Series on Luke
IV The Imperatives of the Kingdom
B Instruction in Rejection
7 Siloam’s Tower
Text: 13:1-9
Introduction
At the end of chapter 12 our Savior has warned his own people that this is the hour of decision. Though they correctly interpret the signs of the changing weather, they do not see how their lives are changed by his coming for he is their long awaited Messiah, King, and Savior. They must make a choice! It is so poignantly expressed in the verse, “There was a knight of Bethlehem whose wealth was tears and sorrows; his men at arms were little lambs, his trumpeters were sparrows. His castle was a wooden cross, on which he hung so high; his helmet was a crown of thorns whose crest did touch the sky.” They were not expecting such a King and Savior. In 12:56 we read of their inability to appreciate the approaching judgment, Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? In our text for today they immediately reply that they certainly understood God’s judgment, but it didn’t apply to them. And to illustrate how wonderfully they understood it 13:1 they told Jesus about the Galileans, Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. They completely missed the point. They said of course you’re right, judgment is sure and certain, and to illustrate it look at those other people. Jesus answers with instruction about judgment with three key points. We are wicked, we are welcomed, we are warned.
I We Are Wicked
Not only were their hearts shut to Christ because they were expecting a conqueror and not a cross, but they were also characterized by extreme prejudice as we see in verses 2 and 3, Jesus answered, “Do you think that 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.” Those stupid half-breed Galileans! Remember what Nathaniel said in John 1, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” That is, Nazareth in Galilee. We understand God’s judgment, they said, it falls on others. Jesus understood why they were raising this issue. In their minds the Galileans were sinners and they were not. All prejudice whether it’s directed at other races, or at neighbors, at the rich or poor, the urban or the suburban or by churched people at un-churched people is stupid by definition because it means making a judgment before you have the facts. Why then did they do it, and why do we do it? Jesus zeros in on the cause. It is self-righteousness. in all my years as a pastor I do not think one month has passed in which I did not meet some church member somewhere who thought they were good and somebody on the outside was bad. That frustrates me! Jesus says we must all repent! In the book of Romans the apostle Paul presents the only way of salvation in Jesus. He begins by showing that unless all repent they will all likewise perish. In Romans 1:18 and 19 he first shows the horrible sins and transgressions of the nations, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. At this point in Romans 1 you can hear these people cheering, those rotten Romans, those Greeks, those those dirty Gentiles, those Galileans, those bad people. But then in chapter 2 Paul turns to his own people the Jews and says they are in the same boat and the boat is sinking, and we read in verses 5-11, But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. And Paul’s final conclusion in Romans 3:23 is that all have sinned. Is the Bible right when it says all have sinned? Does it really include these people? How about you? You upright, law-abiding, supportive, helpful, hardworking church members. Are you all guilty? Jesus gives an illustration closer to home in verses 4 and 5, 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. Were those the bad sinners in Jerusalem? No? Then except you repent you will all likewise perish.
II We Are Welcomed
If you think it disturbed Israel to hear that everybody was wicked, it disturbed them even more to hear that everybody was welcome. This is revealed in Jesus’ parable in verses 6-9, Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his 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! If not, then cut it down.’” The fig tree is clearly a symbol of Israel, which is sometimes pictured as a grapevine sometimes as an olive tree, and sometimes as a fig tree. Do you remember how Jesus cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit on his way into Jerusalem as an example of Israel, and in Matthew 24:32-35 He said learn the lesson of the fig tree, Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The end was near, but as this parable says there is a delay. Three years is enough time to assume that there will be fruit on this tree, the owner says “cut it down,” but the manager says give it one more year and the owner agrees. The implication is that even though judgment was appropriate now, yet God was still delaying. This was the mercy of God calling Israel to repentance and they had another forty years until the destruction of Jerusalem during which time the Jews had the opportunity to accept their true Messiah. There is also implicit here the idea that if you cut down a fruitless tree you will turn to others for a harvest. And this is what we read about in Acts 13:44-47, On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ”‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” What was the problem? They did not consider themselves equal to or acceptable for eternal life, not because the gospel was too good for them, but they were too good for the gospel. This block still stands in the way of men accepting God’s mercy even when judgment is long delayed, but the end is coming to the whole world as it came to Jerusalem.
III We Are Warned
We of this generation are warned. The end will finally come as it came to Israel in the final dispersion after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Note the last sentence of our text, “if not, cut it down.” Through the fall of Israel the gospel has come to the whole world, to me and to you, but listen to Paul in Romans 11:17-21, If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Israel is the root and the Gentiles are the branches and Paul says the same fate ultimately faces both. No one is exempt, all must repent or perish. Jesus is the Son of the true and living God and the only way of salvation is through forsaking our sins and trusting in His atoning death. Do not delay, do not stall, do not put it off. Jesus says to them and to us no one is too good for the gospel and the gospel is not too good for anyone who repents.
Conclusion
Do you know why its so important to listen to what Jesus says here? One of the oldest books in the Bible is Job. The story of a man just like the Galileans whom Pilate killed or the citizens of Jerusalem, on whom the tower of Siloam fell. In that story Job’s friends do exactly what the people in our text were doing. They said judgment fell on you Job, and not on us, so you must be bad and we must be good. They want him to confess. They want him to repent, but all the while they are thinking, we don’t need mercy, we’re too good for the gospel. What does that tell you about human nature? We’ll do anything to avoid the conclusion that we are wicked, but that’s why Jesus died, to save wicked people, and He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
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