March 20: Like a Common Criminal
Read: Psalm 63:1-8; Luke 13:1-9
Fleming Rutledge tells a story about a woman named Sally. She was looking for a church to attend. When he suggested one in her neighborhood, she said, “Oh, no, I could never go there.” When he asked why not she replied, “I would have to look at that big cross they have behind the altar! It would upset me terribly!”
Once Sally, a very fashionable woman, was shopping at a fancy department store. She bought an expensive blouse at the store and was walking out when the security alarm went off. The store clerk had forgotten to remove the white plastic security device. Store security forces pounced upon her.
“How horrible for you!” cried her sympathetic friends as she shared the story. “It must have been so distressing for you.”
“Oh,” said Sally, “It wasn’t any trouble. I was able to explain who I was and what happened. No, the really bad part was the feeling of being treated like a common criminal!”
Rutledge writes that he tried to explain to Sally how her experience of being treated unfairly like “a common criminal” could give her a hint of the shame Jesus felt when he was falsely accused; his identity rejected; and ultimately put to death between two common criminals.
In this morning’s passage from Luke, word had reached Jesus and the disciples about a horrible tragedy in which Pilate had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices. Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?”
In the world of Jesus’ day, most people would have thought that terrible things happen to people because they sinned or did terrible things. Job’s friends were a good example of that.
But before the disciples can say anything, Jesus tells them, “No.” No, they weren’t worse sinners. No, they didn’t do some horrible thing that deserved an equally horrible punishment. He tells them the Galileans who died were just like them. He’s telling us that we are all alike. We are all sinful people. Unless [we] repent, you will all likewise perish. Perhaps not the exact same way, but it will be the same result. We will die and face an eternity separated from God.
In Rutledge’s story, Sally thinks she is a pretty good person. The idea that her sin put Jesus on the cross makes her uncomfortable. The idea that she would be treated as a common criminal is unfathomable. She doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.
When we learn to see ourselves as Jesus does – as people who are just as sinful as everyone else and just as deserving of God’s wrath – it helps God’s grace and love and mercy shine even more brightly.
The parable Jesus tells in verses 6-9 remind us that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). We are the fig tree that doesn’t produce fruit. God’s patience and drawing us to him gives us the opportunity to respond with faith and repentance.
This message is not intended to be guilt-inducing. Rather, it should be grace-inducing. We are, apart from Christ, awful people who deserve punishment. But God, who is rich in love and mercy and grace, saved us as we are.
Lent is a great reminder of who we were and a great reminder of who we are – people of grace and love and forgiveness and new life!
Questions for Reflection
Do you struggle like Sally to see yourself as Jesus does? How can passages like Luke 13 help?
Reread the passage with an eye for God’s grace. Where do you see it in these verses? How does it encourage you?
How does the passage encourage you to pray or act in light of God’s patience? Are there people who are like that fig tree in your life? How can you “dig around and fertilize” their lives in your words and actions so they might come to faith in Jesus?
Readings this week:
March 21: Jeremiah 11:1-17; Romans 2:1-11
March 22: Ezekiel 17:1-10; Romans 2:12-16
March 23: Numbers 13:17-27; Luke 13:18-21
March 24: Joshua 4:1-13; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5
March 25: Joshua 4:14-24; 2 Corinthians 4:14-24
March 26: Exodus 32:7-14; Luke 15:1-10
March 27: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:11-32