The Way of Repentance
Text: Luke 13:1–9
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When disaster strikes, people start asking questions. Why did this happen? Who is to blame? It’s human nature to look for an explanation. If something goes wrong at work, we might point fingers at a coworker. If a child falls and gets hurt, parents might blame the playground equipment. When we get sick, we wonder if it was something we ate or someone we were around. We want reasons—we want to make sense of suffering.
In today’s Gospel, some people bring a tragic event to Jesus—a group of Galileans killed by Pilate. They want answers. Were these people worse sinners than others? Were they being punished? But Jesus doesn’t answer the way they expect. Instead of focusing on their sin, He calls everyone to repentance.
Lent is a season of repentance, but what does that really mean? Today, Jesus teaches us that repentance is not about blaming others or making excuses. It’s about turning back to God, trusting His mercy, and bearing fruit in our lives.
We’ll reflect on three things today:
Repentance is urgent
Repentance is a change in direction
Repentance leads to life
Jesus calls us to repent not to make us feel guilty or ashamed, but to free us from our guilt and shame. He calls us to repent so we can be free and have new life. So today, let’s hear His call, trust in His grace, and walk the Way of Repentance.
1. Repentance is Urgent
These words from Jesus today are His response to a question about tragedy. Some in the crowd bring up a horrific event—Pontius Pilate had slaughtered Galilean worshippers as they offered sacrifices. Others mention a tower collapse in Siloam that killed eighteen people. The question behind these tragedies is the same one people ask today: Why did this happen? Did they deserve it?
We see this kind of questioning after disasters today. When an earthquake devastates a region or a bushfire destroys homes and lives, people ask, Where was God? Were they worse sinners than us? Others point fingers—poor planning, corrupt leaders, climate change. We want an explanation, someone to blame.
But Jesus challenges this thinking: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? … Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:2-5).
Instead of assigning blame, Jesus turns the focus inward. The real question is not whether others deserved their fate, but whether we have turned back to God while we still have time.
Over the last couple of years, with a dog first and then a child, the number of messes to clean up at our place (particularly on carpet) has skyrocketed. In that time, I’ve quickly learned that the sooner you deal with the mess, the less likely it is to stain.
Sin is just like a stain on the carpet. If you spill something and clean it up straight away, it’s much easier to remove. But if you leave it, it soaks in. It hardens. It becomes part of the fabric. In the same way, when we ignore or deny our sin, it sets in. Leave it long enough, and it will eventually become a part of who you are. “Unless you repent, you will perish,” Jesus says.
Isaiah backs Him up, calling God’s people to “seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). Repentance is urgent. Jesus does not say this to scare us, but to call us to life.
Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know;
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
When we turn back to Jesus and let Him deal with our sin, we find freedom and real joy. Only the blood of Jesus can remove the stain of sin from our hearts and from our lives.
2. Repentance is a Change in Direction
Jesus follows His warning with a parable: A man plants a fig tree, expecting it to bear fruit. Year after year, it produces nothing. Finally, he’s ready to cut it down—it’s just taking up space. But the gardener steps in: “Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” (Luke 13:8-9). The tree is given time, but time alone isn’t enough. It must change—it must start bearing fruit.
Repentance is not just feeling bad about sin—it’s a complete change in direction.
When you’re driving somewhere new and you realise that you’ve taken a wrong turn, you have a choice between two options: you can push on and try to find your way, probably getting more lost in the process, or you can go back, correct your mistake, and get back on the right route again.
True repentance is like the second option—the first step is to recognise our sin. At that point, we can either ignore and deny, or we can repent of it and have it dealt with. Once we do that, God gives us another chance to live a new life and move in a new direction.
It’s also like the difference between hearing and truly listening. A child might hear their parent say, “Clean your room,” but if they don’t move, they haven’t really listened. In the same way, Jesus calls us to more than just awareness of our sin—He calls us to allow Him to take it away and change us.
This leads all of us to an important question: Have you settled for a shallow faith—going through the motions but producing no real change? Do you hear God’s Word, or really listen and allow it to change the way you live?
The good news is that God is patient. He keeps giving us opportunities to bear fruit. But a fruitless tree is not just in danger of being cut down—it is missing out on the joy and purpose for which it was created. God doesn’t want pew-warmers—He wants sinners who want to become His saints. He doesn’t want bums on seats—He wants people that come to be freed from their sin and live in the freedom of the gospel.
There is never a better time to repent than now. Repentance is urgent and it is a change in direction.
3. Repentance Leads to Life
In Jesus’ parable, the owner of the vineyard is ready to cut the fig tree down—it has had plenty of time to bear fruit, and it hasn’t. But the gardener pleads for more time: “Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilise it.” The tree is given another chance, not because it deserves it, but because of the gardener’s mercy.
This is a picture of what Jesus does for us. He intercedes for us, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He does not delight in judgment—His desire is always to save. And the ultimate proof of this is the cross. Jesus didn’t just ask for more time for us—He gave His own life so that we could be restored. On the cross, He took the judgment we deserve so that we might live.
Repentance, then, is not about fear—it is about life. When God calls us to repent, it is not to condemn us but to free us. It’s an invitation to be made new, to live differently, to let Him do the work of digging around the roots of our hearts, breaking up the hardened soil, and nourishing us with His grace.
When we turn back to Him, we don’t find judgment—we find a Saviour who has already carried it for us. Repentance leads to life because He gave His.
Conclusion: The Way of Repentance
Jesus’ words are a wake-up call—repentance cannot wait. Sin only grows stronger the longer we ignore it. Like a stain that sets, it becomes harder to remove. Repentance is urgent.
But repentance is more than regret; it is a change in direction. Like a fruitless tree given another chance, or like realising we’ve taken a wrong turn, we are called not just to hear Jesus’ call but to respond—bearing fruit in our lives.
Repentance, then, is not about fear—it is about life. When God calls us to repent, it is not to condemn us but to free us. It’s an invitation to be made new, to live differently, to let Him do the work of digging around the roots of our hearts, breaking up the hardened soil, and nourishing us with His grace.
When we turn back to Him, we don’t find judgment—we find a Saviour who has already carried it for us. Repentance leads to life because He gave His.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
