Sunday 28 February 2016

Psalm: Psalm 63

Background

Previously Jesus was preaching judgement and division, urgingpeople to recognise the signs of the age (Luke12). Maybe this is why someone mentioned the news of theGalileans murdered by Pilate, pushing Jesus to elaborate on whetherthat was a sign. Or maybe it was because Jesus and his band ofGalilean pilgrims were on their way to Jerusalem.

We are not sure who these Galileans were. No other Gospel writeror historian of the time mentions them. They may have been rebels,they may just have been pilgrims caught up in the wrong place.Pilate certainly had a reputation for barbarity and beingunconcerned for religious sensibilities.

If this event happened exactly as reported it would mean notjust murder but the desecration of the temple. By contrast, theincident at Siloam seems purely accidental. But both events wereused to challenge people's thinking about sin and suffering.

Many people of the time believed a person's suffering was a signof some sin, worse than the sins 'ordinary' people committed. Jesusrubbishes such an idea, claiming that they were no worse thananyone else. Instead, both events were signs of the need to repent(verse 5).

The initial readers of Luke's Gospel, coming after the Romandestruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70, may well have seenthis call to repentance as being on a national scale - seekingpeace rather than rebellion. However, we mustn't shrink away fromseeing it on a personal level also.

Jesus then told the parable of the fig tree by way ofexplanation. In an agricultural society, trees that show no sign ofever bearing fruit are wasted land and lost profit, but thegardener takes another perspective, offering a second chance. Thereare not limitless chances though, the core test will still bewhether the tree is fruitful.

To Ponder

• From the earliest days of the Methodist movement, the peoplecalled Methodist have been expected to bear fruit. What sort offruit should we bear in our lives?

• How do you respond to the question about why peoplesuffer?