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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Luke 12
This is a really powerful chapter about putting God first. To me, it speaks of full commitment to God and how a poor perspective on possessions gets in the way of that. As Jesus said, “one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” (Lk. 12:15b). From Jesus’ words in this chapter, I see two primary reasons we cling to possessions. One is greed and the other is fear.
Addressing greed, we need to realize that this life isn’t permanent. No matter what or how much we “own”, it ceases to be ours at our last breath. Since we can’t keep it, why store it up for ourselves? Wouldn’t it be better to be “rich toward God”? (From Lk. 12:21). Aside from greed, though, we fear being without. We worry we won’t have what we need when we need it. The problem is that worry over possessions gets between us and God. Thus, we trade what is incorruptible for that which cannot last. Jesus, however, assures us that God is bigger than that and He delights to give us even more than we need. So we don’t need to be afraid to give generously to the poor. We will be storing up inexhaustible treasure and God will take care of our needs.
Luke 13
Jesus made it clear that the things that happen to you are no reflection of your righteousness, or lack thereof. The simple truth, which applies to every one of us is, “unless you repent, you will all perish as well.” (Lk. 13:5). Repentance. There is no salvation without it. So what exactly does it mean to repent? I think the dictionary definitions miss the mark. They talk about feeling or expressing remorse and regret. While that is certainly a starting point, feeling and expressing don’t get the job done.
I think about what John the Baptist told the Jewish religious leaders. “Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.” (Matt. 3:8). This tells me that true repentance should result in a change of behavior. Yet we know that we aren’t saved by works because we simply are not righteous on our own. Thus, the change of behavior is merely a sign that true repentance has taken place.
I said that there is no salvation without repentance. Yet we know that the work of salvation is God’s. He is able to forgive our lack of righteousness because Christ imparted His righteousness to us. Thus, salvation comes to us when we place our faith in God’s work on our behalf. That, then, is where the repentance comes in. I think it is fair to say that repentance is the moment of surrender. It is the moment that we recognize our need, acknowledge our helplessness to address it, and accept God’s sole solution. It is the moment we allow God to circumcise our hearts. Circumcision removes the flesh; it is an all-in thing that cannot be undone. And it is the means by which God produces change in us. Our repentance is the open door that lets God’s forgiveness in.
Back to Jesus and His comments in Luke 13. After noting the importance of repentance, Jesus told a parable about a fruitless fig tree. As John indicated, true repentance produces God’s fruit in us because when God moves into surrendered territory, He does not leave it unchanged. So I’d say Jesus’ parable was addressing the peoples’ unrepentant hearts. I think maybe He was telling them that God is patient, but if they remain unrepentant, God will eventually cut them down. Not only is He patient, but His vineyard worker, that is Jesus, gave us everything we need to be able to produce the fruit of repentance. We simply need to open up and let His fertilizer in to do its job.