The Gospel for November 2, 2004 (All Faithful Departed)
Luke 13:1-9
It was just about this time that some people arrived and told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than any others, that this should have happened to them? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell, killing them all? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’ He told this parable, ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to his vinedresser, “For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.” ’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
Fortunately there is history for this episode. Otherwise, it might be taken incorrectly.
Pilate, the Roman governor, had decided to improve the waterworks of Jerusalem, which included the pool at Siloam. He proposed to do this using money taken from the Temple treasury.
Zealots, probably the majority of whom were Galileeans -- known for being rabble-rousers -- assembled to protest Pilate's action. Pilate had sent among the crowd, forwarned with good intelligence, soldiers disguised as ordinary people, but carrying bludgeons; Pilate wanted the crowd roughed up and dispersed. The soldiers overachieved and managed to kill a few Galileeans in the Temple courts.
Similarly, the accident at Siloam could have been taken as God's wrath against any Jews who were working for money on or near the tower, on the waterworks project. Any wages they accepted should, some thought, have been given back to the Temple treasury, from which the money was illegally taken. Translations since the King James version have generally revised their description from "sinners" to something closer to neutrality.
There is also tradition involved in the story of the fig tree. Fruit from any tree was discarded for the first three years, by custom. The fourth year was the year of "first fruit," and any fruit borne belonged to YHWH, via the Temple. This tree, having borne little (probably not zero) fruit for years five and six, was now posing the concept to its owner of bearing little fruit after seven years, despite having been tended by a caring gardner who fertilized and tilled it conscientiously. After seven years, the owner's patience would be broken.
A Reflection
So what is Jesus telling us here?
The most legitimate concept, for me, is that Jesus was warning the Judeans and those who visited them that their continued emphasis on having ownership of Jerusalem -- at the price of their lives and livelihood -- was not a very good deal for them.
But more importantly, their eyes were fixed on a decaying prize. Buildings and lands and earthly things, all of which were inside the concept of "Temple," have no meaning to YHWH. "Your sacrifices offend me." "I desire not the smoke from your sacrifices, but your hearts." The Hebrew Bible contains many such cautions relayed through the prophets.
Deaf ears and blind eyes had ignored the Law; they had killed the prophets, and were preparing to do the same to YHWH's son, sent to redeem them from all their sin and error. Those were the acts for which Jesus told them to repent. The consequences he predicted were real, for thousands died during the destruction of the Temple.
Martin Luther King, Jr., is famous partly for his "Eyes on the prize" quip. The psalmist said it in a few more words, but perhaps more directly, in today's Psalm 62:
"In God alone there is rest for my soul, from him comes my safety; he alone is my rock, my safety, my stronghold so that I stand unshaken."
In God, alone.
The Collect
O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen
2:49:42 PM 
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