Two Lessons

TODAY'S READING: Gen. 31, 32, 33; Luke 13

SCRIPTURE: Luke 13:1-9
¹ 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.’”

OBSERVATION: There are two important concepts I get from this passage. The first is that we cannot judge a person's spiritual condition by what he or she suffers. Jesus makes it clear that the people that suffered great torture and humiliation at the hand of Pilate were not worse sinners than other people. No reason is given for the fact that they suffered such a fate, but God makes it clear it was not because they were more evil than anyone else and had some sort of "spiritual karma" happen to them as a result of their own actions. The second lesson is in the parable Jesus tells after he talks about the Galileans that had suffered and died. He says everyone must repent or perish and then tells this parable about a fruitless fig tree. The owner is ready to have the worthless tree cut down but the gardener who cared for the plants made a case for giving the tree extra care and giving it one more chance to bear fruit. I believe that Jesus is telling us that God will give each of us every possible chance to come to him and to repent so that they can be saved. No one will come to judgment with an excuse that "if only you had..." God will make sure that every possible care was given to let them be produce the fruit of repentance that leads to life.

APPLICATION: I think it is a human tendency to look at the situations others are in and to make judgments about them based on their circumstances. The lesson for me from this is that I would be much better off not doing this. I can have no possible knowledge of why things are happening to others the way they are or what God may be working in their lives as a result. Suffering does not necessarily connote that a person is under a curse from God. Neither does success necessarily mean a person is under God's blessing. My job is to focus on whether I am being humble before the Lord and repenting of anything I see in myself that does not match up with his character.

PRAYER: Father, I do find myself judging others too often. I thank you for words like these in the Bible that remind me that my focus needs to be on my own spiritual condition and that I do not possess the wisdom to judge the reasons for events in others' lives. May I have a humble heart before you and when I see others that are suffering, instead of judging, may I pray for them and place them in your loving and righteous hands. In Jesus' Name, Amen.