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Lent 3 2025
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
March 23, 2025
Ezekiel 33:7-20, 1 Cor. 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9
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It seems like the TV news often has information about people who have died and suggestions of what you can do so that you do not die. When I hear a story of someone who has perished I almost automatically look for reasons that what happened to them could never happen to me. They were on a motorcycle and I don’t ride one. They were out very late at night in a dangerous area and I don’t go out late at night. They were 90 some years old and I am not. They were driving along minding their own business…..They were in their 50s … I really like to think that I am not going to die, but I have heard that I may be just fooling myself.
In our Gospel reading today Jesus is told about some people from Galilee who were killed in the temple by Pilate. The people telling Jesus may be wondering, why did God allow something so evil to happen to people who were just doing what God commanded. Or, maybe they are wondering, what did these Galileans do to deserve to die in this way. Jesus…Luke 13:2–3 (ESV) 2 … 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.”
And lest the people of Jerusalem think that Galileans are more deserving of God’s wrath than the Judeans, Jesus brings up a tragedy in Jerusalem… Luke 13:4–5 (ESV) 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.” Jesus does not want the people to turn their focus to trying to understand God’s motives. Jesus wants the people to examine themselves.
Don’t worry about why God let this happen, worry about yourself. Are you ready to die? The harsh news of this Gospel reading is that if you sin, you will die…and if you don’t sin, you will die.
When you hear about a tragic event, don’t use it as an opportunity to examine God, but rather use it as a wake-up call for you to examine your own life. What if it were me? Am I ready to meet my maker? Use the tragedy as a reminder to repent; to turn away from sin and turn back to God. Don’t be concerned about why God is doing something. Rather, be concerned about what you are doing.
In all our readings today we see that God takes sin seriously. In Ezekiel the Lord tells the prophet that He has made him a watchman for the house of Israel and he needs to warn the wicked of their wicked ways. In our epistle reading, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that after rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt God still punished them for idolatry and sexual immorality and for testing God and grumbling against God. God takes sin seriously. 1 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV) 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
You are a baptized follower of Jesus living in a world that hates Jesus. The devil desperately wants to drag you into a life of unrepentant sin. Stay aware, and, in an ongoing way, as a humble disciple of Christ, be brutally honest about your status before God. Admit you are by nature sinful and unclean. Struggle against sin. Battle against sin in your thoughts…. before they become sins of word and deed. Do not let unrepentant sin creep into your life. Do not set up a lifestyle where you love sin more than you love God.
The temptations for the Israelites wandering in the desert are the same very real temptations today. In this land of abundance there is a great temptation to idolatry; to fear, love and trust money and possessions more than God. In this nation, sexual immorality is considered normal behavior and Christians are sorely tempted to follow the ways of the world and engage in intimacy outside the bonds of marriage. Testing God and grumbling against God is common and it is easy to fall into a life of complaint and discontent. We forget, 1 Timothy 6:6–7 (ESV) 6 …godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”
The devil wants to keep you discontent and to ignore what God says and forget about His promises. And so you resist the devil. You gather together this morning to hear God’s promises once again. You know that God has promised to cover your sins with the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. You heard Jesus’ words to you again this morning, “I forgive you all your sins.” It is true and you can believe it. God takes sin so seriously that He sent His Son to die for you. While you were a sinner Christ died for you and rose for you. Jesus loves you, this you know, for the Bible tells you so.
In the second half of our Gospel lesson today Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree. Here we see Jesus’ long-suffering compassion on His people. The vineyard owner has a fig tree that is not producing fruit and orders the tree to be cut down so it does not use up the ground. The vinedresser protects the fruitless fig tree. Luke 13:8–9 (ESV) 8 …‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Jesus is the vinedresser buying the fruitless tree another year. A little more time. A sinner gets a little more time to repent. Jesus will cultivate and fertilize the tree and give the tree every opportunity to bear fruit. Will there be fruit the next year? Will there be repentance before the final judgment?
Are you ready for the judgment day? Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Battle each day against the devil, the world and your own sinful desires. Do not make excuses for your sin, do not rationalize your sin, do not compare your sin against someone else. Repent. Repent means a change of heart. Repentance is making a U-turn. Turning away from sin and turning back to Jesus. Listen to Jesus, believe His promises and do what He says. Do not resist the Holy Spirit, but let the fruit of the Spirit abound, Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV) 22 … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control…”
Jesus is God in flesh, begotten of the Father from eternity and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus has given His life to save you. He loves you so much He suffered the humiliation and pain of death by crucifixion. He drank the cup of God’s wrath to free you from your sin. He lifts you up out of the muck and mire of your sin and washes you clean and says, “follow me.” Repent. Turn from sin and turn back to God. Turn from death and return to life with Jesus.
St. Paul encourages those in the church at Ephesus… Ephesians 4:22–24 (ESV) 22 … to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Today’s readings are a stern warning about the seriousness of sin. They are a call to continue to stay alert against the lies of the devil. To be vigilant and not allow the busyness of life and the deceitfulness of wealth to choke out the Word of God. To remain on guard against letting the desires of your own sinful nature become your guide, rather than God’s commands.
Do not give in to the devil’s seduction that your sin is too great for Jesus to forgive. The great deceiver wants you to despair; to give up hope and just sink into sin and celebrate it. But that is not who you are. Repent. You are a child of the most high God, adopted in the waters of Holy Baptism. You are grafted into the vine of Christ. You are ready to meet your maker. Abide in Christ. Amen.