I’ve written recently about repentance. It’s not that I want to – it just keeps coming up in my readings. Back on October 1, we focused on the fact that Jesus preaches repentance to his people, us, not the people “out there.” Then on October 21, we considered that repentance is the only appropriate response to preaching. Today, it’s more of the same:

Some of those present informed Jesus that Pilate had slaughtered some Galilean Jews while they were offering sacrifices at the temple, mixing their blood with the sacrifices they were offering. Jesus turned and asked the crowd, “Do you believe that the slaughtered Galileans were the worst sinners of all the Galileans? No, they weren’t! So listen to me. Unless you all repent, you will perish as they did. Or what about the eighteen who perished when the tower of Siloam fell upon them? Do you really think that they were more guilty than all of the others in Jerusalem? No, they weren’t. But unless you repent, you will all eternally perish, just as they did.” (Luke 13.1 – 5, The Passion Translation)

The first thing that struck me is that Jesus did not condemn Pilate for a particularly heinous and gruesome act. Neither did he condemn the construction industry for the collapse of the tower of Siloam.

Instead, he focused on everyone’s need to repent, which The Passion Translation footnote defines nicely as:

Change your mind and amend your ways.

Amend your ways to do what? Bear fruit! Look at the very next paragraph:

Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who planted a fig tree in his orchard. But when he came to gather fruit from his tree he found none, for it was barren and had no fruit. So he said to his gardener, ‘For the last three years I’ve come to gather figs from my tree but it remains fruitless. What a waste! Go ahead and cut it down!’ “But the gardener said, ‘Sir, we should leave it one more year. Let me fertilize and cultivate it, then let’s see if it will produce fruit. If it doesn’t bear fruit by next year, we’ll cut it down.’” (Luke 13.6 – 9, The Passion Translation)

It’s about fruit, and I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples…You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit… (John 15.8, 16, ESV)