Our Sacred Roots: The Priesthood of All Believers

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T he S eason of L ent

Third Sunday in Lent March 20 - 26, 2022

WEEK 17

The Lenten Season, a forty-day period starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday of Holy Week, calls us to reflect on Jesus’s suffering, crucifixion, and death. As disciples of the humble Nazarene, we embrace his lowliness and humility, seeking to share the mind of himwho was obedient to death, even death on a cross.

THIS WEEK’S THEME Repent or Perish, Luke 13.1-9

The question of fate, i.e., those people whose actions somehow condemn them to both tragedy and death, was a common issue Jesus confronted in his interactions with others during his ministry. At one point on his journeys there were some people who told him about some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus answered them, “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. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The force of our Lord’s teaching cannot be missed. It is quite common for people today to speculate on the ways in which others may have earned tragedy or judgment because of their own sinfulness and guilt. Jesus, however, says that the events which occur appear to suggest that people suffer due to their own culpability and error, say nothing of the need for everyone to repent and believe. Salvation is for everyone; we are all guilty before the Lord. No person or group is exempt from the need to repent and receive God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. Unless we repent, each one of us, we all will face