March 18, 2001 Luke 13:1-9
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 ”‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Back in the 1960’s a famous saying was, “what’s your sign?” It was thought if you had the same sign as the person you asked, like a Zodiac or whatever, then you would be a good match. This sounds completely foolish to me. I find it incredible that people will pay big bucks to listen to someone try to read the signs of their palms or their birth dates and try figure out some deep meaning behind their “signs.”
Jesus, however, was also into signs - but of a different type. He instructed his disciples not to be ignorant of certain “signs” of the end times. Just prior to today’s text, Jesus was chastising the people for not being able to read the signs of the times. They couldn’t tell from the obvious signs that their Messiah was in their presence.
In light of this chastisement, the people came back to Jesus in today’s text, and claimed to be able to read the sign of death - that they understood the message behind some random and recent deaths. So Jesus addresses the sign of death, and he calls us to -
Learn the Sign of Death
I. It warns us that our death may be near
Death is not a pretty picture to look at. Even the signs that death is coming are ugly. Whether it’s the pain in your back or the arthritis in your bones or the wrinkles on your face - none of us likes to think about dying. One of the most sickening signs of death is to hear someone’s lungs fill up with fluid - which is referred to by some as the “death rattle”. Then, when death comes - it is even uglier. It is portrayed by the common picture of the Grim Reaper. This is not a pretty picture of death to look at - an overgrown skeleton in a black robe with a sickle in his hand.
Within the past week, two people that I knew died. One was Sharon Callahan. Her death was somewhat surprising, but in the same sense somewhat expected. Having been on a respirator for months, her time was limited, and so there were no great headlines. But another young man I knew - in his lower 30’s - also died of cancer. When someone so young dies, it raises more eyebrows - makes people take notice. When Dale Earnhardt recently died in a car crash, the whole world of racing stood up and took notice. Some deaths grab people by the brain and just force them to ask - What is the meaning behind this death?
In Jesus time, people thought a lot about the meaning behind death and sickness. In John 9, when Jesus and his disciples walked past a man who was born blind, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” When someone was blind, crippled, or died early - they immediately assumed that there was some sin connected to the suffering. Such seemed to be the case behind the deaths of some Galileans. Our text says, there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Galileans were known to be a very rebellious group of people according to the historian Josephus - always ready to disturb the Roman rule. Therefore, when Pilate put some of them to death when they had come to Jerusalem to make an offering, the people automatically assumed that God was punishing them because they were more rebellious than others. Sometimes we do the same thing. When a drunk driver dies we might make a judgment - “he had it coming.” The message we believe is, “don’t drink and drive!” We try to determine the message behind the death - to read the sign of death.
There were occasions in Biblical times where God does say that he put people to death for certain sins that were committed. Most of you may remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira. When they committed the sin of lying to God about their offering, he put them both to death on the spot. When King Herod failed to deny that he was a god, God immediately struck him with a painful bowel disease that eventually took his life. Then of course there is the familiar story of Sodom and Gomorrah which was destroyed because of their sexual sins of homosexuality. The message behind these deaths were clear to all. God will not permit this kind of evil behavior!
So when the people during Jesus’ time saw the Galileans die and the people die from the Tower of Siloam, they assumed that it was because they were evil. Therefore, they also assumed, that since THEY were living and healthy - that they were doing something right. But what did Jesus tell them? “You’re not reading that sign right! Look again! “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! . . . Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no!
When I was in Norton there was a young kid - probably about five years old - who was riding his bike. He fell down and hit his head on the curb - went home - and died that night in bed. This child wasn’t any more evil than the other kids. It doesn’t matter how old you are - five years old or 95 - any of you could die today. Death doesn’t care if you are young or old, sick or healthy, good or bad in the eyes of the world. He will take you whenever and however he can. No matter who you are, or where you are from, how much money you have, or how you try to protect yourself against him, sooner or later he will get you. As Solomon write in Ecclesiasties 3: Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. And that seemed to be the meaning behind these deaths. Jesus was telling the people that they needed to personally be ready for their end to come at any time! It’s easy to look at the news and see about a child dying here or an accident happening there and feeling far removed from it all - but the cold truth is - unless Judgment Day comes first - all of you will die. That’s what Jesus was waking the people up to - here they were looking for some deep and dark meaning behind their deaths - and Jesus finally said - “you are just as guilty as they were! You also will die some day and you better be ready for it!”
So far this may not sound like a very cheery message, does it? But isn’t that an almost refreshing message for us to hear today? It’s almost as if people have their head in the sand today. You go to a funeral - and what do they do? They’ll show video of the person while he was alive. They sell Green Bay Packer caskets. If grandpa liked to play cards, they’ll put a hand of cards in his hand and then one up his sleeve in the casket. They’ll have people talking about how great a guy he was - the celebration of life. Whereas in Russia, they leave the body of the deceased in the living room of the family for several days - before they all drive together to the graveyard and bury the casket. Americans would look at this as a gruesome and unloving practice. But all we do is put off the grief and avoid the inevitable truth. We do more harm for them than good. Sooner or later you have to face the music - you’re going to die - just like others have in the past! Jesus wasn’t too scared to tell these people the truth - they were going to die.
