Let's turn to Luke chapter 13. We're continuing our study through the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 13. We're going to be looking at the first nine verses this morning. If you're able to stand, stand with me for the reading of God's Word. Hear the word of the Lord in Luke 13 verses 1 through 9. Now at that time, at that same time, there were some present who were reporting to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered and said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans? because they suffered these things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you think that those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And he was telling this parable. A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard. And he came seeking fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard keeper, behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down. Why does it even use up the ground? And he answered and said to them, let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in manure and it bears fruit next year. Fine, but if not, cut it down. Here ends the reading of God's inerrant word. May we have ears to hear and eyes to see the wonderful things that are found in his word. You can be seated. You might recall last month, on February 4th, American Airlines Flight 5342 took off from Wichita, Kansas, en route to Ronald Reagan National Airport in D.C. I'm sure you've seen the video that as the plane is making its descent, it collides with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over and crashes into the Potomac River, killing all 67 people on board both aircrafts. It was moments away from landing safely. In fact, it was about 2,400 feet from its runway. At least at this point, it appears that human error of some sort was the cause. The investigation is still ongoing. But all of us were gripped, having flown before, perhaps even have flown into that very airport, seeing the families that perished as a result of that terrible tragedy. And we've grown accustomed to the news of tragic events, things happening to people through no fault of their own, We get our amber alerts on our phones. We get the news article or alert that says another gunman has opened fire. And we wait until we hear how many have fallen. We hear stories of human trafficking, stories of the evils that can accompany humans, no matter where they are on the planet, as governments, or radicals, or whoever it might be, cause terror. Then we have natural disasters, natural tragedies, as a tornado may rip through a small town, or hurricanes through Florida, or North Carolina. We've experienced as a state, not far from us, the devastation of a fire that has burned wildly, destroying property and vegetation and people's possessions. We've seen floodwaters that inundate entire countries. It's almost too much to bear. You who watch Fox News all the time or are tuned in to ABC or CNN or MSNBC or some kind of social media outlet, it's almost too much to bear. We live in a time of mass communication. It's unparalleled in all of human history. We know far more than we would like to about human tragedy and suffering. We are privy to detailed information, pictures, and even videos of these calamities. And it's not just one, but it's one after the other, after the other, after the other. It's difficult. The aftermath of these tragedies is people wanting to know who is to blame. That seems to be the case of flight 5342, was it the tower, right, air traffic controller who wasn't paying close enough attention, or was it the helicopter pilot who was flying too high? What about the recent fires? We just heard the fire chief has been fired. Supposedly for the way that she handled the fires, someone has to be held accountable, someone is to blame. But then there are other times when it's just a freak accident. It's a difficult Providence and of course at that point that often leads people to ask why God Didn't do something to stop it or where was he? Those are common questions. Those are common responses to tragedy For some tragedies we might think that For example, like the recent CEO who was gunned down in New York, that he got what was coming to him. Somewhat shocked by the American response to cold-blooded murder like that. And yet, in their minds and in many people's minds, he simply got what was coming to him. And it's maybe more aligned even those roads that what Jesus was encountering here. In our text, Jesus is asked about two tragic events in his own day. He's asked about one and he brings up another to further his point. Events that people were talking about. Events that people were trying to make sense of. Trying to figure out who was to blame for these tragedies. And Jesus directs them to reconsider their own presupposition, and he presses them to ask far more critical questions. So this morning, I want us to look at where Jesus directs their attention during tragedy. What should they consider during these contemporary tragic events? And the first one we see in the first five verses, and that is the impartiality of tragedy and death. The impartiality of tragedy and death. The first tragic event that is mentioned by someone in the audience is this massacre of Galileans. Verse 1 says, now at that same time