LUKE 13:1-9
LEARNING FROM DISASTER
Name some natural disasters that have occurred in your lifetime.
What is troubling about natural disasters?
What lessons do you think we can learn from natural disasters?
Name some unnatural disasters that have occurred in your lifetime, such as 9-11.
What is troubling about unnatural disasters?
What can we learn from unnatural disasters?
A couple more questions, and this one may seem unrelated:
Would most pulpit committees call Paul to be their Pastor? Why or why not?
Would most pulpit committees call Jesus to be their Pastor?
Why or why not?
As we come to Luke 13:1-9, we must understand that Jesus had been preaching a very fiery message. He warned against the division that would occur in one’s own home if he were followed in verses 49-53.
He condemned those who could forecast the weather but not discern the times in verses 54-56.
And he warned in a parable that people should settle about of court before they appear before the judge. That simply is a reminder that we should settle with Jesus as Savior before we face Him as judge! Vss. 57-59
Now in Luke 13, two types of disasters are mentioned, the natural and the unnatural. It is here that we see that the Jewish people had the idea that those punished during natural and unnatural disasters were all being punished for some reason.
Jesus, however has another lesson for people to learn as they look at natural and unnatural disasters.
MAN’S PREMISE – Vss. 1,2,4
JESUS’ PRONOUNCEMENT – Vss. 3,5
GOD’S PATIENCE – Vss. 6-9
MAN’S PREMISE – Vss. 1,2,4
Vs. 1 – What we have here is an unnatural disaster.
Pontius Pilate was known for his brutality as the Roman Governor.
Evidently Pilate thought that certain Galileans were guilty of some sort of insurrection. He ordered them killed.
They were quietly offering sacrifices, perhaps at Passover, and were killed in the process. Men’s blood and animals’ blood were shed at the same time.
Vs. 2 - The common thought was that these men were guilty of some sort of terrible crime, and that’s why they were murdered.
That would be like saying every person killed on 9-11 was guilty of some sort special sin towards God.
Jesus is saying this is just not so.
Bad things happen to good people.
Bad things happen to nice people.
It is not always because God is judging a specific individual because of sin.
It is because sin, in general, is in the world.
As long as sin reigns, people will die of both natural and unnatural causes.
Consider Job.
What kinds of Calamities happened to Him?
Why did these calamities happen?
What did Job’s “comforters” tell him?
Job 4:7 - Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
It was then and is now, very easy for people to assume when something bad happens that we or the person affected has done something wrong.
This can lead to a smug self-righteousness if nothing bad happens to us.
Vs. 4 – Jesus gives another example.
There was a tower in Jerusalem that fell.
C. Marvin Pate – “Siloam was the name of the water supply at the juncture of the southeast walls inside the city, fed by the Gihon Spring outside the east wall. An underground tunnel connecting the two was cut through the rocks in the days of King Hezekiah. It may be that when Pilate built an aqueduct to improve the water supply the project caused the tower at the juncture of the southeast walls to fall. Though the incident is not recorded elsewhere, it matches the situation at the time of Jesus.” C. Marvin Pate, Moody Gospel Commentary – Luke, (Chicago, Moody Press, 1995) p. 284
Were these 18 victims of a natural disaster guilty of some special sin?
And thinking about it, what about those people who are born with deformities and diseases? Are they or their parents guilty of something special?
The answer is it is not likely.
Of course of a parent abuses their body, such as with drugs, they can cause physical problems for their new-borns. But we can’t say that every physical problem is a result of someone specific’s sin.
You might remember the man who was born blind in John 9.
Jesus was asked who was guilty, the man or his parents to cause such a thing.
John 9:3 - Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Kent Hughes – “One lazy Sunday afternoon in Papua New Guinea, Wycliffe missionaries Walt and Vonnie Steinkraus were resting alongside their daughters Kerry and Kathy when their world came to an abrupt end. At precisely 3:00 P.M. a half mile-wide section of the mountain on the opposite side of the river from their village broke off and buried them. They may never even have heard the sound. In a world full of vacant hillsides, in a world full of reprobates, in a world with too few missionaries, the Steinkrauses disappeared under a mountain. Was it because of their sin? No! Jesus settled the issue-not all tragedy or crises is due to one’s own sins.” R. Kent Hughes, Preaching The Word – Luke Volume 2, (Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1998) p.81
Does God bring judgment on people and nations?
Yes, he does.
But we can’t assume that every tragedy is a result of someone’s sin.