II. It teaches us what to do
When you face the truth - it helps you prepare for it. Take for instance the story of Rob - who was an alcoholic. For years and years he had abused alcohol. It had gotten to the point where he was drinking hard alcohol every night and barely functioning. It became so bad that one night he almost drowned in his own vomit. It was at this point that he finally realized he had a serious problem and he finally did something about it. If he had never been faced with that cold truth - that his addiction was killing him - he never would have gotten better.
The same goes with death. When you have to PERSONALLY witness the death of a loved one or someone your age, it will suddenly hit you and make you realize that sooner or later you will have die and face your maker - that you better be PREPARED.
But how can we be prepared? Jesus said - unless you repent, you too will all perish.” What does that mean to repent? Jesus illustrated what he meant with a parable. “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ From this, you can read between the lines and see what the problem was with these people that Jesus was talking to. If they were living in the soil - it would appear that they were calling themselves “disciples,” but they weren’t living according to God’s Word - they didn’t have any “fruit” in God’s eyes. And so when Jesus told them to repent, he was really saying to them, “you may think you’re living a God pleasing life. Others may look at you and think you’re pretty good. You can say you believe all you want, but God needs to see some fruit! If you want to be ready for Judgment Day - repent of your evil actions and start producing some fruit!”
This is a part of a problem that we have along with the world as well. A majority of Americans would probably consider themselves to be Christians - and maybe even good Christians. But in the meantime these seemingly good Christians are living far from good lives. Many do not attend worship on a regular basis. Many do not remain celibate until marriage. Many have too much too drink. Many use vulgar language. Many are not faithful to their spouses until their death.
We don’t grasp the concept that Jesus is using here - that God WANTS fruit - demands fruit - which is more than just being better than your neighbor or being a “good guy”. You may think that you’ve reformed your life and you’re a pretty good person. But God doesn’t just want good people. He wants holy people. He wants people who wholeheartedly do what HE commands - produce HIS fruits. That means giving first fruits - coming to church - praying - bringing your children up in God’s Word - obeying your parents - not watching trashy TV shows - being a hard working employee with a good attitude - never complaining.
Again - this seems like an unloving thing to say to someone. He actually insinuated that they were not Christian! Why was Jesus so harsh with these people - telling them they needed to repent if they wanted to get to heaven? So they would see the true way to repentance and fruit. What is the true way? We can see this way when we look at the beauty of this parable that Jesus gives. How does the fruit get produced? ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. Notice that the growth of the tree had nothing to do with what the tree did - and everything to do with what the caretaker did!
You can’t help but think that Jesus - in an indirect way - was showing the people the way to salvation. Repentance isn’t based on how many resolutions we can make or how many habits we can quit. It isn’t just a matter of coming to church or quitting drinking. The only way that God pleasing repentance could take place would be if God would get his hands dirty!
What a symbolic way of looking at what Jesus did! Not only did he get his hands dirty by putting his holy hands on sinners, but Jesus went on to absolutely immerse himself in the sins of the world - as God poured the sins of the world on His shoulders and Jesus died as our substitute! When Jesus took the sins of the world on HIS shoulders, they were removed from ours and buried in HIS grave - making us HOLY.
You could also look at this as the work of the Holy Spirit - as He uproots our sinful hearts and minds in baptism and immerses Himself in our bodies. And the Holy Spirit continues to use that fertilizer and to dig up our lives. When we become careless in our faith - he allows suffering and trials to take up our roots - so that He can plant his Word! Either way, it’s the work of the caretaker - our GOD - that produces fruit in us! Our repentance and fruits of faith are totally dependant on God’s work on us - not on whether we are better than someone else!
Isn’t it a neat thing then, that we are here on this earth actually producing this God pleasing fruit that God so desires! Especially when you think about how many days and years of our lives we wasted on absolutely fruitless activities! Yet, instead of cutting us off - God showed a great patience in continuing to plant the Word - to dig up our lives - and fertilize our faith with his love and forgiveness in the Gospel. What a great testimony to God’s patience and love! If it weren’t for his work - we wouldn’t be ready for death. If it weren’t for his patience, we would have been cut off long ago. But since God gives us repentance and faith in Christ - we are prepared for the day he calls us home.
Several years ago - a group of teenagers thought it would be funny if they removed a stop sign. So they took the stop sign out. Unfortunately, one carload of people who didn’t know the area went through the intersection at over 40 miles an hour and ended up dying. This goes to show that signs are important. If you don’t read a sign right - or if you miss a sign - you could die.
As we travel through this life - how important it is for us to be able to read the sign of death. We need to be well aware that all of us will die. But more importantly we need to know and believe that Jesus already died - for our sins. When we read this sign - we see forgiveness. With this death before our eyes we then can sing -
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me! Amen.
