Unique Verses (Luke 13)

Luke 13 contains a lot of material that is unique to Luke (i.e. it is not found in the other Gospels). Two of those passages draw my attention today:

1. verses 1-5 Verses 1-5 reference two historical events that largely have been forgotten about: Herod's ghastly murder of some Galilean rebels and the falling of a large tower in Siloam. Since those events are meaningless to us, we might have a tendency to want to rush by this passage. But we should not. These verses teach us something about God's providence. They teach us that God's providence is inscrutable. That is a fancy way of saying that we can't always understand why God does the things that He does. People in the first-century thought they understood these events. They thought the tragic death of the Galileans and tower victims showed that those people were sinners. They were sure that God would only allow truly wicked people to die in such horrible fashion. Jesus, however, challenges that wisdom. In verse 3, He says that the Galileans were not worse sinners than anyone else. Their death did not comment on their righteousness (or lack thereof). We have to be careful about judgmentally interpreting God's actions. Instead, we should look at our own lives.

2. verses 6-9 Verses 6-9 are encouraging verses. They are verses that speak to God's patience with us. Even if we as Christians, don't produce fruit in a timely manner, God will wait for us to blossom. Of course, the verses make clear that the patience is not unlimited. Eventually, we must grow with the resources that God has provided. But I thank God that He is willing to be extra patient with me.