This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday in Lent, Year C. In the previous post we explored how Jesus responded to the people in their conversation about the tragedies that were “in the news.” One tragedy was intentional, a brutal event instigated by the Roman rulers; the other was an accident. Jesus’ response is that neither are indications of divine judgment against sinners. Rather, in view of the uncertainty of life and the unpredictability of the future one must be warned to examine one’s own life and repent.

In our passage, the verb “to repent” (metanoeo) is in the present tense (subjunctive), which implies continuous action = “be repentant” or “continue to repent” or “keep on repenting.” In other words, this does not speak to a once-for-all-time event that saves one from “perishing,” but rather a lifestyle of penitence.

Repenting/Repentance (metanoeo/metanoia) is a theme throughout Luke/Acts. While the words appear in Matthew (7 times) and Mark (3 times) – in Luke it appears 14 times. For Luke, the primary content of our proclamation is repentance and forgiveness. Part of Jesus’ concluding words in this gospel are: “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day  and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” [24:46b-47].

As Stoffregen notes, frequently, in the gospel, Jesus talks about the importance of repenting:

• 5:32 – I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners. 
• 15:7 – I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. 
• 15:10 – In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
• 17:3-4 – Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”

Jesus’ harshest words of judgment are towards the unrepentant:

• 10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”
• 11:32 “At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” 

Stoffregen notes: “It seems that the crux of Jesus’ message (which continues in Acts) is a call to repentance. It is not primarily a call to worship or praise God. Such actions without repentance are meaningless. What brings the greatest joy in heaven is the repentance of sinners. As I noted earlier, the present tense of the verbs in our text indicate living repentantly, rather than seeing repentance as an occasional act.”

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Image credit: The Vine Dresser and the Fig Tree | James Tissot, 1886-1894 | Brooklyn Museum | PD-US