SERMON  |  Luke 13:1-9  -  "If It Bears Fruit"  by Rev. Joseph Sanford

We continue working through a scene where Jesus is examining Jerusalem in light of his mission and movement of the peaceful, forgiving, enemy-loving, and life-giving Kingdom.  Jerusalem has not been living up to its calling.  This does not encompass all of Jerusalem--the leadership in place has been compromising, extorting, and hyper-focusing on legalistic approaches to worship.  Many people who worship there are honest, hard-working, and humble people just fighting to survive.  Jesus knows the presence of God's Kingdom will not sit well with any of the leadership in place (Rome, Sanhedrin, Herod, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.).  He offers a response to people who are equating recent tragedies with sinfulness and divine punishment.  Jesus directly refutes this kind of theology and then offers a parable which extends an invitation to anyone who hears it--even us today.

So let's dive into to the parable amid the context of its telling and allow it to guide us in our own lives as people and a church.