Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss repentance, leniency, and divine warnings in Luke 13:1-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Merciful Pleading (Lent 3)
Voiceover Voice:
There is an exhortation here for reform, revision, repentance, renewal.
Helena Martin:
This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. I’m Helena Martin. Every week, two of our faculty from here at Yale Divinity School talk about one of the upcoming readings appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary.
This episode, we have Judith Gundry, Research Scholar and Associate Professor of New Testament, and Adam Eitel, Assistant Professor of Ethics.
They’re discussing Luke 13:1-9, which is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent in Year C. The text is read for you by student Fiona Chen.
Fiona Chen:
Luke 13:1-9.
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 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? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
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. 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?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Adam Eitel:
There are two puzzling things about the passage. One is the parable. Jesus’ parables are always puzzling. And I expect he intends them to be. But what’s puzzling to me about the first part of the passage is, just exactly what it is that Jesus is referring to? What is going on with the blood being mingled with the sacrifices on the one hand, and then who are these other Galileans that Jesus is referring to? I’m not a Bible scholar; I need some context.
Judith Gundry:
It’s a great question because we actually don’t have any corresponding historical record of what these people are saying to Jesus about the Galileans? So, Josephus, who was a Jewish historian, does actually say something similar about Galileans; he thought that they were extremely seditious, and so he refers to them in that way.
So, it probably relates to some historical incident, in which maybe Galileans were sacrificing, and then their actions were interpreted as seditious, and they got slaughtered. Now, Pontius pilot was Famous for this kind of treatment of the Jews.
Adam Eitel:
So is it safe to say something like, “Here Jesus is referring to these known events that all would agree are heinous in some way. And he’s essentially saying to his current audience, ‘Listen, if you think you’re better than them, well, here’s something else to think about.’” That’s basically the idea, right?
Judith Gundry:
I think so. I mean, when I read the first verse of chapter 13, I thought, “That’s interesting!” You know, we say today, “It’s the winners who write history.” And I immediately thought that these people who are coming to Jesus, they think they’re the winners. And they’re writing the history of these Galileans who were slaughtered and saying, “You know what? They were slaughtered probably because they deserve it.” And so, they’re presenting Jesus with their authority to say, “Okay, we can write the history of these Galileans.” And Jesus–his comeback is to say that actually, no, you don’t get to write the history of these people. So, they may have a reputation for being seditious. But Jesus goes, “Not so fast.”
Adam Eitel:
Yeah.
Judith Gundry:
People who came to him, they’ll go down in history as the losers, too–unless they repent.
Adam Eitel:
What you just said there about the writing of history: I was thinking, “All right. Yes. He’s saying you don’t get to write their history, but he’s also saying in some ways it’s an invitation. You don’t get to write your history either… or you don’t have to write your own history. It can be rewritten in a way.”
Judith Gundry:
Exactly. Yeah. We don’t know the end of the story yet. Do we? And Jesus is saying, “You’re assuming right now that you are the winners. But the only winners are actually those who repent. They’ll be the only survivors at the end.”
I’m just thinking here about this notion of repentance, wondering how much we understand repentance today as it’s being described here There have been some times, I suppose, in my life, where I’ve looked at something and said, “I need to make a hard U-turn right now—I’m moving in one direction and I’ve got to move in the opposite direction.” I guess there’ve been some times in my life where I’ve seen that and thought–and it has happened, by some grace–but there’ve been other times where maybe I’ve noticed I should have noticed that.
And this notion of repentance here, it’s so easy to gloss over it. It’s so easy to interpret it, at least for me, as something like, “Unless you do something marginally different,” rather than, “Unless you repent.” Anyway, I just am waxing a bit on exactly what Jesus is insisting here.
Judith Gundry:
Well, he comes across as really harsh. I mean, “You’ve got to repent; don’t just assume that you’re home free.” Right? And then what I love about this passage is the parable that he tells at the end, because right after he says, “You should repent,” he tells a parable that talks about how long the man who owns the vineyard is willing to wait for the fruit of repentance to grow. So, the parable rounds out this whole scene with a motif of God’s mercy. We’ve been given time to make that hard turn because the Lord is gracious.
Adam Eitel:
I hear Jesus’ voice in the voice of the character who’s pleading for more time. And it’s an interesting parable juxtaposed with the harsh character or tone that we hear in the preceding lines. Right? You just said he sounds really harsh. And then he tells this parable in which there’s a kind of softening. It also reminds me of these passages (I don’t know if this is either here nor there), but in the Old Testament we have, for example, a story of Abraham, and he’s pleading on behalf of people for more time.
Judith Gundry:
Exactly. Yes, yes. What I find so interesting about how Jesus responds to these people who are pretty sure that they’ve done a better job than the Galileans whose blood was mingled with their sacrifices. No, he understands their real situation and he calls them to look at where they really are. And he gives them another chance.
They’ve made a mistake. They’ve assumed that somehow they’re better. That’s a mistake, and he doesn’t condemn them for it. He says, “Here’s the parable. You have time, but, at the end of the day, repentance is what’s called for, not trying to say, “They got what they deserved, and I’ll get what I deserve.’”
Adam Eitel:
I suppose I’m thinking now about the way in which we’re invited to extrapolate from Jesus’ teaching here to our relations with other people. There are facile ways of doing this that would always be extending time or leniency in situations where leniency is not called for. So, I don’t mean to suggest that that’s what Jesus is saying. But there is an exhortation here to a kind of merciful pleading, even on behalf of others, for more time: for reform, revision, repentance, renewal. And it’s a lot easier just to condemn. Isn’t it?
Judith Gundry:
I mean, he does say in the parable that the vineyard owner says, “If it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down.” So, it is a merciful warning, I guess that’s the way I would put it. There’s time, but not infinite time. And maybe what you suggest is that, in some way we’re called to help one another recognize that there’s not infinite time; that we’re called to repent. Maybe our role toward one another is to be that voice: “If it bears fruit next year, then fine. But if not, cut it down.”
Helena Martin:
Thank you for listening to Chapter, Verse, and Season! You can find a transcript of this episode, plus a ton of other Bible resources, at YaleBibleStudy.org.
Chapter, Verse, and Season is produced by Joel Baden, Kelly Morrissey, and me, Helena Martin. Aidan Stoddart is our editorial and production assistant, and our theme music is by Calvin Linderman. Thank you, as always, to the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. And thank you to Professors Gundry and Eitel for joining us today.
We’ll be back next week with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Luke
Subjects:
Luke
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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Chapter, Verse, and Season gives listeners the opportunity to overhear the kinds of conversations that take place in the halls of Yale Divinity School. Each week, professors from different theological disciplines chat about biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. They bring their own interests to the table and hopefully spark new insights into the scripture appointed for each Sunday.