JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE
The Thing Behind the Things
LUKE 13:1-5
#justJesus
STORY 1
Mr. Deer was just like all the other deers in the forest. He liked making lots of bucks at his job in the leaf jerky factory. He liked to go stag to the dances in the forest without a date. He drove the same car as all the others… an impala. He was a little skittish around gnu people, but once you got to know him, you could not keep him from talking about all the various points of his antlers. His nickname was ‘Swamp Donkey,’ but everyone pretty much just called him Mr. Deer. Again, Mr. Deer was a normal deer like everydeer else.
One day Mr. Deer was driving down the road in his gnu impala, which he named ‘the Doe Magnet’ by the way. He passed his neighbor’s house. He passed the store. He passed one of those yellow signs with a human on it crossing the road, but he usually ignored those signs because the chances of seeing a human cross the road were slim to none. And then it happened, he came around a curve near his house and there it was… a human crossing the road. The human just turned and looked at the car and did not move. It was literally a human caught in the headlights! The thing did not move! It just stared as the car barreled towards it. Mr. Deer put on the brakes and of course, the human moved in the exact direction he turned the car. It was unavoidable. He hit the human.
Mr. Deer got out and could not believe his bad luck. He hit a human in his gnu car and now the front end was all busted up. It was fixable, but he still was stressed that his car was damaged. He called the tow truck and it came and took his beloved car to the local repair shop.
Later that evening, his friend called him and asked about his accident and how he was feeling. It really was just an accident. It could have happened to anydeer. His friend asked him several times what he had done wrong while driving. Were you messing with the radio? Were you playing salt lick crush on your phone while driving? Were you daydreaming? His friend seemed to think that Mr. Deer had done something wrong because the crash happened. He hadn’t done anything wrong. It was just an accident.
TRANSITION
The passage that we are going to look at today is complicated and simple at the same time. We are going to read the first five verses of Luke 13. What we find in the beginning of Luke 13 is a complicated situation where the thing behind the thing is actually simple. Let’s read and I will explain what I mean.
READ LUKE 13:1-5 (ESV)
There were some present at that very time who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
THE THINGS
Jesus is out and about ministering to people and some of them mention a terrible event that was going on in their world and Jesus talks about it. He then mentions a disaster that he knew about and talks about it. What makes it complicated is that in Jesus’ culture and if we are honest in our own culture today, when something bad happens to someone we wonder what sin they committed to bring on the disaster or the accident. When a disaster strikes a group or a city, we wonder if it was full of a bunch of reprobates which caused the issue.
This belief is described in Scripture. It is definitely present in the Book of Job in the Old Testament when Eliphaz accuses Job of suffering because of secret sin. Not once, but several times.
READ JOB 4:7-8 (ESV)
Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
READ JOB 22:4-5 (ESV)
Is it for your fear of Him that He reproves you and enters into judgment with you? 5 Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.
This belief is described in Scripture. It is definitely present in the New Testament among the disciples. In John 9, the disciples see a man blind from birth and they assumed either the parents sinned or the baby sinned in the womb.
READ JOHN 9:1-2 (ESV)
As he passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The answer given in the Bible is, yes, sometimes a disaster comes on someone because they are sinful or reject God or He is trying to get their attention, but not all the time. The answer given in the Bible is, no, you cannot always know why the things happened.
What does Jesus describe in this passage?
First, there is a tragic event that occurred in the temple area in Jerusalem. Apparently, the Roman governor at some point ordered the death of some worshipers from Galilee in the temple as they offered sacrifices. This is pretty consistent with what we know of Pilate’s character from historical sources outside the Bible. Some folks concluded that the worshipers must have been full of sin for that to happen.
Second, there is a tragic accident that occurred in the city of Jerusalem near the Pool of Siloam. While Pilate was governor in Jerusalem, one of the projects he worked on was a roman aqueduct to bring water into Jerusalem. It seems that in the area around the pool a tower in that part of the city or something that was attached to the wall in that area collapsed killing 18 people. Some folks concluded that the workers must have been full of sin for that to happen.
TRANSITION
What I find interesting about this passage is that Jesus does not inform the people about why the things took place, but He does inform them about the thing behind the things.
STORY 2
Mr. Horse was just like all the other horses on the westside of Filly. He liked making lots of bucks at his job at the colt firearms factory. He thought of himself as a real thoroughbred stud and drove the same car as all the other studs… a mustang convertible. Ever since he was a foal, Mr. Horse liked to drink alcohol. A lot. It made him feel like a stallion even though it made him act like a camel. His nickname was ‘Heineken’s Hoof,’ but everyone pretty much just called him Mr. Horse. Again, Mr. Horse was a normal horse like every other horse.
One day Mr. Horse was driving his mustang convertible and stopped off at the beer trough store on the way to his paddock from the farrier. He named his sports car ‘the Mare Wrangler’ by the way. He saw his buddies from the herd at the beer trough and had a good ‘ol time. He drank and drank and then trotted out to his mustang to head to the stable. He knew he should not drink and drive, but he was a stud so he did it anyway. He was headed home and then it happened. He came around a curve near his house and drove off the road and drove into a tree. It was avoidable, but he wrecked his car.
Mr. Horse got out and could not believe his bad luck. He hit a tree in his car and now the front end was all busted up along with most of the rest of the car. He called the tow truck and it came and took his beloved car to the local repair shop.
Later that evening, his friend called him and asked about his accident and how he was feeling. It really was not an accident, but more of an on-purpose with terrible judgment that could have killed another horse. His friend asked him several times why he had gone from the beer trough store right to driving. What were you thinking? What if something worse had happened? His friend seemed to think that Mr. Horse had done something wrong because the crash happened.
TRANSITION
Jesus teaches something very important in Luke 13 and teaches us about the thing behind the things. Jesus wants us to focus on one truth in this brief passage. We know this because He repeats it twice in the space of a few verses and often when the Bible repeats something it is because we are to take note and pay attention.
THE THING BEHIND THE THINGS
In verse 3, Jesus Christ says: “I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
In verse 5, Jesus Christ says: “I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
There is one key word in Jesus’ statements that we should not miss. That word is “repent.” “Repent” means to change one’s mind and be willing to take responsibility for sin and move away from it.
When we repent, we change our mind.
When we repent, we commit to a soft heart.
When we repent, we take responsibility.
When we repent, we say to God “my fault.”
When we repent, we accept the Truth.
When we repent, we do not argue with God.
When we repent, we leave sin behind.
The thing behind the things… the truth behind the things… is that God wants us to always be moved to repentance no matter what is going on around us. It doesn’t matter that we cannot know why something bad happened. It literally does not matter. What matters is our heart condition which Jesus redirects us twice with the word “repent.”
A repentant heart is one that is open to God and willing to follow Him. A repentant heart is an honest one that often examines self to make sure God is on the throne and the priority and not us. No, the situations in life may not always be our fault, but we can always be soft-hearted and make sure that repentance is always part of how we view our lives. Yes, sometimes the situations in life are absolutely our fault and the Truth remains… we need to make sure that repentance is always part of how we view our lives.
Repent.
Repent.
“I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
SUMMARY AND APPLICATION
What do we do with this passage?
Repent.
I am not trying to tell you this morning that the accidents and tragedies of your life do not matter. Please do not hear me say that. The terrible things of this life will happen. Jesus Christ directs our hearts to repentance in all cases and for that to be our heart’s default setting.
Repent.
PRAYER
INVITATION
