On the Road to Jerusalem: The Necessity of Repentance

“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

—Luke 13:5

Suffering. In Jesus’ day, many thought suffering was a sign of punishment for some evil done. For example, in Luke 13, Jesus was told about some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with some pagan sacrifices. It was widely believed that it happened because they deserved it. They were horrible sinners and were judged accordingly. But Jesus said, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (v. 4). Jesus was correcting their erroneous belief surrounding suffering and judgment. The Galileans who died were sinners, it was true, but everyone is a sinner—and all are under the condemnation of God.

We have similar misconceptions in our own time. We don’t think that we are that bad. As a matter of fact, we tend to think we are pretty good people. We compare ourselves with those who are extremely bad or are extremely good, and then place ourselves somewhere in the middle. But Jesus wants us to understand something—we all have the cancer of sin, and we all need God’s remedy of salvation.

Imagine for a moment several lifeboats floating in the ocean, filled with people. Some have rather large holes and are taking on water rather quickly, while others have smaller holes, but still are taking on water. Some will sink more quickly than others, but all will sink eventually. We all have a sin problem, which means that for some of us the effects of our sin will be seen faster, while for others the ill effects take longer to be seen. The important thing to remember is—all of the boats are going to sink and everyone is going to drown. The remedy is to change boats—which is what repentance is. Confession means acknowledging the boat is sinking, and repentance is getting out of our boat and into God’s. The problem that most of us have is that we get into God’s boat, but then continually crawl back into our own leaky ones. Repentance must be continuous for the Christian, for we are always battling sin. To fail to practice repentance is to fail to be a Christian. For the Christian, repentance is our continual reminder that we have sinned against God and are in need of forgiveness, and it is the practical means by which we return to God. His job is to grant forgiveness, our job is to seek it.

In our world, we cherish the idol of entitlement. We believe that we deserve good, that we are worthy of God’s affection, deserving of His salvation. But the truth is far different. As the Bible says, “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’”—Romans 3:9-10. And again, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"—Romans 3:23. The only thing we deserve is death and God’s judgment. All of us are in sinking boats; some are just sinking more quickly than others. The quicker we realize that, the quicker we can abandon ours and get into God’s.

Do you think that you are worthy of God’s affections? Do you recognize the Bible’s testimony that we all were once God’s enemies (Romans 5:8), dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), following Satan (Ephesians 2:2), and children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3)? The truth is—we deserve God’s judgment. It’s a hard truth to accept, especially since our world nourishes the lie that we are so good, captains of our own destiny, and deserving of whatever good comes our way. But reality is far and away different. God, because of His own love, set His sight upon us. It’s not that we were worthy, but unworthy—which is why God’s love is so remarkable. God loved us and gave Himself for us, when we were at our absolute worst, so that we might turn to Him and have life in and through Him.

Do you have this life? Do you recognize your spiritual boat is sinking? Abandon all hope of your leaky boat and by faith enter His—His is the only one that can save us. Amen.