This week discuss another strange text, the passage where Jesus warns that “unless you repent, you will all perish.” In light of the crisis of God’s kingdom, as well as the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus is stressing the urgency of repentance in terms of aligning one’s life with God’s purposes. But the parable of the fig tree also stresses God’s patience and mercy in allowing us ample opportunity to make that change. We discuss this passage in it’s biblical context, in view of the Reformers’ assumptions about God’s wrath, and in view of popular American religion today.