Sunday 23/03/25

Third Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 55:1-9

Luke 13:1-9

Pontius Pilate was not a nice man.  The Jewish historian Josephus wrote about him and his deeds of violence, crushing people often willy-nilly, it seems, and upsetting their religious beliefs.  Mockery and violence together, made for a toxic time.  You may wonder why he is even mentioned in our statements of belief, like the Nicene Creed.  Is it not too much honour for such a man, who even, in the end, played a part in Jesus’ crucifixion?  We find him here, in Luke’s Gospel passage for today, when Jesus is told of the Galilean pilgrims whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices in the Temple.  Jesus, though, as he listens, he also asks a question, which is an important one even for us today.  He says, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.’  In other words: don’t think that your religious observance or your nationalistic rebellion against Rome will save you – only repentance and following God’s direction will lead to peace, a peace for the soul.  Jesus continues with a reference to an accident when eighteen were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them.  ‘Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?’ he asks. ‘No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

The account in Luke chapter 13 goes on with Jesus telling a parable about a fig tree in a vineyard.  That was quite common; fig trees are good for growing grapes.  In this story with a hidden meaning, Jesus talks about a man – the owner of the vineyard – who came looking for figs on the tree and found none.  ‘So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” The gardener replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”’  The three years could of course be a reference to the time of Jesus’ ministry, but that is not the only thing that matters in this parable.  The owner could be interpreted as God, and the gardener as Jesus.  Or perhaps Jesus is the owner and he has been seeking for repentance and a change of behaviour in the people.  The result is the same, whichever way you interpret it, though: the owner has the final word, even though the gardener is doing his utmost to get the tree to bear fruit.  I’m sure we understand the message, even if we don’t really like it: there is a time set for a final judgement and it matters how we respond, with ‘fruit’ or not.  That is where the tension in the story lies.

The passage from Isaiah 55 and that is paired with the Gospel for today, has a similar message: ‘Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; … come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’  Finishing with: ‘Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. … return to the Lord, that he may have mercy … and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’  Here are the key words:

Come – Listen – See – Seek.  For all who come, and all who listen and seek with all their hearts and minds, will see – and the Lord our God will hear and act.  With everything that is going on in the world, now as much as in those days, God is still speaking and calling us to hear and see.  Speaking metaphorically, the gardener in the vineyard of God’s Kingdom is offering all his care to raise a ‘crop’ of righteousness; of fruit that will last and that will finally give joy and peace to all who hear, and honour God.  So let us come, let us seek, let us hear and see, so that we may taste God’s goodness.  Amen.