Sunday, March 11, 2007

Luke 13:1-9 (The Message)
Unless You Turn to God
1-5About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, "Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die."
6-7Then he told them a story: "A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren't any. He said to his gardener, 'What's going on here? For three years now I've come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?'
8-9"The gardener said, 'Let's give it another year. I'll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn't, then chop it down.'"

Many people in Jesus’ day believed that people suffered as a result of the sins they had committed. Some people came to Jesus and told him about the Jewish people from Galilee that, while at worship, had been murdered by the Romans. Those people reporting to Jesus must have assumed the murdered Galileans were bad sinners. Jesus does not agree. He says they are not worse sinners. He also sites another incident where a tower fell on eighteen people. The sins of the people did not make the tower fall. Jesus is saying that people do not die tragic deaths because of their sins. Everybody has a physical death somehow. But, if we turn to God, we will never spiritually die.

Jesus often uses trees as metaphors for people. This story is no exception. The tree that did not bear fruit for three years is like a person who does not accept God. The gardener who offers to give extra attention to the tree, to fertilize it, is Jesus who came to earth to show and tell us more about who God is. People who continue to reject God after seeing Jesus will someday be “chopped down.”

Do you know people who choose to reject Jesus? Who?

How can you help fertilize their trees? How can you show them who Jesus really is?

Pray a prayer asking God to be with the people you thought of, who reject Jesus. Ask God to help you show and tell them about Him.