God - The Patient Gardener - Luke 13:1-35
What are some common misconceptions about God?
1. That God rises above all religions and a piece of God is found in each
2. God is "the big man upstairs" who is not really involved in affairs here on earth
3. Good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people
4. There is a perfect will of God - one choice in every situation that is right and the rest are wrong
5. If you live a good life, or are born into a Christian household you will go to heaven
6. Christianity is all about rules and regulations
7. Religion is a crutch to get through hard times
8. If I don’t feel God’s presence in my life or if I suffer then I must be failing or God doesn’t love me
These are all false. Today we are going to look at 7 false assumptions about God and our relationship with Him. Not these necessarily, but those found in Luke 13
1. Suffering is in direct proportion to your sin
Verses 1 - 3 Although there is no historical record of this happening - it is quite in concert with Pilate’s character. He was Governor of Judea from AD 26-36. It was a Jewish theology that individual sin led to individual suffering. It would have been disgraceful to have had this done to you. Why would God allow it unless you were a worse sinner?
But Jesus has a much more important thing to consider - everyone is going to perish unless they repent and are rescued. There is no "squeaking" into heaven when your good deeds outweigh the bad, but just barely. We are all destined to be rejected by God because we are all evil by nature. It takes only one sin to separate you from God forever.
We think sin is like catching a virus. If we had only not done that thing we did, we wouldn’t have caught it. But sin is more like a genetic disorder. You were born with it and can’t do anything to stop it. You aren’t a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are a sinner.
2. If you suffer tragedy it is judgment from God
Verses 4 & 5 Likewise it was a common belief that if you suffered tragedy then you must have sinned. This is actually kind of a Greek idea too. Remember when Paul got bitten by a snake on the island of Malta? The islanders thought that Justice (with a capital "J") had found him out. (Acts 28)
Up until 1920 the only mention of the Tower of Siloam was in the Bible. But archeologists discovered the foundations of the tower, which apparently fell in an accident and killed 18 people. It was "news of the day."
More recent examples for us might be the Katrina, or the tsunami in Southeast Asia. I’ve even heard some Christian ministers say that Katrina is God’s judgment on a sinful city. No doubt New Orleans contains sinners - just like our city and yours. But does God cause suffering here on earth as a judgment according to how much we’ve sinned? I think Jesus is saying otherwise.
The point is that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. And that "the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23. What is death? Eternal separation from the presence of God in a place that is not pleasant.
3. God takes pleasure in judging sinners
Verses 6 - 9 Some people picture God as always angry - with lightning bolts at the ready, just waiting for us to step out of line so He can zap us. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just because sin separates us from God doesn’t mean He likes it that way. In fact, the picture of God Jesus paints here is of a gardener who patiently tries everything he can to bring back fruit to an unfruitful tree before cutting it down.
Now, there are obvious parallels to Judaism here and I don’t want those lost because they come back several times. Judaism’s purpose was to point the way to the Messiah, not keep people away from God. The system in place when Jesus walked the earth was not what God intended. It had devolved into a political system that kept people in line, not pointing them to a relationship with God.
In coming to earth, Jesus is the fertilizer and the digging of the ground that might bring about repentance in the hearts of men. I for one am very glad God was patient with me - and is patient with me still.
And perhaps there is someone in your life that you have talked to and prayed for, and they just don’t seem to be coming around. Keep digging and fertilizing and being patient.
1 Tim 2:3-4 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ESV
God is a patient gardener, who desires all to come to Him.
4. Being God’s people means you get to make the rules
Verses 10-17 This is yet another example of Jesus flouting the stupid rules that men had erected around the Sabbath. You weren’t supposed to do any work, and healing was part of the profession of being a doctor so you couldn’t heal on the Sabbath.
The woman was not demon possessed, but Jesus attributes her condition to the presence of the enemy in the world. Satan has wrought much suffering on earth - we won’t know the exact extent until we get to heaven.
Regardless, Jesus came to rescue us from Satan’s work - and here He demonstrates this by rescuing this woman who had been unable to stand up straight for nearly two decades.
As the people of God it is always a temptation to think we get to make the rules. We should always go back to what God says, and question what we think. Many Christian cults have been started because of this, and many believers have been pushed away from fellowship as a result of men going further than God.
