Podcast Introduction



Since today is Saturday we’re going to read from one of the Gospels. Right now we are in the book of Luke. We’ll read chapters 13-14. After the reading I’ll have some comments. Stick around, too for our prayer time. I’m calling today’s episode “Once and For All and Over and Over."



Comments on Luke 13




1At that time some people were there who told Jesus that Pilate had killed some people from Galilee while they were worshiping. He mixed their blood with the blood of the animals they were sacrificing to God. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think this happened to them because they were more sinful than all others from Galilee? 3No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will be destroyed as they were! 4What about those eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were more sinful than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will all be destroyed too!”
Luke 13: 1-5 NCV



Let's break this down, shall we?



Some people told Jesus about a heinous act of Pilate where Galilean worshippers were murdered, and in His reply, Jesus reminded them of the eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam (sye-LOH-uhm) fell on them. For both of these events, Jesus asked them, "Do you think this happened to them because they were more sinful than all others from Galilee?" 



People sometimes think that good things should happen to "good" people, and bad things happen to "bad" people. Of course, we know from our reading of the book of Job that that is not always how it works, but Jesus used this opportunity to remind them of this truth. 



After He asked the question, He immediately answered, "No, I tell you."



Listen to this quote from Spurgeon: “It is true, the wicked man sometimes falls dead in the street; but has not the minister fallen dead in the pulpit? It is true that a pleasure-boat, in which men were seeking their own pleasure on the Sunday, has suddenly gone down; but is it not equally true that a ship which contained none but godly men, who were bound upon an excursion to preach the gospel, has gone down too?” 



So He turned the question from "Why did this happen?" to "How does this apply to me?". He said, "Those Galileans didn't die because they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans." In saying this, Jesus was not saying that they were less guilty of sin, either. The fact is, all are guilty. Romans 3:10 says, "There is no one righteous, not one."



Twice in his statement, Jesus said, "But unless you change your hearts and lives..." Or to look more at the original Greek, Jesus said "...unless you repent..." In the Greek, He mentioned two kinds of repentance. He talked about a "once and for all repentance" in verse 5, and in verse 3 He referred to a "continuing repentance". Both kinds are necessary. 



When we first accept Jesus as our Savior, we repent once and for all. But as we've said so many times before, we are imperfect. We sin. And that's where the continuing repentance comes in. In that case, we don't repent because we have lost our salvation, but because we love Him. He said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." So when we sin, we repent. We ask His forgiveness, and we turn from that sin.



Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Tommy Kwak on Unsplash



Today's Bible Translation



Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 13 NCV; Ch. 14 CEB



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