Pastor's Blog

Meditation: Luke 13:1-13
The context of today's meditation is understood in light of what is written in chapter 12 of Luke's Gospel. Here is what Jesus has taught in chapter 12. Let us first look at what He taught in that chapter.

12:1-3 Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. "Being and doing things in secret will eventually come out in the open."

12:4-7 True fearlessness. "Do not fear man who is able only to kill the body, but fear God who is able to kill the soul and to cast it into hell. He will take care of us in the most extreme difficult situations, for if He takes care of the sparrows, how much more will he take care of us.

12:8-12 Confessing Christ: "When opportunities to confess the name of Christ are given to us, we should take advantage of them. We should not fear when we are brought for into the public arena or before men, for the Holy Ghost will give us the words to speak at that time.

12:13-21: "Warning against covetousness, excessive hoarding of riches" Because the rich man hoarded his riches instead of being a good steward over them, they became a liability.

12:22-59 Of Christ's imminient coming and of our preparation for his return.

Our text begins with these words.

KJV Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
There was an understanding that there was a direct connection between the greatness of a transgression and the severity of the punishment. There is the implication that a sudden death in the midst of so sacred doing must be a special proof of the wrath of God upon those who were killed. Jesus says, not so. but all need to repent or perish.


4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Again it is brought forth that because the tower fell on them in Siloam, they were worse sinners than the others in Jerusalem, and therefore the wrath of God was upon them. Again, Jesus says, not so, but all need to repent or perish.

Tsunami in India, Hurricane in Louisiana, The falling of the Twin Towers, The Earthquake in Haiti, can be compared to these events which are described here in our text. Three of these disasters could be called acts of God while one would be an act of man. In our text one was the act of Pilate, while the other was "an act of God."

It is interesting that when disasters such as these, occur, that they are referred to as acts of God. And even though the unbelieving heart resists reminders of God, when disasters strike, unbelief asks: "Where is God in all this?" When these calamities occur, God is blamed, but when there is good weather for bumper crops, who gets the credit?

In general, those who do not believe say that since there is evil there is no God.

1. There is evil in the world
2. If God was real, He would do something about it.
3. Nothing has been done.
4. There is no God.

Those who believe: God is present and there is evil in the world.

1. There is evil in the world.
2. There is evil, so there must be good, God is that goodness.
3. If there is good and evil, there must be a moral law by which good and evil are judged.
4. If there is a moral law, there must be a Law Giver.
5. God is the Law Giver.

God allows death but has the power to restore life. Man has the ability to take a life, but he does not have the power/ability to restore life. Why is it that God is called immoral for the deaths in a plane crash, but the law guarantees a woman the right to choose to kill her baby in the womb, saying that that is her moral right?

ESV Deuteronomy 32:39 "'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Jesus, beginning already in chapter 12 is speaking to the people of that day of the necessity of being ready for the return of the Lord, and after the people attach the severity of God's wrath to the greatness of the sin, He uses the situation to teach that this is not so, but tells them of the necessity of their personal repentance.

The teachings were for those present and had a historical implication for the people of that day, but these teachings also have teaching and counsel for us today

The last two articles have focused on what God has done in Christ. Two Sundays ago (John 12:20-41)the message focused on the answer to the Greeks/Gentiles request to "see Jesus." In response to that question, Jesus spoke of His death and how through His death many would be made alive. He also spoke of how the prince of this world (Satan) was judged at the cross, with He Himself, the innocent one, taking the judgment/punishment for the sins of the whole world.

Last Sunday the message (Luke 13:31-35) focused on a different aspect of our salvation, with the emphasis being placed on the love/committment that motivated His coming to earth, His anquish at the rejection of this gift of love and of the warning to those who reject Him as their Saviour.

Today we are going to look at the things of salvation, not from God's eyes or from the heart of Jesus, but we will look at it from our place of response or we could say, responsibility. What will be our response to that which He has done for us in His Son? For that is our worship, our response to what God has done for us. Will we receive and respond to His saving acts of love for us and worship Him?

We understand that which God has done for us from the writings of Apostle Paul:

2 Cor 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

We note that there are two reconciliations in these verses, God reconciling (or reconnecting) us to Himself through the cross, in so doing, taking our sins away from us and laying them on His Son; Then in verse 20 it is written: "Be ye reconciled to God." There is a taking away of sin as well as a giving of righteouness unto us. God has taken away our sin by acting on our behalf, and has given us the gift of righteousness which we have received by faith.

Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Point 1. God does not punish "greater" sins with greater punishment.

KJV Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (They were in the temple making their sacrifices and were killed by Pilate in that place)
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

To those who spoke to Jesus about the deaths of the Galileans and of those in Jerusalem, they were considered greater sinners than others and they got what they had coming. But Jesus asked the question Himself in order to challenge their thinking, (In doing so, did He allow time for them to think through the answer?) which He then answered with a simple, but emphatic, “no.” Then He immediately changed the focus from the judgment of others to the judgment of themselves. The tragedy which befell those Galileans should not be viewed as an opportunity to judge those who died at the hand of Pilate to be greater sinners than others, instead, it should be perceived as a warning to all sinners, namely themselves, of a judgment which awaits them if they do not repent.

Point 2. Every person must come to a place of repentance to be saved for heaven.

3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.


What is repentance? What does it mean?

Old Testament
Meaning: 1) to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted

New Testament
Meaning: 1) a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done

John the Baptist preached repentance
KJV Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus preached repentance
KJV Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
KJV Matthew 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
KJV Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus left us the commission to preach repentance
KJV Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Paul preached repentance
ESV Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
KJV Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Point 3. God is long suffering toward us as sinners in his calling of us to repentance and faith, but there is a day of reckoning coming.

Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

The point is that the absence of judgment here and now cannot be construed as a sign of one’s righteousness. Rather, if judgment does not strike immediately, it is a sign of God’s mercy, not his approval

KJV 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Perspective of the people in verse one:
God hastened the death of those who died, in judgment of their (greater than normal) sins.

God's Perspective:
The parable of the farmer and the fruitless fig tree speaks rather of the patience and longsuffering of God with respect to the stubborn rebellion and sin of Israel. The visitation left the Jewish nation and went to the Gentiles, to the whole world.

This extended time, this delay in judgment, was for the purpose of allowing God’s people further opportunity to repent. In our humanness, we may use grace as opportunity to not be watchful, and to live in non repentance, but that is not what God's perspective is. We may think that God is not coming soon. that there is a lot of time for ourselves to repent and to believe the gospel. Jesus addressed that type of thinking in the previous chapter, when He said, Luke 12:45 But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, (That servant lived with an unrepentant heart)

Today the Lord asks us for our heart...He calls upon us to repent, to change our mind. Is there change needed in our heart today?

“Give Me thy heart,” says the Father above—
No gift so precious to Him as our love;
Softly He whispers wherever thou art,
“Gratefully trust Me and give Me thy heart.”

Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”

“Give Me thy heart,” says the Savior of men,
Calling in mercy again and again;
“Trust in Me only, I’ll never depart—
Have I not died for thee? Give Me thy heart.”

Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”

“Give Me thy heart,” says the Spirit divine;
“All that thou hast to My keeping resign;
Grace more abounding is Mine to impart—
Make full surrender and give Me thy heart.”

Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”


May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, we see Him in His love and commitment to lay down His life for the sins of the world; we see His anguish of His heart toward those who have not come to Him, and we see His warning for those who refuse to heed His call to come unto to Him to be saved.

Luke 13:31-33" The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem."

The anguish of his heart toward those who have not gathered under his wings of mercy and salvation is evident as He addresses the history of what has happened to those who have prophesied of His coming into this world, saying,
34" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

From the time of mankinds fall into sinl, God has sought out His creation in order to restore us to Himself. As it is written in
Genesis 3:8-9 "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"

He referred to His people of Israel as his vineyard, saying what more could He have done in order that they would be a fruitful vine bringing forth grapes instead of wild grapes. The prophet Isaiah was given these words by God 700 years before their fulfillment,
Isaiah 5:1-4 "Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?"

Love does not seek its own and already from the beginning we see this in the heart of God toward us in that He sought us while we were yet in our sins. And inspite of the resistance of those who have always opposed His work of love and grace toward mankind, He yet today is seeking to save those who are lost, to heal those who are sick, to open the eyes of the blind, to make the lame walk, to let the captives out of their prisons, and so on. And above all, He continues to preach the gospel to the poor...coming to this earth in the flesh to in order to reveal His heart of grace and mercy to all...God in Christ became one of us, for He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be righteous with God. Let us illustrate this amazing reality with a story which has been told by Paul Harvey, a well known radio personality.

