Theme: Repentance: Can We Say That?

Repent or Perish!?

Luke 13:1-5 may be a text referenced by the fire and brimstone preachers from the early 1900s.  Apparently Jesus was the first fire and brimstone preacher! Jesus is telling his listeners to repent or they will

perish.  Some passages of scripture are extremely straightforward and are not as comforting as other passages. I much prefer reading about the fruits of the Spirit rather than rebellious people being destroyed, and similar judgment falling on ME. We are all guilty of sin and making bad choices.  Jesus illustrated the value of repentant hearts in verses 6-9 of the same chapter with a parable about a fig tree that bore no fruit. (Fruitless fig trees did not fare well around Jesus Mark 11:12-14, Matthew 21:18-20).

 “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.  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?’

     “’Sir,’ the man replied, ’leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize

     it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

This parable was originally directed at the Jews who enjoyed Jesus presence among them for the three years of his ministry.  The vineyard is God’s kingdom and the Jews were the fig trees. Jesus Christ was the intercessor for God while he was on Earth. He provided care, reprieve and grooming for the kingdom, in hope that the Jews would repent, honor God and reflect his gospel of love and light. When Jesus left the earth, his disciples stayed with the Jews a while longer to continue to increase the yield of God’s kingdom.  Trees/plants that do not bear fruit are regularly removed from vineyards because they use the food and room that would otherwise be available for producing trees. Jerusalem was a disappointment to God and was physically destroyed as had been predicted by John the Baptist and by Jesus.

God’s kingdom and His mercy is extended to all of us, but a penitent heart is referenced in Jesus’ message of verse 5 “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  Jesus made a personal request for our repentance; that makes it important.

Dear God, Help me to have a penitent heart that blossoms and bears fruit in the Kingdom of God.

Sherilyn Svien

Stephenville, Texas