Jesus is about making us think like Him and then act like Him, not to create a bunch of rules to slavishly follow.
5. Ministry has to be big in order to be effective
Verses 18 - 21 The mustard seed was the smallest seed of the garden - it takes 20,000 to make one ounce. But it grows to be largest herb farmers would have planted in that day. Just a little leaven will grow through the entire loaf of bread.
Jesus is saying that what He is about may seem small and insignificant, but it will grow incredibly because it is powered by God.
We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that bigger is better. If you aren’t preaching to thousands then your ministry doesn’t really count. But when you teach one child in Sunday school, when you share the gospel with a friend, when you give to a ministry from your hard earned cash - it may not seem like a lot, but it is in God’s hands.
6. All ways lead to God
Verses 22 - 30 This section is hard for some people to hear. This was apparently a hot topic of discussion among the rabbis of the day-that maybe only a few will be saved. Jesus skirted it altogether. He said: don’t worry about how many get saved, but how you get saved.
Jesus said "strive" to enter through the narrow door. To strive means to put your whole self into it. It doesn’t mean you can earn salvation - but to seek Jesus earnestly.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV
Jesus at various times said that He was the gate, and the way to God (John 10, 14). The point here is that people must repent and have faith in Jesus while the door to salvation is open, because once it’s closed it is closed for good.
Jesus must know you in order to allow you to be with Him forever. You get to know Him by realizing you are separated by the evil in you, that you are helpless to overcome that evil, and you throw your faith and trust in Jesus to do it for you. You then become one of God’s children. There is simply no other way to escape the separation.
Does it seem harsh? Know this - God is just, and no one that wants to be with God through Jesus will be excluded.
It says in verse 24 that many will seek to enter - but you can’t enter God’s presence unless you enter through the narrow door that Jesus opened.
7. Being God’s people means you get a free ticket to heaven
Verses 31-35 First the Pharisees warn Jesus about Herod. We don’t know if this was a real plot, or what the motivations of the Pharisees were. Maybe they were just trying to get Jesus to move on - you know "hey there’s a bad guy over there - you better get outta here" or that sort of thing. Jesus has total disdain for Herod - calling him a "fox" was a huge insult. Jesus is saying that no one controls what He does except God and that nothing will thwart His purpose to die in Jerusalem.
You should know too that nothing can thwart what God wants to do through you either.
Verses 31 - 35 The Jews thought that since they were God’s chosen people that they got a pass. God never told them that. He always pointed them towards a Savior, but they were too proud to see it in the Law and the Prophets.
In rejecting Jesus as the Messiah they move from the front to the back of the line. Not even God’s chosen people can be with Him apart from Jesus Christ.
Conclusions
1. Being with God should be the aim of every person
2. The way to God is closed because of sin, and no one, no matter how great or small their sin, can be with Him
3. The way to God is open for those who will change their minds about the evil resident in us, and turn to God’s answer for sin in Jesus Christ by dieing with Him on the cross
4. God longs for you to do so like a hen her chicks.
Don’t believe that there is only one way to God because I told you.
Believe because of the evidence you see in the Bible, historical, archeological evidence - eye witness testimony, the miracles of the Apostles, and the changed lives of those who have come to know him.
Faith is not blind. Faith is not the absence of evidence. Faith is being convinced by the evidence.
Only one way deals with the sin of man. Only one way has an outside entity reaching down to save us. Only one man died and came back from the dead. Don’t make the worst mistake of history, and that is to ignore the evidence.
Do you feel like a barren fig tree today?
Is your fruit gone, your leaves dried up, and you feel useless in God’s hands? Maybe its because of sin, or lack of fellowship with God, or your past, or your present difficulties, or the future you dread.
Know this: God like a wonderful gardener knows where to dig in your life. He knows the right kind of encouragement and nourishment you need in order to lead a fruitful life. Let him come close. Let him in to the soil of your life. Take up the nourishment from His Word into your roots. Return to Him. He longs to reach out His arms and take you in. Don’t let your sin keep you away; don’t let your worry or past keep you from drawing close to Him once again.
For more Bible studies, visit our website at: www.CalvaryChapelNewberg.org