So don’t be quick to be smug when tragedy happens to someone you don’t like, thinking they are being judged for their sins. It could happen to you.
MAN’S PREMISE – Vss. 1,2,4
JESUS’ PRONOUNCEMENT – Vss. 3,5
Vss. 3&5 – Jesus makes a pronouncement of warning.
He said that unless those listening to him repented they would likewise perish.
It is possible that Jesus was looking forward to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
However, I believe that he was warning that is possible for all to perish and face judgment.
These words were spoken as part of a message that had much to say about coming judgment in Luke 12.
Unless a person repents, final judgment will not be pretty.
Hebrews 9:27 - And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Revelation 20:11-15 - And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. [12] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. [14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
H.A. Ironside said, “Repentance is a change in mind which results in a complete change in attitude.” H.A. Ironside, Addresses on the Gospel of Luke, (Neptune, NJ, Loizeaux Brothers, 1947) p. 436
When a person sees that he or she is a sinner and has no hope for Heaven, he or she turns from their sin and whatever they have been trusting before to save them. They turn from sin and to the Savior.
2 Corinthians 7:10 - For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Of course, when a sinner truly repents there is a change.
John 3:5-8 - Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Two fellows opened a butcher shop and prospered. Then an evangelist came to town, and one of the butchers was saved. He tried to persuade his partner to accept salvation also, but to no avail. “Why won’t you, Charlie?” asked the born-again fellow.
“Listen, Lester,” the other butcher said. “If I get religion, too, who’s going to weigh the meat?” James Dent of Charleston, W. Va., Gazette http://www.bible.org/illus/r/r-37.htm#TopOfPage
“Not too many years ago newspapers carried the story of Al Johnson, a Kansas man who came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his newfound faith in Christ, he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old.
Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession. And he even voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money!” Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 13 http://www.bible.org/illus/r/r-37.htm#TopOfPage
Now you and I who know Jesus as Savior do not need to worry about getting into Heaven if we’ve been truly converted. However, we have been called to live Godly, holy lives.
1 Peter 1:15-16 - But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
As God convicts us of sin, we need to be ready to repent.
Not because we need to be saved, but because we need to be holy!
Isaiah 55:6-8 - Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. [8] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
In the course of our daily walk the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin either through the preaching of the Word, or the reading of the Word, or speaking of the Spirit of God, within our hearts.
When we are smitten that we are wrong, we are to confess to God, forsake, and yes, if necessary make things right with someone else.
Psalm 32:5 - I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
So Jesus warns that everyone needs to repent.
MAN’S PREMISE – Vss. 1,2,4
JESUS’ PRONOUNCEMENT – Vss. 3,5
GOD’S PATIENCE – Vss. 6-9
Read Vss. 6-9
Jesus tells a story that could refer to Israel.
Israel certainly had failed God.
Israel had been sent many prophets, looking for repentance.
Jesus himself came and dug around the roots and added fertilizer, so to speak.
And yet Israel refused to repent and was destroyed eventually by the Romans.
But I with others believe that this story also refers to every lost sinner.
The person deserves judgment, but God delays judgment, so that the person has more time to repent.
Often you and I would be like the land owner in the story, we think people should be removed or judged, but God delays. He delays and convicts the guilty part.
Perhaps, if given more time, the person will come to his senses and repent.
In fact the Lord has not returned yet, in order to give more people time to repent.
2 Peter 3:8-10 - But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [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. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
So, how does this effect us as Christians?
We know that the Lord is coming.
There are those who need the Lord.
As long as the Lord is delaying we should be doing two things, witnessing and living Godly lives.
Peter follows up his talk about the judgment with these words for believers.
2 Peter 3:11-14 - Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, [12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? [13] Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. [14] Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Let’s be busy living for the Lord in such a way, that those who need to repent see the need because of us.
God is being patient. We need to be busy.
There is a line by us unseen
That crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between
God’s patience and His wrath.
O where is that mysterious bourne
By which our path is crossed,
Beyond which God himself has sworn
That he who goes is lost?
How far can one go on in sin”
How long will mercy spare”
Where does grace end and where begin
The confines of despair?
An answer from the sky is sent:
Ye who from God depart,
While it is called today repent,
And harden not your heart.
Author Unknown
Quoted by William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary – Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1978) p. 697
MAN’S PREMISE – Vss. 1,2,4
JESUS’ PRONOUNCEMENT – Vss. 3,5
GOD’S PATIENCE – Vss. 6-9