(#7). Conclusion: A catalyst and a motivation

(This is conclusion of a sermon. So first, read Luke 13:1-9, and then the previous posts).

Why have you underlined those three words? Because the Gospel of Luke has a trajectory. Like every story, it has a plot. It is a narrative heading somewhere. And there are little hints in this text taking us there.

In Verse 1, what word did I ask you to remember?

• Galilean.

Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth.

In Verse 2-6, what word did I ask you to remember?

• Perish.

And at the hands of Pilate, this Galilean perished on the Roman Cross while making a sacrifice, and for the sake of the whole groaning planet. He experienced judgment. He had his – I was going to say ‘mini-exile’ -- but that isn't right. That is not right. His death was the ultimate exile for humanity, of which the Babylonian exile was only a mere taste. For there on that cross was Jesus bearing the sins not just for Israel, but for Americans too.

In verse 6-9, what phrase did I ask you to remember?

• One more year.

See, for three years (?), Jesus looked for fruit on the Fig Tree of Israel. But he did not find it, and what happened within one year of this moment? Jesus himself was dead. A Galilean, Perishing within one year as a sacrifice at the (clean) hands of Pilate.

This passage, then, is a catalyst for repentance and as well as long term motivation.

When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

Jesus has therefore sat on that stool with you and for you.

That kind of love; that kind of suffering; that kind of God-immersed-the-real-world-of-Sin-and-Pain; may well be the motivation that you and I need to turn to him.

THE END>>>

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