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SCRIPTURE READINGS
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Gospel Reading
(Luke 13:1-9)
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “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. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them– do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it 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?’ He 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.’ “
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Epistle Reading
(1Thessalonians 4:1-11)
Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you.
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Gospel Commentary
These two historical incidents are reported in no other source except Luke. The slain “Galileans” were probably Zealots, Jewish nationalists who triggered some disturbance against the Romans in the temple area. The collapse of the “tower of Siloam” may have been simply an accident, rather than an act of sabotage, which people thought of as divine justice on sinners. Jesus passes judgment on neither group. He only registers these tragic events to warn that, unless His listeners respond to His message and repent, they would “all perish just as they did.” Perish may have the double meaning of both physical and spiritual death. Then Luke gives his account of the fruitless “fig tree.” It is spared from the curse, at least for a time. In the Old Testament the fig tree symbolizes Israel, which receives God’s loving care in the expectation of a fruitful harvest. “Three years” probably represents the three-year ministry of Christ. Because of the pleading of an unknown vineyard “keeper,” the Master allows additional time for true repentance and fruitfulness before judgment occurs. We also today are called to “bear fruit” through our witness of Christ in everything that we do on a daily basis. We have been given additional time for repentance and fruitfulness. How will we use that time?
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