about Pilate’s bloodletting to teach an important lesson. In fact, there are a
few lessons to be learned here and in the ensuing parable about the fig tree.
With the call to repent or
you will perish, we see that Jesus is yet again offering a different way
than many of his fellow countrymen wanted to take, armed rebellion against
their Roman overlords. (Repent - metanoia, means a change of heart and mind)
If we have being paying attention,
we will have noticed the alternative way Jesus is offering. A way, Jesus boldly
declares, that is the Kingdom of God way.
A narrow path, a small gate, not a broad path and a large gate. A way of
forgiveness, a way of pursuing peace, a way of giving everybody an intrinsic
value as bearing the image of God. And yes, that includes the Romans and
Samaritans, and woman and children and leper’s and tax collectors and anybody
else you would care to name who ordinarily stood outside as an outcast or an
alien.
Keep on the path you are
heading, and the Romans will do what the Romans do, shed your blood, and tear
down your city.
If you do not repent you will
also have your blood mixed with the sacrifices and the walls will also fall on
top of you.
Within this story there is
another level of teaching as well.
Remember the story of the man
who was born blind and the question that was asked?
2 His
disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?”
Something many of the Psalms
seek to address, why do bad things happen to good people and sometimes good
things happen to bad people?
The general thought at the
time of Jesus was that if someone was ill or sick it was a punishment for
something they had done wrong. God was punishing them, much the same as God
would bless those who did right.
No, Jesus seems to be saying,
bad things just happen as in this case to the Galilean pilgrims and to those
who were hurt in the collapse of the tower of Siloam.
Put this alongside Jesus’
answer with a multileveled fig tree story and you can see that Jesus is saying
that this is really a non-question.
Why hadn’t the fig tree bore
any fruit?
Well, we could sit and analyse that, try and discuss soil types, fig types, the weather, and a host of other possible contributory factors.
Meanwhile the fig tree
continues to remain fruitless.
Action is what is required
when faced with suffering and pain. There will time enough later to discuss how
this came about. ‘Let me dig around it and put on some fertilizer.’
Consider also that the owner
of the vineyard wanted to cut it down.
Think about those people who
are too sick, too smelly, too old, too handicapped, too bad, for us to try and
help. Besides which, they have probably
done something to deserve it. They are not bearing any fruit and making any
kind of contribution, let’s get rid of them.
A question to ponder. Is
anyone beyond redemption and simply needs to be cut down and destroyed?
Back to the level of the
Jewish nation. Could the owner of the vineyard be God who has looked and looked
for his chosen people to bear fruit, to be the light to the Gentiles. To live
as authentic humans in God’s world.
In this understanding, Jesus
would be the gardener asking for one last chance before judgment falls.
History we know records that
the Jewish nation did revolt against Rome and the Temple was destroyed in AD
70. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina and a temple to Jupiter at the site of the
former temple was built. This may have
been one of the causes for the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132. Again, this further
revolt was crushed by Rome. This time many Jews were dispersed around the
world and banned from living in the city.
The account in John’s Gospel
of Jesus before Pilate bristles with the clash of two kingdoms. The kingdom of
Rome, Caesar, the world, and the Kingdom of God as outlined, lived, and taught
by Jesus.
The choice of whom we are going to follow still lies before today.
Jesus or Caesar
And choosing to follow Jesus
does not mean we will not have bad things happen to us, however…
St Paul knew something about
that, and he wrote this…
Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or
nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death
all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered”
No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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