Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, February 28, 2021
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Jesus desired for people to repent, not so that they would be saved from tragedies, but so that they might bear fruit.
Terrible things were happening to the Jews. In one instance, Pilate had defiled Jewish blood by mingling it with sacrifices. In another instance, a tower fell, killing 18 Jews. There was an implication that these tragedies could have been avoided if the victims had repented of their sin. Jesus responded with a parable.
A fig tree remained without fruit for three years. When the landowner wanted to cut it down, the gardener pleaded for one more year of working the soil to give the tree one final chance to produce fruit. Similarly, many prophets had come before Jesus, and still Israel seemed unable to obey God. But Jesus’ presence and ministry were themselves a plea to give Israel one more chance to hear Jesus’ words, repent, and obey. In the parable, we never learn what became of the tree—the story remains open-ended. It is possible that the fate of Israel (indeed, the course of the whole world) is still unending. It may be that the story is still unfinished, and that the watch to determine whether or not humanity will bear fruit it still underway.
As the gardener cared for the tree, and as a mother hen cares for her chicks, Jesus made it clear he was not sent to entrap humanity into suffering for their sin. Jesus wanted people to change, to repent, to obey, to treat each other with kindness, mercy, justice, and compassion. Jesus was on humanity’s side, and it pained him to see people refusing the help and guidance he offered. Jesus lamented that his powerful words of repentance and forgiveness would not be heard, and that Jerusalem sought to kill him. Fortunately, he never closed that book, and the course of our own lives remains to be written.
God, you knew what you must do to reconcile me and everyone else. An incredible sacrifice! Open my heart to you. Amen.
