#120 Lu. 13:1-5  THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE

Introduction:

    In our text a few weeks ago Jesus gave a parable to the
multitude about a man who left his estate in the care of his
servants.  This is not the one who went away to get married, but
the one who was gone for such a long period of time.  When he
returned, he found that while he was away one of his servants had
badly neglected his duties and had badly abused his fellow
servants.  The master cut that servant asunder and thus appointed
him his portion with the hypocrites.
    Jesus then went on to talk to the crowd about several other
matters, but apparently there were some in the crowd who still had
that unjust servant on their minds.  They thought he got just what
he deserved...and he did.  They had recently gotten news about
some of the Galilaeans whom they thought also got just what they
deserved and they wanted to know if Jesus would agree with them.
    In our text today they come to Jesus and tell Jesus about the
Galilaeans.  They apparently think that He will be in full
agreement with them.

I.  Those who came to Jesus with news about the Galilaeans

    V. 1, "There were present at that season some that told him of
the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices."  They told Jesus about some of their fellow
Galilaeans who had gone down to Jerusalem to make sacrifices and
had gotten into trouble.  Those who told Jesus about the matter
seemed to think that the Galilaeans had caused the trouble.  At
any rate, Pilate and his Roman soldiers had come after them and
though they were the trouble makers.  Pilate found them as they
were making sacrifices.  Some of them had already killed the
sacrificial animal and part of the blood from the animal was on
the ground at their feet.  Pilate ordered his soldiers to kill
them on the spot.  Their blood spilled out on the ground and mixed
with the blood of the animals.  It was a horrendous event.  It was
a tragic ending to their lives.
    But the people who talked Jesus about it apparently thought
they got just what they deserved.  Like the unjust servant in the
parable, they thought their fellow Galilaeans got just what they
deserved.
    These people thought that whenever anybody met with tragedy
and suffered greatly that their suffering was caused by some great
sin they had done.  They thought that tragedy and suffering is
simply God's way of punishing men for their sin.  Just like the
unjust servant in the parable finally got his just due, even so
they felt that those whom Pilate killed got their just due.
    This was the same kind of erroneous thinking that the friends
of Job had.  Job came under very severe suffering.  His children
were all killed, all of his possessions were taken away, his wife
turned against him, and he was smitten with boils from the bottom
of his feet to the top of his head.  His suffering was not caused
by any wrong doing on his part.  But the friends of Job took his
suffering to mean that Job had brought his suffering on himself by
some kind of evil deeds and they did not hesitate to say so.
    They totally ignored the fact that Job had lived a very
upright and godly life before them and before all men.  He had
done much to help people all around him who needed his help.  Of
all the people whom they knew, Job was the most godly among them.
But they reasoned within themselves, "Surely he has done some
secret sin that we know nothing about that has brought this
suffering on himself." So they still blamed Job for his suffering
and thought that he was getting just what he deserved.  He had
brought it all on himself.
    The apostle Paul was misjudged in like manner by the natives
on an island where Paul washed ashore after a shipwreck.  In
addition to the misfortune of being in a shipwreck and cast into
the stormy sea, after Paul got on the island he was bitten on the
hand by a very poisonous snake.  The natives all assumed that Paul
must be some kind of wicked criminal to cause such hardships.
They thought, "Aha!  The gods have brought their wrath upon him
and he is not going to escape their wrath.  The gods have caused
this poisonous viper to bite him in order to punish him for his
evil deeds."
    A lot of people still have the same idea today.  If someone
is killed in a car wreck, or his house burns down, or he comes
down with cancer, or some other extreme hardship comes upon him,
someone will think, "He's guilty of something bad and he's getting
just what he deserves."
    The truth of the matter is that hardship and suffering comes
to both the good and the bad.  Suffering comes to the rank infidel
and it comes to the most godly Christian.  You cannot tell how
godly or how ungodly a man is by the hardships that come his way.

II.  The need for repentance in their lives and in all lives

    V. 2-3, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that
these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because
they suffered such things?  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish."  Jesus knew the thinking of
the people.  He knew that they thought those Galilaeans who had
suffered tragedy were the greatest kind of sinners.  They thought
they must be great sinners for such a terrible death to come upon
them.  They certainly thought that those whom Pilate killed were a
lot worse sinners than themselves.  Almost everybody things
everybody else is worse than themselves.
    You will note that Jesus does not say that those Galilaeans
were not guilty of wrong doing.  He does not even say that they
did not bring wrath of Pilate upon themselves.  He neither
defended them nor condemned them.  They may or may not have
brought the trouble on themselves.
    The point is as Jesus said, "...except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish."  They would not likely be put to death by
Pilate.  That is not what he is talking about.  Neither was He
talking about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. when many many
Israelites would be killed by the Roman armies.  What Jesus was
talking about was the judgment that comes after death.
    All people are sinners.  Every descendant of Adam's race is a
sinner.  From the human point of view, some are good moral people
and live honest and decent lives, but they are still sinners.
They may rob, cheat, kill and commit all manner of sin.  They may
not be nearly as bad as others, but they still sin in the sight of
God.  They are all in danger of going into the fires of hell.
Since every man is a sinner, thus, every man who fails to repent
and trust in the Savior whom God has sent will go into the fires
of hell.  He will suffer there forever and ever just like the one
who has done the very worst of sins.
    Jesus then brings up another example whom they might also
think of as being terrible sinners because of the tragic end that
came upon them.  V. 4, "Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in
Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above
all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?"  There had recently been a tower
at the city of Jerusalem that fell and killed eighteen people.
This tower was built right outside the city of Jerusalem near the
pool of Siloam on the south side of the city.  I suppose that it
must have been built for the purpose of guarding the people who
came to the pool for water.  Someone would stand guard in the
tower and be able to see for a long distance.  If any danger
approached, the guard in the tower would warn the people at the
pool and they could take refuge inside the walls of the city.
    One day when there was a goodly number of people at the pool,
the whole tower just collapsed.  It fell on eighteen people and
killed them instantly.  What about that?  What kind of sin had
these people committed that caused the tower to fall on them?
The truth of the matter is that it was not the sin of the people
which caused the tower to fall.
    Jesus asked, "Do you think these people were worse sinners
than those on whom the tower did not fall?  Do you think they were
worse that all of the other people?"
    Jesus answered that question.  V.  5, "I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."  All have sinned.
All need to repent of their sin whether they have been an outlaw
or not.  All need to turn to God in repentance of their sin and
the only alternative to that is to perish.  If they do not repent
they will perish.  They will all go into the fires of everlasting
torment.

