Some who were there told him about the Galileans, about how Pilate had mixed their blood with their sacrifices. He answered them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were the worst sinners in Galilee, because they suffered this? Hardly. However, let me tell you, if you don't have a change of heart, you'll all meet your doom in the same way. Or how about those eighteen in Siloam, who were killed when the tower fell on them--do you suppose that they were any guiltier than the whole population of Jerusalem? Hardly. However, let me tell you, if you don't have a change of heart, all of you will meet your doom in a similar fashion."
Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard; he came looking for fruit on it but didn't find any.
So he said to the vine keeper, 'See here, for three years in a row I have come looking for fruit on this tree, and haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it suck nutrients out of the soil?'
In response he says to him, 'Let it stand, sir, one more year, until I have a chance to dig around it and work in some manure. Maybe it will produce next year; but if it doesn't, we can go ahead and cut it down.' "
Luke 13:1-9, SV
And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
33 And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
Genesis 18:16-33, KJV
I only connected that parable to the end of the story of Abraham at the oaks of Mamre because of the bargaining that goes on in both stories. Only in re-reading the parable from Luke did I realize Jesus is trying to draw a boundary that includes his audience in the pain and horror they bring to him for an opinion, or perhaps a judgment. Jesus takes the request as one for a judgment, for a damnation, not a blessing, on those who died and were blasphemed by Pilate. Did this happen? Does it matter? It sounds like something Pilate would do; he was eventually removed from his governorship for his cruelty, for his punitive governance of the people. Even Rome had its limits. Jesus, there, is erasing limits; but not entirely. He's putting demands down, too. Maybe that's what connects the Luke passage with the Genesis one. I will leave conclusions to you.
Everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:15-18
He told them a parable about the need to pray at all times and never to lose heart. This is what he said:
Once there was a judge in this town who neither feared God nor cared about people.
In that same town was a widow who kept coming to him and demanding, "Give me a ruling against the person I'm suing."
For a while he refused; but eventually he said to himself, "I'm not afraid of God and I don't care about people, but this widow keeps pestering me. So I'm going to give her a favorable ruling, or else she'll keep coming back until she wears me down."
And the lord said, "Don't you hear what the corrupt judge says? Do you really think God won't hand out justice to his chosen ones--thos who call on him day and night? Do you really think he'll put them off? I'm telling you, he'll give them justice and give it quickly. Still, when the son of Adam comes, will he find trust on earth?"
Luke 18:1-8, SV
Every lapse into despair is a mortal wound inflicted by our own deliberate choice and will. If we refuse to abandon ourselves to the pit of indifference and despair, no evil spirit will have the slightest power over us. Even after we are wounded, we can still learn from this experience and become more courageous for the future if we repent with our whole heart. To save ourselves from every wound is not within our power, but whether we are to be mortal or immortal depends entirely upon ourselves. As long as we do not despair we shall not die.
Symeon the New Theologian, 10th century
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