The Irreplaceable Bridge Of Grace 11

April 14, 2014

The last six months have been rough going. Pressure is no easy thing to swallow, especially when you have a crowded mind. The strangest part about pressure is the fact that it's not entirely a bad thing to crack. In fact, our weaknesses are given to us to teach us how to break and then how to heal.

Recently, I read a disturbing passage in the Scriptures that I tend to overlook. In the first few verses of Luke 13, Jesus instructs the multitudes to repent lest they be destroyed in the same way that Pilate's human sacrifices had been. He also references a catastrophe involving the collapse of tower in Siloam that killed eighteen people. While Jesus points out that these people were no worse sinners than anyone else, the Israelites should still repent of their sins, bearing in mind that untameable wrath of God. Repentance is no small thing. As a matter of fact, it is the bridge between two colossal things: salvation and condemnation.

This shocking analogy is preceded by a parable of judgment. In Luke 12:57-59, sinners are depicted as debtors about to be imprisoned. This is not a prison with a set bail though as some might draw from the passage's last phrase. It is not purgatory. It is hell.

Following, Jesus' account of Pilate and the tower of Siloam is a second parable of judgment in Luke 13:6-9. It falls in line perfectly with the first parable (judgment) and the second parable (pain). What follows both is death of an eternal kind. "Cut it down!" the master instructs. Sin leads to death. Sin begot death, and Satan fondles death with great care because it is his prized spawn. That is why the demon-possessed Gadarene lived in a graveyard (Mark 5:3), because Satan feels most at home when he is surrounded by death. But Satan is not the judge. God is. "Against this family, I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks!" (Amos 2:3)

The Lord spoke all these words to the Israelites, and for the most part, that is who Jesus mainly ministered to. Many of His parables dealt directly with Israel's time coming to a close. Again, we can hear the master of the garden: "Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none." And we all know how Jesus feels about barren fig trees. Just look at Matthew 21:19.

This sounds extraordinarily harsh. After all, the example between the two parables is very sobering. Death happens to all, and many experience eternal death. Jesus used the tragedies of death and destruction to pain this picture of eternal death.

What I want to point out specifically is that Jesus addressed the issue of karma when he discussed the deaths on the alter and at Siloam, which is interesting because Jesus is the prime example of karma not playing out. When He died on the cross, He blew karma to pieces. The best Man suffered the worst fate for the worst people. And when He struck that fatal blow, He opened the window of repentance. He created that bridge that mankind needed. He paid the debt we could not pay in the first parable by producing the fruit of obedience we could not produce in the second one. And in doing so, we can avoid the eternal death pictured in Siloam.

Perhaps you feel spiritually, emotionally, or even physically withered and drained. The point is not to give up, to bash yourself, or to run from the Lord. The point is that, no matter where you are, we all need one thing: a Savior - Christ the Lord. Let Him be enough. Take every day, one step at a time because the Lord does not work in bounds. He works in the little things. Let us be reminded that there is a door to life. God did not have to provide this love, but He does with wide arms of grace.

~The Fragile Grey Heart

Isaiah 55:6, 7: "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."