📖 Lent 2 Gospel Reading: Luke 13:1-9
In this passage, the crowd tells Jesus about a terrible event — Pilate mixing people’s blood 🩸 with their sacrifices 🐑.
They probably expected Jesus to get angry and take action ⚔️.
But instead, He asks, “Do you think those who died were worse sinners than everyone else? No. But unless you repent, you will also perish.”
Then, He brings up another tragedy — a tower falling and killing 18 people 💔.
Again, He challenges their thinking: were those people worse sinners than others? No. ❎
Then, he tells them: unless you repent, you will also perish. ⚡
Jesus isn’t focused on earthly justice ⚖️ or revenge. His message is clear: bad things happen, but what matters is turning back to God 🙏.
That’s what Lent is about — recognizing our brokenness 💔 and repenting 🔄.
The passage ends with a parable: a man wants to cut down a fig tree 🌳 that isn’t producing fruit, but his servant asks for more time ⏳ to care for it.
This shows God’s patience ❤️. He gives us time, but He still calls us to repent 🔄 and grow in faith 🌱.
Lent leads to Good Friday ✝️, when we remember the crucifixion—Christ dying to take away our sins 😔—and Easter, when Jesus rises again to new life ✨.
He offers us forgiveness 💖 and new life 🌿.
God is patient ⏳. He is patient with us in our sins. But He calls us to repent 🔄, to turn away, to trust in Him 🙌, and to receive forgiveness in Christ.
Steve Andrews Jr is pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO.
#higherthings #lcms #lutheran #lent
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