III.  What repentance is

    The question comes, "What is repentance?"  Technically, the
basic meaning of the word is "A change of mind."  But it is
obvious that not just any kind of change of mind is repentance.
It is a particular kind of change of mind.  It is when a person
stops seeing himself or herself as being good enough to make it to
heaven and sees himself rather as deserving to the suffer in hell
because of his guilt of sin.  It is when an individual is grieved
in his heart because of his sin and wants to be forgiven of his
sin.  It is a willingness on his part to do whatever God requires
in order to be forgiven.  When one has that kind of change of mind
then he has repented of his sin.  But as long as he does not have
that kind of change of mind, he is still on his road to hell.  If
he does not repent, he will perish.
    The problem with those Jews who came to Jesus with the news
about the Galilaeans who were by Pilate was that they thought of
themselves as being better than others.  They thought of
themselves as deserving heaven.  They thought only of others as
being deserving of hell.  They needed to change their minds.  They
needed to see themselves in a different light.  They needed to see
that they, too, deserved to go to hell.  They needed to turn to
God and seek His pardon and to seek His forgiveness of their sin.
    When a man knows that he has sinned, that he deserves to go to
hell, and that he is going there, he is getting in the right frame
of mind so to be saved.  If he is willing to turn to God and cast
himself on the mercy of God and seek the forgiveness of God then
he will also be willing to trust the Son of God to be his Savior.
He will be willing to call on Jesus and trust in Jesus to save His
soul.
    That is why repentance is so necessary.  There is no other way
to get saved.  One must trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior in
order to be saved, but he will never trust in Jesus until he
repents of his sin.
    Those Jews to whom Jesus spoke had not, up to that point of
time, repented of their sin.  They had not gotten in the frame of
mind in which they would be willing to trust in the Savior for the
salvation of their souls.  Most of them never did repent as long
as they lived and now it is too late.

IV.  An interview with one of those Jews who talked to Jesus

    I would like, by way of imagination, to interview a man in
that crowd of Jews about this matter.  Let us approach him and ask
him some questions.   "Say, sir!  I am here from the twentieth
century and I would like to ask you a few questions.  How do you
compare yourself to others?" The answer would be, "I am not such a
bad fellow.  I can look about me and see lots of people who are
worse than I am."  Everybody always considers everybody else as
worse than himself.
    "Now, sir, what chance do you think you have of getting into
heaven when you die?"  And the answer would be, "Well, if anybody
else around here makes it, surely I will.  I think my chances are
very good.  I've never done anything really bad."

V.  An interview with Jesus


    But now I want us to go to Jesus and interview Jesus.  "Lord,
you heard the questions that I asked that man and you heard his
answers.  What do you think of his answers?"  The Lord would
respond something like this, "That man has not repented of his
sin.  Except, he repent, he will surely perish.  He will never
make it to heaven with that attitude.  Except he repent he will
perish."
    But let me also ask the Lord one other question, "Lord, you
see the people who are here in this audience today and you know
all about our lives.  What chances do we have of getting into
heaven?"  He would say something like this: "Some of them have
already it made.  They have already repented of their sin and have
already trusted in me for salvation.  They don't have to worry
about a thing.  I will take care of everything.  But there are
some who are present here this morning who don't stand a chance
unless they will change their attitude.  They have got to see that
they are unworthy sinners and that they do not deserve to go to
heaven.  They have got to stop trying by their own efforts to be
good enough to make it to heaven.  They have got to turn to me and
let me save their souls.  Until they do, they don't stand a
chance.  If they will repent of their sin and trust in me as their
Savior I will save them.  I'll save them and keep them out of
hell.  I'll make sure they get to heaven."

Conclusion:

    Now I want to interview you.  "How do you see yourself?  Do
think that you are good enough to go to heaven on your own merit.
Do you think that you have lived good enough to make it to heaven?
Or do you see yourself as an unworthy sinner who has only one
chance of staying out of hell fife.  That one chance is Jesus.  In
order for you to be saved, you are going to have to depend of
Jesus to save your soul.  Are willing and ready to turn to Jesus
right now and ask Jesus to save your soul?  If so, I am going to
ask you to come."
    If you know that you are lost and you want to be saved, then
come now and trust in Jesus Christ.  If you know that you are
saved and want join this church and serve the Lord, then come.