there were some present who were reporting to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. The announcement seems like this is a recent event. It's perhaps even breaking news. Something that would appear in the Jerusalem Gazette if they had one. We don't know anything else about this incident because it's the only place that it's mentioned in any historical record. Apparently, a group of Galileans had been offering animal sacrifices, and while they are engaged in this act of worship, they are attacked, likely by soldiers, who kill them under the orders of Pilate. Their blood was said to have been mixed with the sacrifices. We have no knowledge of why this happened. Perhaps Pilate viewed them as a political threat. He was making an example of them. Maybe they were disruptors. It may have been an attempt to maintain the peace of Rome and to keep safe his own power. Both Josephus and Philo mention instances in which Pilate was either one prepared to unleash violence on his subjects or where he actually did unleash violence. Josephus records several atrocities in his works. The butchering of 6,000 Pharisees in Jerusalem. That wasn't by Pilate, but by somebody else. when they objected to his offering of sacrifice. Then you have the slaughter of 3,000 protesters in Jerusalem by one of the Herods during Passover that Josephus mentions. And the one that we have from Josephus is a massacre that was ordered by Pilate against armed Samaritans who'd gathered to view the sacred vessels that Moses supposedly had buried on Mount Gerizim. Josephus makes no mention of the outrage against the Galileans. It wasn't unusual, though. for those kinds of things to happen. And so those historians, like Josephus or Philo, help us to understand that political violence happened. It happened on some form of regularity. It's not something that we as Americans are used to, but it's certainly something that had been experienced by those in Palestine during the Roman Empire. And those who were killed may or may not have been guilty of some kind of political aggression. So someone in the crowd brings up this event for Jesus's response. And then to further Jesus's point, which I'll address in a moment, Jesus brings up another tragic event in verse four. In this event, you'll notice that 18 people are crushed to death as a tower of Siloam collapsed on them. Once again, the Bible is the only place where this incident is even mentioned. Some have speculated that perhaps it was a tower that was under construction and it was a construction accident. The tower may have fallen while workers were building the aqueduct at the famous pool of Siloam. But in any case, the way Jesus referred to the accident shows that it was common knowledge. This was an event that they knew about. They had heard about. Everyone knew about that fallen tower and those 18 who perished. And as people talked about this tragedy, asking the usual questions, some of them concluded that the people who died were the ones who were at fault. For something that terrible to happen to them, they must have done something wrong. Kind of an ancient form of karma, right? What goes around, comes around. Bad things happen, in their minds, only to bad people. That was the sentiment. You can kind of see this same thing as you go through the Gospel of John. You remember in John chapter 9, the man who was born blind that Jesus heals. And you remember what his disciples asked. His disciples asked Jesus, who sinned? Him, the blind man who was born blind, or his parents? In their view, they must have done something horrible for this to happen. Tragedy only falls on those who deserve it. If you were to survey the lengthy book of Job in the Old Testament, and you survey the advice and the counsel that Job's friends give him, most of it is one of blaming. Judgment only falls on those who deserve it. Bad things only happen because you have provoked God. So Job's friends had similar reasoning that even those in Jesus' day had. And while it is true that sometimes people suffer the consequences of their own actions, Not all suffering and tragedy is caused by someone's sin. It isn't all direct punishment. The tower that fell and killed those 18 people, for example, was an accident. They didn't know what was coming. They were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was what we might refer to as a tragic providence. And listen, there is an impartiality when it comes to tragedy. There is an impartiality when it comes to death. Death is no respecter of men. It's no respecter of the things that we idolize and think of as important. young or old. Children's hospitals are filled with kids, young, who have hardly lived any part of their life and they're suffering. It's not a young or old thing. It's not a rich or poor thing. Rich people die too, sometimes tragically. It has nothing to do with the melanin in your skin. Black, white, brown, it makes no difference. Tragedies happen. Death happens. Continually and constantly, Jesus made it clear, it reigns on the just and the unjust alike. It's what we might call common grace. This life, according to the scriptures, is not the life of ultimate reward. How often the Christian is reminded we live for an unshakable kingdom that is yet in the future. that this life may be