Repentance    Luke 13:1-9

This post concerns what Jesus taught about repentance.

‘Repentance’ discusses Jesus’ comments about two calamities. In the previous chapter Jesus strongly stressed the necessity of repentance before judgment day. Now someone in His audience cites a case where some died and did not have a chance to repent and make things right. Jesus used this occasion to teach that everyone must repent before death robs them of the opportunity.

Then, Jesus cites a similar example.

A tower had fallen suddenly and killed eighteen people before they could correct their lives. Jesus repeats His command for all to repent before judgment day. Note, Jesus repeating something twice emphasizes the matter strongly.

Next, Jesus tells a parable, Luke 13:6-9. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none… for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down… ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year… good; but if not… cut it down.’”

This parable continues Jesus’ teaching about the necessity of repentance in this lifetime. The owner wanted to cut the tree down due to the lack of fruit for three years. The gardener asked for a one-year grace period to see if the tree would produce fruit. The owner agreed to the one-year extension but said to cut it down if it did not produce fruit.

This parable applies directly to the Jewish nation. During Jesus’ lifetime and for several years afterwards, the Jews could take the opportunity to produce the fruits of righteousness by accepting Jesus and His word. The book of Acts provides the response of the Jewish nation to gospel preaching. Mostly they did not repent. Like the fig tree, the nation and the temple were destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

So, what did we learn?

1.Because we do not know when life will end, we need to repent now.

2.Although the Jewish nation had additional years of grace and adequate time to accept Jesus, they did not and were destroyed suddenly.

#everyoneRepent #fallenTower #figTree #JewishNationDestroyed