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"WHOEVER BELIEVES SHALL NOT PERISH"

Luke 13:1-9



A popular writer of detective novels passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was at his home, sitting at his desk, in the process of writing what undoubtedly would have been another best seller, when he had a heart attack. He died doing what he loved best. The obituary said of him that he, quote, “died a good death.”

The manner in which people die can be a very subjective matter. For instance, if someone dies at a ripe, old age, it might be said that that person lived a full life. And, in that particular case, death is not looked upon as being an unwelcome intrusion. If, however, someone dies unexpectedly at a much younger age, you might hear the comment that that person died an "untimely" death, or that they were cut down in the prime of their life, or that they were too young to die. If someone dies in their sleep, he or she is said to have gone "peacefully." But, if someone loses their life in an accident, we refer to that kind of death as being "tragic."

In the Gospel reading today, news of a recent, horrific slaughter was brought to the attention of Jesus. Evidently, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in Judea at that time- the same one who would later condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion- had sent his soldiers after some Galileans who were probably suspected of insurrection against the Roman government. The soldiers tracked down these suspects in the temple in Jerusalem, where they were offering sacrifices. It was there that these Galileans were put to the sword and, as the account implies, their blood which was spilled became intermingled with the blood of the sacrificed animals.

Jesus knew the question which was on everyone's mind. "Were these people guilty of some great sin because they had died in such a manner?" Had they died a more natural type of death, the question undoubtedly would have never been raised. But, since they died such a horrible death, it led to the inference that they must have done something horribly wrong.

To dispel that theory, however, Jesus adds another illustration to the discussion concerning an accident which had occurred wherein a tower had collapsed, killing eighteen people. Jesus poses the question as to whether or not these people should also be viewed as being worse sinners than anyone else in Jerusalem, since they had died in that manner.

But, in each case, Jesus offers the warning: But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Now, note that word, 'perish.' Where else have we heard that word in the Scriptures? Probably, the first instance that comes to our mind is John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." There, we see quite clearly that the word, 'perish,' does not signify our physical death, but rather it denotes a spiritual one. We might paraphrase the words of John 3:16 to say that even if a person does die physically, he will not remain dead if He died believing in Jesus Christ as His Savior; he will be raised to eternal life.

Well, the word, 'perish,' is used in the exact same manner in today's text. Jesus doesn't say, "Repent, or else you're going to face a similar form of death." Rather, he turns the whole discussion into a spiritual one. "Repent." In other words, confess your sins and place your faith in the grace of God. "Or else perish." Or, to put it another way, "Suffer eternal damnation."

The concern here, then, according to our Savior is not for how a person dies or when a person dies, but rather, what is in store for that individual after this earthly life has come to an end. You see, we already know the answer to the question of why people die. St. Paul put it this way: "Sin entered the word through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned." Sin is the cause of death. And that's not one particular sin, or a number of similar sins grouped together; rather it is the fact that we are by nature sinful. It's part of what we are, not just part of what we do. And because we bear that imperfect nature, we are all bound to die one day. Unless Christ returns first, death is something we will all experience in one way or another.

But, the point is, whether that death is, as some term it, a peaceful death or whether our life ends in a tragic manner, the one thing that we can be certain of is that it will not be on account of God's wrath and displeasure toward us that we die in the manner or at the time that we will.

And that’s because Jesus' death on the cross was the result of God's anger. God poured out His entire righteous wrath against Jesus as He hung on the cross, because it was at that point that Jesus was bearing the weight of the world's sin upon Himself. So, in that way, Jesus actually "perished." In other words, He suffered damnation for us as God the Father forsook His own Son.

But when it was all over, it was really all over. The punishment was meted out. The price was fully paid. Jesus said, "It is finished," and it really was. There is no more punishment left for sin; which means, that the type of death which people die is not God’s judgment upon them for something that they did wrong. Nor is death the end for the Christian. For, by Christ's own death and resurrection, we are assured of being raised again to life ourselves.

That means that an unbeliever might experience a peaceful death, according to worldly terms, just as a Christian might meet his end in a tragic way, relatively speaking. The manner of death is not the issue. It is what follows death that becomes the main concern.

And that is why Jesus turns the focus upon the spiritual aspect of things: to repentance and eternal life. It is His concern, and ours as well, that once we pass through the portals of death—just as Jesus Himself did—that we can be assured waiting there on the other side is the promise of everlasting life, and not everlasting damnation. And the time to be sure of that is the present.

You see, even though we know that physical death is inevitable, we don't know when the moment of our time will come. Again, it could be at a ripe old age or in our prime, so to speak. We don't know for certain and, therefore, we certainly can't take the chance is putting things off. What we do know, however, is that at this very moment, God is speaking His Word of life to us.

Today is the day of our salvation. Right now is the time to turn away from self-consumed sin, from that arrogant pride, from that bitter grudge, or that take-it-or-leave-it attitude concerning God’s Word which can all destroy the God-given gift of faith—and, instead, to pledge, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to henceforth amend our lives. For it may very well be that in the next few hours, weeks, or year that our earthly lives will come to an end. And when we confront that moment, there will be no turning back, no second chances, no room for regrets. Today is the day of salvation.

That is the meaning of the parable which Jesus speaks at the close of our text. Jesus is like the vinedresser, who intercedes on our behalf with compassion and patience in the midst of those unfruitful days of ours. Indeed, look back over your life and consider the many times we have placed ourselves into spiritual jeopardy on account of our stubborn and careless conduct. It is nothing less than a gracious miracle that we are still here today with faith intact.

We have only our merciful Lord to thank for that. He is the One, Who by His Spirit, as brought forth the needed fruit of repentance in our lives. The Holy Spirit exposes our guilt, creates sorrow in our hearts over our sin, and points us back to the glorious cross of Christ where Jesus shed His blood to cleanse us from all of our iniquities.

How much longer before we meet our Maker? Only He knows that. How can we possibly be ready for that moment? God’s answer is—by His boundless love for us in Christ Jesus. Yesterday we needed His forgiveness. Today, we need His forgiveness. And tomorrow? None of us knows if there is going to be a tomorrow.

But right now at this moment, here in the house of the Lord, praise God for the life that we have, both in the physical and spiritual sense of the word! These are God's gifts to us, not to be despised nor taken for granted. And the Good News is that God has given us this opportunity, right now, once again to repent—to confess our sins before Him Who knows all and to receive the cleansing forgiveness purchased through the blood of Christ. With the His promise that, whoever believes this will not perish, but have everlasting life. Today His mercy calls us. Thank God for His grace today! Amen.



Ezekiel 33:7–20

7“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 10“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? 12“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. 13Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. 17“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by them. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”



1 Corinthians 10:1–13

1I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.



Luke 13:1–9

1There were some present at that very time who told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4Or 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? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 6And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”