tragic. Your life may be tragic. In the course of our earthly existence, God sometimes rewards people for obedience and punishes them for disobedience. But that's not always or even often the case. The books of his justice are not yet balanced. Evil often goes unpunished in this life. You're reminded of the end of Adolf Hitler's life. He deserved far worse than what was given, than how it ended, right? I mean, there are these individuals who we use as the embodiment of evil, and yet it seems that it's gone unpunished, and then those who have lived virtuously are unrewarded. So listen, human tragedy, and Jesus is pointing this very reality, human tragedy is no index to human sinfulness. We don't believe as Christians in karma. Now it may come about that way at times, it may appear to be that, but no, justice will prevail in the end. Right now there is an impartiality with regards to tragedy. It could strike any one of us. Same with death. Notice that Jesus doesn't say that those who suffered were sinless or that they were innocent, only that the disaster was no gauge of the degree of their sinfulness. Look at verse two. Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than the other Galileans, the ones who weren't killed? And what is his answer? I tell you, no. I tell you, no. He's not denying their sinfulness. He just asks if they were any worse than any other Galileans. He does the same thing in verse four. Do you think or do you think that those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and were killed were what worse offenders? And again, what is his answer? I tell you, no. They weren't greater offenders. These kinds of tragedies are not God's way of singling out especially wicked people for punishment. As if those who die in a calamity are worse than those who survive. The truth is that all people are guilty sinners. That is what the gospel says. We all deserve death and judgment. And every one of us is living on borrowed time. Judgment day is coming, and Jesus has made that very clear in chapter 12, and it continues even in chapter 13. In the meantime, Because of that reality, because judgment is coming, that all of the books will be balanced and made right in the end, we ought to now live very cautiously about making our own judgments about what people deserve. Bad things happen, Jesus says, period. They do. They happen to anyone and everyone in varying degrees. There is an impartiality. Death is a constant reminder to the living that we all are part of Adam's race. Read Genesis 5. We're all part of it. The genealogy of Adam is this. All of his progeny died. They had the same fate. We're all, by nature, by birth, sons of Adam. And that should cause concern in us. And so Jesus presses those listening that when disaster strikes, instead of thinking of the sinfulness of that person, and they must have gotten what they got as the cause, because of what they did, we should consider the inevitability of our own demise. Funerals do that for us. Don't they? They remind us, man, I remember when Grandpa was living and breathing, or Grandma, or Aunt Jean, or whoever, and there they are, dead. Their life ended, and it's just a reminder, my fate is the same. My fate is the same, no matter how they died, cancer, or suddenly, or in their sleep, or even in some tragedy. When it comes to death, there is no one sinner greater than the other, no one who is a greater debtor than the other. There is total equality. And as a result, we need to be mindful we too will die someday, and we must be ready. For there is a second death that scripture speaks of that is far worse than the first. And these earthly tragedies and disasters, in Jesus's mind, ought to serve as a red blinking caution light to those who are still living. Hear the warning of Christ in verse three as he answers his own question. I tell you no, but unless you repent, you all likewise will perish. He does that both in verse three and verse five. The crowd comes with their puzzling theological questions about karma and Jesus looks at them right in their eyes and says to them, listen, the most urgent issue this very moment is your own soul. If you don't get right with God, you're going to perish. Those are Jesus's words, not mine. And this leads us to that second consideration, not just the impartiality of tragedy and death, but secondly, in Jesus' response, we see the imperativeness of getting right with God. The imperativeness of getting right with God. By the way, imperativeness is a word. I looked it up. And it works. It's an I, right? You need to know. Jesus is saying, you all need to know what is truly at stake. There is more than some abstract theological talking point. We're talking about human souls. And Jesus makes it personal. We're talking about your soul. Because unless you repent, you will perish. Those are Jesus's words. Jesus taps into the passion the passionate feelings that are brought up by the senseless deaths of these victims, these tragic events, and says, you need to be passionate about your eternal destiny. This is critically urgent. It is imperative. This call to repentance is, again, that red blinking warning light. You have an opportunity now. That opportunity will not always be present. There is an expiration date at some of this. Something is gravely