Third Sunday in Lent – Year C
March 23, 2025
Gospel Lectionary Text
Luke 13:1-9
13:1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
13:2 He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
13:4 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?
13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
13:6 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.
13:7 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?'
13:8 He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.
13:9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"
Context
Welcome to the third Sunday of Lent. This week’s text begins with two stories of victims who died tragically through no fault of their own. In both cases, Jesus asks the crowd a rhetorical question: Were the victims of these tragedies worse “sinners” than anyone else? His answer: an emphatic, “No!” In other words, they were no better or worse than their peers, and God had nothing whatsoever to do with their deaths. Jesus is helping the crowd “repent” of the notion that God keeps score like we do.
He’s undoing the popular theology of divine karma — the idea that we all get what we deserve, and God is secretly pulling strings, rewarding the “goodies” and punishing the “baddies.” We live in a world where accidents happen, sometimes tragic ones. In this sense, life is a risk to which God’s loving presence provides no immunity. That’s a stumbling block to many who see God as a kind of insurance policy against personal disaster. The only guarantee we are given is God’s loving presence in all things.
By unmasking the myth of divine karma, Jesus exposes the reality of human karma — the tit-for-tat cycle of violence that plagues us all, even luring the innocent into mirroring their perpetrator, following them down the same path of self-destruction. Human violence is the most contagious of all social viruses. It infects us all, which is why Jesus says, “repent or perish.”
Jesus models this two-fold repentance on the cross. He refuses the karmic vision of God, revealing a God in whom there is no violence whatsoever. And by forgiving us, Jesus models what it means to break the cycle of violence and live peaceably. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Lent still has much work to do to prepare us for this revelation. For now, it’s enough to hear these difficult, but life-giving words, “repent or perish.”
Question
Where do you find yourself still clinging to the idea that God punishes the "baddies" and spares "goodies?"
Reflections
The Constant Gardener
By Ojii BaBa Madi |
Everyone in the neighborhood called me Mr. Tim, but Jackie insisted on calling me Mr. Timmins. No matter what the others said, her weak but distinctive voice would boldly greet me, “Hi Mr. Timmins. I just need a dollar to get me something to eat.” This overly confident reassignment of my name
Repent or Parish?
By Kris Rocke |
Imagine that you are the innocent victim of violence. Now imagine a preacher telling you that you must repent, or you will perish. Just exactly what is the victim of violence and oppression supposed to repent of? And at whose hands will we perish? God’s?
Towers and Trees
By Ken Sikes |
“God hates me!” wailed Reba. Her outburst was a result of losing her husband of 40 years. Just days before he fell down the stairs, hit his head, and died within a few hours. In a society where we are taught to keep our grief civil and to ourselves, a woman openly wailing and blaming…
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Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
The Avowal
by Denise Levertov
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
Prayer
Lord and giver of life, giver of all good gifts, we recognize that your presence is the substance of all we hope for. Therefore, the deepest gratitude we can offer is our own joy, even when clothed in sorrow.