The Man and the Birds by Paul Harvey

The man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound...Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud...At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them...He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms...Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me...That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm...to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand." At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - O Come all ye faithful- listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.....

But even though God has come in Christ, has reconciled the world unto Himself, is not accounting anyone's sins against them, (2 Cor 5:19) there are many who refuse to gather under His wings of grace, of mercy, of forgiveness....Our Lord agonizes over the rejection of His love toward His created people. His anguish comes out in the words of our text, when He says, 4 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" Our Lord is a gatherer, not a scatterer. His kingdom is present now and He desires to gather all unto Himself. There is a story that has been repeated which is familiar to those who live on farms or are familiar with the farming culture.

A young man named Ike tells a story about the day that the hen house burned down on his grandpa's place just down the road. Ike arrived just in time to help put out the last of the fire. As he and his grandfather sorted through the wreckage, they came upon one hen lying dead near what had been the door of the hen house. Her top feathers were singed brown by the fire's heat, her neck limp. Ike bent down to pick up the dead hen. But as he did so, he felt movement. The hen's four chicks came scurrying out from beneath her burnt body. The chicks survived because they were insulated by the shelter of the hens wings, protected and saved even as she died to protect and save them. "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings..."

Love always seeks a response, but does not always get a response. We can be loved, but never come to see the benefit of returning love that is extended to us and therefore, lose out on the blessing of the joy of living in a relationship of love that deepens as time goes. It is called relationship. God has extended and continues to extend His love to us in and through the Trinity, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. In this relationship we live in the joy of acceptance in Christ, in the knowledge of purpose for our lives and in the confidence of direction in our lives. In this text is given some teaching concerning what happens when we do not perceive or receive love that is extended toward us. There is a warning presented to us here in this portion of our meditation. Yes, Jesus was addressing those who had rejected Him and pronounced on them of the desolation that was to come upon them and so forth, but there is a teaching here for us who are in His kingdom that is worthwhile to take note of. Let us consider this story which I heard mentioned by another preacher some time back. I am repeating it as I heard it, so the spelling I am not sure of.


Thomas Carlyle lived in the 1800s in France. He married his secretary and in his preoccupation with himself and his things, he treated her like she was still an employee. She contracted cancer and lay on the bed for many months as the illness took its toll on her. Finally she died and as her husband grieved over her, he found a diary that she had kept of her life. As he sat in the chair grief stricken next to her bed, he realized that he had not spent much time in the chair alongside her sick bed while she was suffering . As he sat there with his regrets, he opened her diary which she had secretly kept for herself. Now with her passing, he began to look through the diary and as he did, one entry jumped out at him, "For an hour today he and I were together and it was just like heaven being with him. I love him so much. It was wonderful." On another page, he read these words: " All day I have been waiting to hear his footsteps coming toward me, but no, it is late now and he has not come to be with me. We will not be together today." He read a few more entries, and then threw down the book and rushed to the cemetery where he fell down on his face and wept while saying these words: "If only I had known, If only I had known."

Our personal relationships are a reflection of that which we have with our God. How we have come to experience God will be reflected in our relationships with people around us. Mr. Carlyle too late came to see how great his wife's love was for him and of her desire to live in that relationship of love with him. He was too preoccupied with his own pursuits, therefore too late he could only say: "If only I had known, If only I had known."

Jesus's heart is toward us today, in that we would be drawn into closer relationship with Him, closer fellowship with Him , closer communion with Him. He wants us to live in the same love that He and His Father have between them. May it not be our lot that we would come to the end saying the words that Mr. Carlyle said, "If only I had known. If only I had known."

We close our meditation by going back to the book of Genesis (3:8) "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
KJV Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you?"


He asks us this question which mingled with love, anguish and warning : Where are you? Are you coming toward me?

He wants that we would come to understand in a greater way of the joy and pleasure He receives in His relationship with us.

He gives warning as to the end of a continued and progressive direction in our life which goes away from Him rather than toward Him.

May the Lord bless these words of meditation into our hearts and lives today.

Together in Christ,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala