UNLESS YOU REPENT
Luke 12:54-13:9
Key Verse: 13:5
“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Have you ever seen or heard a warning message but have done nothing about it? A low battery or out-of-storage warning on your cell phone could be one. The engine light or low-gas light might have appeared on our dashboard. These warnings may seem like they’re no big deal. We may be able to get away with ignoring it for a while. But eventually, if we do not take appropriate action, it can produce a problem and even a disaster. We could get warning signs all the time: about our health, our finances, and our relationships. Some warnings we can take or leave, while others are more serious. The Bible gives us spiritual warnings, which are the most serious because they concern our eternity.
In today’s passage, we hear some of the most severe words spoken by Jesus. He said, “You will not get out until you pay the last penny!” He also said, “Unless you repent, you will all perish!” What are we supposed to do when we hear words like this? Say, “No big deal” and move on with our day’s business? No! Of course, we must repent. We must repent of our sins now before it is too late. By giving us these heartfelt warnings, Jesus lets us know the deep and compassionate heart of God. Jesus helps us bring our sincere repentance to God. May we choose to repent and live, not perish. May our sincere repentance become the spiritual fertilizer so that we can bear the fruit of the spirit that God seeks from us. May God give us ears to hear. Amen.
1. “Interpret this present time” (12:54-59)
Jesus begins this passage with a rebuke towards the people of his generation. # Look at verses 54-56. “He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 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?” Jesus reminds the people that they are very much able to predict the weather by observing the sky and the wind. Since they can do that, they have no excuse for their failure to interpret the present time. What does it mean to interpret the present time? Based on the rest of the passage, it means that we need to let the events in our world, together with Jesus’ words, teach us what we must do.
In Jesus’ time, people could see God and His kingdom through all the gracious works that Jesus did. Numerous people rejoiced at the glorious work that Jesus did. But at the same time, many people persistently remained blind. God had sent John the Baptist to prepare the way with the message of repentance. And now Jesus himself was among them, doing great works and speaking with God’s authority. But they failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Now, it was God’s time for them to finally repent and believe the good news.
How about now? How about us? How should we see and interpret our present time? It seems that there is only negative and dark news around us these days. Ongoing wars involving multiple nations and one mass shooting after another! It seems like the world is becoming darker and gloomier and it makes us cry out of fear and despair, “We’re doomed!” But Jesus is not telling us to look at the present time like that. He’s telling us to open our spiritual eyes to see the work of God in Jesus’ teaching. The troubles of our times should not make us feel miserable. The troubles of our times should plant in us a sense of urgency about coming back to God with our sincere repentance. God is still inviting all people from all nations to repent even in this extremely wicked and corrupt world. God wants us to wake up and take what could be our last chance to repent. Amen.
In verses 57-59, Jesus gives another parable to show us what repentance looks like and what we should practically do. The parable is about someone who has an adversary who has a case against him. The adversary wants to sue him and take him to court. Jesus says that if we are ever in such a situation, we should try our best to reconcile with our adversary before we appear before the judge because that will be much better for us than being thrown into prison. Who do you think the judge in this story is? It is God. Jesus is saying that our life is a journey to the judgment seat of God! This can sound terrifying, but Jesus is telling us of the importance of doing what is right in our lives. According to this parable, we have to be reconciled to our adversary before judgment day.
Then who is the adversary? Some might say it is the devil, but not in this case. The adversary we have to be reconciled to is also God because through our sins we made ourselves his enemies. # In Colossians 1:21 Paul writes, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” Because of our sins and evil behavior, our relationship with God was broken. Because of our guilty conscience, we were hiding from God like Adam and Eve hiding behind bushes in the Garden of Eden after eating the forbidden fruit. We lived in terror of God’s judgment. When we didn’t want to think about God’s judgment, we remained under the curse of sin and continued on our way to condemnation. When Jesus talks about paying the last penny, it’s a figure of speech for losing everything in the final judgment including our soul and eternal life.
The good news is that we still have an opportunity to be reconciled to God. However, it has to be now, before the time of judgment. How can we “settle” with God? There is only one way, and it is through Jesus Christ himself. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for the forgiveness of our sins. By confessing our sins and putting our faith in him, the price Jesus paid can count for us and we will not be condemned on judgment day. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Our sins are washed away by Jesus’ blood.
In John 5:24 Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” How would you interpret the current times? Do you think the current time is the cursed time? No. The current time is the time of grace and time of hope because we can still repent of our sins and settle with God. # Paul pleads in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” I say this often to people around me, especially to my Bible student Danny. I say, “It is not about what kind of activities we do. But it is all about what kind of relationship we have with Jesus.” I believe Christianity should not be about religion but having a sincerely loving relationship with Jesus who is my Lord and Savior. And for me to have this unbreakable relationship with my Father God, Jesus died for my sins. Thank you, Jesus, for interceding for me.
Thank you, Jesus, for dying in my place because you love me. I am sorry that I have put lust and greed over you. I am sorry that I considered business, worldly recognition, and even family’s well-being over our relationship. Please help me to be sincere to you and bring my repentance to you without ceasing. Amen.
2. Repentance and fruit-bearing (13:1-9)
After Jesus taught about the urgency of interpreting the present times, some people brought him the current events to interpret for them. # Look at Chapter 13 verse 1. “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. Galilean people had come to Jerusalem and were trying to make offerings at the temple. But Pilate somehow interpreted this as a rebellion against Rome. So he had them killed and mingled their own blood with their sacrifices. This news must have enraged many people. But why tell Jesus about it? Maybe they were upset. Maybe they wanted him to start preaching revolution against Rome. But most likely they’re thinking these murdered Galileans had committed some sin as it says in verse 2. Whenever people suffer or die, we too can get judgmental, thinking it’s because they’ve sinned.
Well, how does Jesus interpret it? Let us read verse 3, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Jesus says those people who died did not die because of some secret sins they committed. Jesus gives another example concerning the same lesson. Let us read 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? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
These victims from the tower in Siloam may have been doing some construction work under orders from Rome. So, after the accident, they could have been viewed as compromisers or traitors who deserved their death. How does Jesus interpret the tragedy? He only said again, “I tell you, no! Unless you repent, you too will perish.” We know that when Jesus says something repeatedly, he wants to make his message clear. Jesus is reminding us that we all have to die physically, and none of us knows the day that will happen. Regardless of how or when we die, all people who DO NOT repent are under eternal condemnation. So Jesus wants us to turn away from unfruitful speculation or gossip and get down to the core matter of settling our own lives right with God. Amen.
In this last part (13:6-9), Jesus tells one more parable to teach us repentance and fruit-bearing. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came seeking fruit on it and did not find any. He said to the guy in charge, “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?” It tells us God is always looking for fruit in our lives. Not talk, but fruit, which doesn’t lie. God does not want us to be full of leaves with no fruit. God wants us to mature and change, to do the opposite of our old sinful ways. If we used to be lazy, God wants us to start working hard. If we used to be takers, God wants us to be givers. If we used to hurt others, God wants us to start embracing and loving others.
Look at the last two verses. # Let us read 8-9 and together. “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” The man in charge of the vineyard reminds us of Jesus who has compassion on us, urging God to give the fruitless tree one more chance to bear fruit. In light of these verses, we learn that fruitbearing can only start with repentance and be carried out with perseverance. Digging around the tree and fertilizing it is like our sincere repentance and our struggle to shun evil and obey one word of God.
What sins would you like to repent before God? And what kind of fruit would you like to bear next? Today marks an important day in the history of NJ UBF. Today is the first day that we decided to worship and praise our God here at a beautiful place of NBTS, at the very heart of Rutgers College Ave. At the beginning of our new chapter, God wants us to repent and rededicate our hearts and our relationship to Him. Amen. Let us pray together to dig around College Ave with much prayer and fertilize it with the gospel message of Jesus. Amen. In this way, may the students on this campus hear the word of God and be changed. May God help us to bear much fruit that God is seeking with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s passage came to us first as a severe rebuke and scary message from Jesus. However, we learned that it is the message of God’s love and mercy. It is the message of God’s hope and prayer for us His children. The current time is the favorable year of the Lord. We are given the time by God’s grace: time to repent, time to believe. Thank God who is patient. Let us be reconciled to God through our repentance so that we may bear good fruit for God. # Romans 13:11 gives us a good sum up to this message. “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” May God help us to kneel before you, confessing and repenting our sins so that we do not perish and bear much fruit.