wrong that requires your immediate and deliberate attention. While the crowds were thinking of those who were killed, they must have done something extraordinarily horrible to get what they got. Jesus says no. They did something ordinarily horrible, just like you. And if you don't repent, you too will experience a horrible end. All of you. Notice what he says. He says, you will all likewise perish. The scriptures testify to this reality repeatedly. Romans 3.23, we know that. As a kid, you learn the verse in Iwana, all have sinned. All have sinned and fallen short. of the glory of God. Romans 3, Paul's big crescendo moment of bringing an indictment against all humanity, Jew and Gentile. He says, there's none righteous. And if you think you slide under, he adds, not even one. Not one. None is righteous. What should amaze us in our sin is not that some are taken in tragedy. but that we are spared and given yet another day to repent. That is what is amazing. The really amazing thing in this universe is not that guilty sinners perish, but that God is slow to anger. That He is patient with you and with me. That we can sit here this morning And I don't know if you thought about this this morning, especially if you're not a Christian. This very moment is God's grace to you. That you would hear that you've been given yet another opportunity to repent and get right with God. You have a Jesus moment right now. Every moment we are given, every day that we awake and live is another opportunity. It's a grace that God has given. Now, what does Jesus mean when he says that all repentant people will likewise perish? Likewise perish, meaning you're gonna die like the The tower falling on people, or the guys that got killed because of Pilate's order? I don't think this is what that's talking about. He's not saying that you're going to perish in the exact same way, and that's clear because he gives another situation, right? Those guys got killed by political violence. These guys got killed by a tower. There are different ways to die. That's not what he means when he says, likewise, we can't all die in the same way. Jesus really is saying something like this. You see that horrible end that those people came to? They didn't think it was going to happen to them like that. They didn't get up that morning thinking this is our last moment. The hour of their end took them by surprise. And unless you repent, your end will be far more horrible than you think it is. and it'll come as an absolute and terrible shock. The comparison, likewise, is between dying tragically, suddenly, unexpectedly in this life, and then perishing ultimately. In other words, that first death is nothing compared to that second. Perishing ultimately is far worse and far more serious of an issue for you to consider. You put those two things side by side. They don't compare, right? Sudden loss of life is tragic. Human injustices are indeed tragic. Political abuses by force are tragic. The problem of suffering, towers collapsing, children dying of cancer, car accidents, plane crashes, tragic, sad, devastatingly sad. But when you put it next to eternal judgment, to perishing that Jesus is talking about here, they don't compare. They don't compare. One is infinitely more important than the other. You're hung up with all of the things that God isn't doing or didn't step in and change. You've not given consideration to the thing he has given you opportunity to do, and that is to repent and come to faith. Eternal judgment is what he wants them to be aware of. Perish here is more than physical death. In the New Testament, it's often used to refer to eternal judgment. Verse we all probably know, John 3, 16, right? For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him shall what? Not perish, but have everlasting life. So, perishing as Jesus is using it here is the alternative to having everlasting life. The same thing turns up in John chapter 10 verse 28 where Jesus says, I give them eternal life and they shall not perish forever. Perishing is what happens to you if you don't have the eternal life that is given to those who are in Christ. Paul uses this word in 1 Corinthians 1 18 when he says the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. Right to those who are perishing, they reject the cross, it's foolishness, it's it's it's stupid stuff. To those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it's the power of God, so perishing there is the opposite of being saved. And in 1 Corinthians 15, 18, Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. In other words, perishing is something that happens beyond the grave. He's not talking about an earthly death that we're all going to face. This is a warning that Jesus is issuing here, that without a change of view, without repentance, Jesus is saying, listen, there is a black cloud of perishing that is following you, a second death, a worse death, and it is hovering over you. You are in that category of perishing. There is a disaster far more weighty, far more consuming, far more lasting. and devastating that is looming over you unless you repent. That's what he says. That's that condition. There is this conditional clause. This is true of you unless, unless you repent. And so Jesus says, listen, only repentance will prevent the