In Luke 12:49-53 Jesus warns those who would choose to follow Him about the possibilities of being misunderstood. Although Christ came to earth in order to bring hope and salvation, He would eventually bring judgment upon those who rejected Him as Savior (12:49). In offering salvation to all people and calling judgment upon those who didn’t receive salvation, many would misunderstand Jesus’ ministry; in fact, He would later be put to death for spreading the truth (12:50), so a decision to believe in the words of Jesus could result in a person being ostracized from their family (12:51-53). Following Christ comes with a cost. The problem with many listening to Jesus’ words was that their hearts were hardened to the truth. Although they could discern natural signs in the world such as an approaching storm (12:54-55), they ignored the spiritual signs which revealed that Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. Jesus makes it very apparent that some who were listening to Him were headed for judgment because they were the enemies of God. Repentance and faith in Jesus were the only things which could place them in a right relationship with God, but instead they trusted in their good deeds. Illustrating His point about the importance of being reconciled with God and avoiding future judgment, Jesus says, “When you go with your adversary to the magistrate [judge], make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite” (12:57-59). A person who is going to court against an earthly opponent should do his best to reconcile before he stands before the judge and, in the same way, an individual should do everything he can to reconcile with God before He faces judgment.
In Luke 13:1-9 Jesus further discusses the necessity of repentance and reconciliation in order to avoid judgment. It appears that many people in Jesus’ day believed that judgment and unexpected death only befell those who were guilty of some serious transgression (13:1-2, 4); however, Jesus reminded them that “unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (13:3, 5). Judgment was certain for all who did not repent of sin. To illustrate coming judgment as well as God’s patience, Jesus tells a story about a man who planted a fig tree in his vineyard, but it did not bear fruit for three years so he told the keeper of the vineyard to cut it down (13:6-7). Instead of cutting the fig tree down, the keeper asked the owner of the vineyard to be patient for one more year so he could “fertilize it” (13:8). After that year if the fig tree did not bear fruit, the owner could cut it down (13:9). The owner of the vineyard is God, the keeper of the vineyard is Jesus, and the fig tree represents all people. God has been patient with sinners and is awaiting them to repent so that He can free them from coming judgment. The choice seems obvious. Jesus has done everything necessary to reconcile sinners to God through His sacrificial death and resurrection. He now waits for you to repent of sin and believe in Him as the only way for salvation.
Dear God, thank You for being patient with sinners and extending Your undeserved mercy to us. Help those delaying repentance and belief to embrace Your forgiveness and mercy so that they can avoid coming judgment.
