Unless you repent you will all likewise perish

 

 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

 

He also spoke this parable:  "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.  Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'  But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  And if it bears fruit, well.  But if not, after that you can cut it down.'"

 

- Luke 13:1-9 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!  Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.  For from now on five in one house will be divided:  three against two, and two against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."  Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is.  Hypocrites!  You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?  Yes, and why, even of yourselves do you not judge what is right?  When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."

 

 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."  According to the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), Jesus is here referring to two historical incidents, which are only reported in the Gospel of St. Luke.  The slain Galileans were probably Zealots, the OSB notes; that is, Jewish nationalists, who triggered a disturbance against the Romans.  The collapse of the tower in Siloam, whether by accident or sabotage, was believed to be divine justice on sinners.  But Jesus here denies that this suffering was God's judgment.  Instead, He uses these events as illustrations for those who perish because they will not repent.  

 

 He also spoke this parable:  "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.  Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'  But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  And if it bears fruit, well.  But if not, after that you can cut it down.'"  The OSB claims that the fruitless fig tree is universally interpreted in the Church to be fallen humanity.  The three years, it says, represent God's covenants with God's people through Abraham, Moses, and Christ, all of which are rejected, as well as the three-year earthly ministry of Christ.  The keeper of the vineyard is, of course, Christ Himself.  He intercedes on our behalf through suffering His Passion and sending the Holy Spirit to us before the final judgment takes place.  

 

 It's interesting that in Christ's talk to the people, His preaching to the crowds, He seizes on superstitious views and challenges them.  Whether these views interpret God's wrath as visiting people who have suffered tragedy, or perhaps a fatalistic belief that to be unfortunate means that one meets with God's disfavor, He refutes these popular ideas.  He does so on the basis of a much deeper and grounded understanding of the nature of our reality and its spiritual basis in God's redemptive work.  We are called to repent, and the reality of the death we suffer or risk in spiritual terms without the repentance necessary to meet God's call to us is the true failure to meet God's love and grace.  Our own spirituality must be called to a far deeper place than popular superstitions or a belief in luck or fatalistic condemnation as the cause of all misfortune.  A similar teaching takes place in St. John's Gospel when the disciples see a man blind from birth at the Feast of Tabernacles, in the final year of Christ's earthly life (John 9:1-10:21).  The disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  This question represents a similar belief to the one Jesus challenges in today's reading, that misfortune of this kind was the result of personal sin.  But Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  This forms the basis for Christ's sixth sign of seven in St. John's Gospel, the healing of the man blind from birth.  In a certain sense, we might perhaps view such popular beliefs as connected to popular superstition, even the work of demonic forces misunderstood by people, and even tangentially connected to pagan beliefs of other neighboring peoples.  But Jesus wants to focus our attention, and that of the crowds, on something far deeper and more important.  The one thing that really matters is their response to the work of God in the world, and standing before them is, in fact, the presence of God.  In Christ's ministry, moreover, the kingdom of heaven has come near (Luke 10:9-11), and it is our response to that reality that is truly a matter of life and death.  It is our response to that reality alive and at work in the world, and in us, which determines true life or death at the deepest levels of our existence.  That is, this is the one reality we have to face that both undergirds all things, and encompasses all that we are and experience, even to the level of soul and spirit.  It is this which He teaches and preaches, and for this He has come into the world to save all of us.  It is here our focus must be in His sight.  We might blame luck, fortune, foresight, planning; but ultimately it is this foundational faith that determines real life or death, our relationship with God in Whom all things and all aspects of creation are held.  This is what matters in our lives and for each of us in our hearts.