Jesus
Administers a Dose of Tough Love
[Luke
chapter 13, verses 1-17]
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For
this week's Progressive Christian Bible study, we'll be moving on to
chapter 13 of Luke's gospel as we continue our in-depth study of the
writings of the apostle Luke. As a part of the series of analyses I
am composing, this series of Biblical commentaries on the writings of
the apostles will be the second book in this series. The first volume
of Biblical studies I have managed to publish are those of the
apostle Paul, called “The Apostles In Plain English Volume 1”,
and you can find out more about that book from
here. As you've probably guessed, these studies of Luke will
comprise volume 2, but for now let's go ahead and get started at
verse one.
“Now
there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus
answered, 'Do you think all these Galileans were worse sinners than
all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you,
no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 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? I tell you,
no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.' Then he told
this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted in this vineyard, and he
went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 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?' 'Sir', the man replied,
'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and
fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! But if not, then cut
it down'.” (Luke 13, verses 1-9)
The
background to this first verse is a
reference to a freedom fighter named Judas of Galilee, who was
considered an extremist at the time because of his teaching that
there is but one God, combined with being a political activist for
Jewish independence from the Roman Empire. His ambitions, combined
with his teachings that were considered radical for their time,
eventually resulted in he and all his followers (roughly 200 people
together with their families) being put to death. So this first verse
is a tragically vivid representation of the thought: “whom Pilate
caused to be put to death while engaged in their sacrifices.”
“Jesus
answered, 'Do you think all these Galileans were worse sinners than
all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you,
no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
We can infer three different things from these words of our Lord and
Savior. The first is that those who suffer more in this present life
than those who do not are not suffering because of any alleged
punishment from God. On the contrary, those who suffer more in this
life – the poor, the handicapped, the mentally or chronically ill,
those without jobs, and the scorned and rejected, they are the ones
who will have the highest places in heaven.
The
second is that there is no such thing as degrees when it comes to
sin, which is repeated, willful disobedience to God. Sin is still
sin, hate is still hate, theft is still theft, and murder is still
murder. There is no such thing as a greater or a lesser sin. Many of
those who are vehemently opposed to gay marriage are the same ones
who look at pornography on their computers. Is their sin any less
than those with same-sex attraction? No way! As the apostle James
wrote in his famous and beloved epistle, “Anyone who sins by
breaking just one of the laws of God, is guilty of breaking all of
them.” The third thing we can infer from Jesus' statement is that
those who rebelled against their oppressive Roman rulers in a bid for
Jewish independence did not suffer a tortuous death at the hands of
their Roman captors because of sin. They suffered a tortuous death
because that was the stock in trade of the Roman soldiers who
executed them.
“A
man had a fig tree, planted in this vineyard, and he went to look for
fruit on it, but did not find any. 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!'”
As you can see, Jesus is asking the crowd gathered around him and the
apostles if they would condemn one of their own as harshly as the
Romans did Judas of Galilee and his followers. Would they, Jesus asks
pointedly, treat them like the fig tree planted in the vineyard? You
better not, Jesus said to them, or you may find yourself condemned by
God just as quickly and harshly, and cut down just as mercilessly.
But the man who takes care of the vineyard responds, “Leave
it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine! But if not, then cut it down.”
The property owner who first said to cut down that fig tree
represents God in Jesus' parable, but the caretaker's response
represents the mercy of Christ. If we don't bear a lot of fruit,
sometimes that is because there are people who do not hit their
stride either personally, professionally or romantically until later
in life. Jesus will intercede in such cases and begin working more
closely with that individual, redoubling his efforts to cause us to
grow in him. Not so much ourselves, of our own volition, but that of
the Spirit of the Lord that dwells within the hearts of every true
believer. If anyone reading this is unsure of whether the Spirit of
the Lord resides in their hearts or not, right now – before we go
on – would be an excellent time to invite Him in! Go ahead, because
you'll never be the same! Just ask away! And now let's move on to the
second half of our study, beginning at verse 10.
“On
the Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and there
was a woman there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen
years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When
Jesus saw her, he called her forward, and said to her, 'Woman, you
are free from your infirmity.' Then he put his hands on her, and
immediately she straightened up and began praising God. Indignant
because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to
the people, 'There are six days for work. So come and be healed on
those days, and not on the Sabbath'. The Lord answered him, 'You
hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his horse or
donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should
not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for
eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what has
bound her?' When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but
the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was
doing.” (Luke 13, verses 10-17)
So
we can see here that Luke's narrative takes up on the Sabbath
following Jesus' speech about the interpretation of the times from
the end of chapter 12, which we studied last week. Jesus performs yet
another miracle by calling the crippled woman forward and healing her
for everyone to see. Naturally, the Pharisees – who always insisted
on enforcing the letter of the law while overlooking the spirit
thereof – were infuriated that Jesus had performed an authentic
healing of this poor old broken down woman. “There
are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, and not
on the Sabbath”,
they said. However, it does not look to me like this quote does a
good job of capturing the moment. Let's keep in mind that these
Pharisees were scolding the crowd, as well as Jesus, as if they were
traffic cops who just pulled someone over for driving 100 miles an
hour on the freeway. In other words, the Pharisees were absolutely
livid about the miraculous healing Jesus had administered to the
elderly woman. Instead of falling on their knees in acknowledgment
that Jesus is Lord over all, they were jealous! It was raw envy they
were displaying, hidden behind a veil of sanctimony.
And
right there, my dear readers, is where Jesus lets them have it with
both barrels. “You
hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his horse or
donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should
not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for
eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what has
bound her?”
'It's perfectly fine for you Pharisees to lead your animals to water
on the Sabbath', Jesus was asking them, 'but it's wrong for me to
heal a woman on the Sabbath who has been crippled for 18 years?'
Jesus is nearly incredulous with his religious counterparts for their
religious snobbery, and no wonder! OK, now let's fast forward to
today, and what current event does this closely parallel? Remember
the winner of the “Miss USA” beauty pageant making the statement
that “higher education is a privilege”? American political
conservatives, particularly the religious ones, have been saying much
the same thing for many years. Hogwash!! Oh no it's not, either!
Access to knowledge, which entails higher education, is a basic
fundamental human right from childbirth onward. To forcibly keep
people illiterate and shield them from educational opportunities by
erecting economic barriers is a criminal act!
“When
he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were
delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.”
Jesus made the Pharisees look ridiculous, he demolished their
religious and intellectual snobbery right along with it, and he did
so right in front of the whole crowd! The Pharisees deserved every
bit of what they got from our Lord and Savior that memorable day.
What I'd like to see us all do is to simply continue that tradition
of delight in all the doings and miracles of our Lord and Kinsman
Redeemer. Every time you see God doing something positive in your
life or someone else's life, give God praise and thanks for it! And
when trouble comes your way, as it inevitably does, thank God for the
opportunity to sharpen your game. And next week we'll move on to part
2 of Luke chapter 13.
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