death that lasts, right? So we should ask, what does it mean to repent? That seems really important. since this is the difference between perishing and everlasting life. It says there's a problem. Repentance is again part of that same kind of blinking red light that says, listen, there is a problem that exists between you and God. And it necessitates that you both acknowledge that and that you make a corrective course. And that's kind of what's behind that word repentance. You need an abrupt change of direction. You need an about face. And so when we think of repentance, there are two critical elements to repentance that we need to be aware of. First, sinners must change their mind about their own sinfulness. You need to agree with God. You need to stop making excuses to err as human. Everyone else is doing it. I'm just doing what everyone else is doing. You need to stop having that kind of vision of what sin is, and you need to adopt God's declaration about sin. Your sin is not neutral. Your sin is an offense to a holy God. You have broken His law. You are a lawbreaker. And God's law, whether you agree with it or not, whether you like it or not, is binding on you, because He's God, and you're not, right? It is binding, and scripture tells us that we violated that law, and as a result, we deserve judgment. And so, we must cognitively, in our minds, in our hearts, and even in our wills, we must agree with that assessment. We must agree with that. That is right. I'm changing my mind. I'm changing my view of seeing sin as, well, everyone's doing it, and it's just what I am, and it's just who I am. No, I'm agreeing with God. It is an offense against Him. That means I should be judged. We are agreeing with his diagnosis of our condition, and that he's right in it, and accurate, that we are enemies, as scripture says. We are rebels and debtors, and we are powerless to deliver ourselves from sin's grip. So there is this change of mind, and we agree with God's assessment. And then, the second element is that we make a movement toward the remedy. we affirm that Jesus Christ is indeed the only Savior. We are turning from sin to something, right? We are turning to God through Christ. So you can think of repentance as this, it's a change of mind that brings a change of actions, right? It's a change of mind that brings a change of actions. Now again, as Christians, continually repent, right? Repentance is something that we will do because we know we're not like Christ. We're, again, agreeing with his assessment and saying, I've wronged you, Lord. Help me. And we know from the scriptures he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But it's a different way of seeing things. We're not making excuses for our sins. We're agreeing with God. You're right. What you say about me is true. And I need the remedy, the only remedy, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we repent and then we believe. We trust. We trust Jesus Christ. That's the Christian message. That is the gospel. Peter in Acts chapter 2, the people who hear the message, they were convicted, and you remember that they respond to Peter by saying, Peter, what must we do to be saved? And what does Peter say? Same thing he heard from Jesus. Repent. Repent, every one of you. Paul, as he's standing before these Gentile philosophers, these Greek philosophers in Acts 17, he says to them, God is now commanding men that everyone, everywhere should repent. So is this an American message? Is this the white man's message? No, it's not. It's not the white man's message. Plus, you realize how ridiculous that is, right? The church started in the Middle East, not in Europe. So it's such a ridiculous idea, but he is commanding men, everyone, everywhere. This is a universal message. Why? Because we have a universal problem, sin. And this gives urgency, this gives weight to why you must repent. Listen, Paul says, because he, that being God, has fixed the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he determined, having furnished proof to all, by raising him from the dead. Jesus is the judge. He is returning. Judgment is on the horizon. It is coming. And so there is an urgency. Repent or perish. That's what Peter said, that's what Jesus said, that's what Paul said. Repentance. So Jesus' response to tragic events ought to cause us to consider, to think about, not only the impartiality of death and tragedy, that death comes to us all and sometimes it comes unexpectedly, but he also responds to tragic events by showing us the imperativeness of getting right with God. Because there is a far more disastrous tragedy on the horizon, right? And then now Jesus reinforces and presses even harder the need for repentance by telling them a parable in verses 6 through 9. And this will lead us to that final Response that final consideration during tragic events that Jesus points out He tells them a peril a parable and here it is a man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard And he came seeking fruit on it and it did not and did not find any and he said to the vineyard keeper Behold for three years. I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree without finding any cut it down Why does it even use up the ground? I? This is quite the dilemma. Here is this mature fig tree that is totally unproductive, and the owner wants to whack it down. It makes sense. And the hired hand, the vineyard keeper, advises a kind of a stay of execution. He says, hey, let's give it some time, verse 8 and 9, right? Let me dig around it and fertilize it, and then perhaps it'll bear fruit. Give it a little more time. Let's see what happens. Maybe it'll be productive then. And then, if not, you can whack it down. And what is Jesus' point here? Let's unpack the parable a little bit with this heading, and that is the impermanence of God's patience. The impermanence of God's patience. That's just a way of saying He's not going to be patient forever. Right? That's the punchline. The time for repentance is running out. There is an urgency that ought to drive those hearing of Christ, hearing his message of repentance. That there is an expiration date to God's patience in allowing you that opportunity. It will not carry on forever and ever. It will not be extended once you expire. There is a shelf life. Now is the time of salvation. This is another way of him saying that. And the image that Jesus gives of the fig tree in the vineyard is a pointed one because Jesus is setting his gaze on one particular people. God often used the image of the vine or a fig tree to refer to Israel. He's talking about his own people. There's several passages, we don't have time to look, but Hosea 9-10, Joel 1, that again use that imagery of a vineyard or a fig tree in relationship to Israel. And God had cultivated Israel to be a fruitful tree. Vineyard Paul in Romans 9 speaks of all of the advantages that the people of Israel had. Theirs was the adoption, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple sacrifices and services, the promises, right? From whom is the Christ according to the flesh? You were promised the Messiah. So if we were using Arbor terms, this fig tree had been protected and well watered and fertilized and yet despite all of those advantages, all of those advantages, they had produced no fruit at all. There was no repentance, there was no remorse, there was pride, there was arrogance, there was rejection. And again, look at how Israel responded to their Messiah. I mean, what a pointed thing to say here. Why does it even use up the ground? It's not worth the ground. It's on. The owner is disgusted by the fruitfulness of this tree that shouldn't be this way. It has everything that it needs to make the right response, and it's unwilling. That is a huge indictment against the people of Israel. He says, cut it down. And the vineyard keeper, of course, encourages continued cultivation. continued patience. But again, the point is that this isn't going to go on forever. There is going to be a time, because he says, if they don't, if it doesn't after all this, cut it down. Don't assume that this patience will just continue. We are, like the fig tree, all living on borrowed time. Maybe you think, oh, God's not looking. God's not coming. Right. Second, Peter, you have those things. He said he was coming a long time ago. It's been 2000 years. We have all of these reasons to be indifferent toward our sin because we haven't yet been punished. But the day is coming. That's the theme of Luke 12 and 13. Time is running out. The sand is running out of the hourglass. You're enjoying a brief stay of execution, but God's patience is not going to tarry. By the way, this has always been God's message to those who are rebellious, to rebellious Israel. He said in Isaiah 55, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Right? Do it now. Luke 13, someone will say to Jesus, Lord, are there just a few more who are, or sorry, later in Luke chapter three, someone will say to Jesus that, he'll say, Lord, why are there so few who are being saved? It's like, hey, maybe you should lay off the whole judgment thing, because people aren't coming. Right? Lay off that, you know, the fire is on its way. Judgment is coming, and Jesus responds to that later in Luke 13, 24. Listen, it's not easy to repent. It's not easy to abandon our own viewpoint on ourselves. You have to change your entire view of self, recognize your own sinfulness. That's hard. It's hard for sinners to do because sinners have spent their whole life protecting their pride and protecting their own self-worth. Repentance is hard, but that's the command. That is the command. That is the message. At the end of this very chapter, chapter 13, Jesus will lament over Jerusalem, confessing how he wanted to gather them. He longed that they would respond favorably. But he says this, but you wouldn't have it. You wouldn't have it. Tragic. The grace in this parable is that right now there is time. There is time. There is an opportunity right now. Repent while you can. Get right with God while there is still time, because God will not be patient forever. That's the point, the impermanence of God's patience. So when you put this all together, Jesus' response to tragedy is poignantly clear. It's not that he's heartless about these tragedies. Whether it's a tragedy of political violence, right, or a tower that collapses, or planes that collide in midair, Jesus's response to tragic events is this, you need to repent because you might be next. Those are poignant words, friends, and ones I pray you would consider