If the Gospels of the first two Sundays of Lent (temptation and transfiguration) are a parable about Christian life (a journey out of and away from temptation and into being transfigured by God’s grace), the Gospels of this Sunday and next give us the ‘road map’.
How do we get from temptation to transfiguration? Only with repentance and God’s forgiveness. That’s the road map for our Christian journey.
Oh, how we love a good story about disaster befalling someone else! The strength of Jesus reply to those who told him about the crucified Galileans seems to indicate that they shared this news with some delight.
Jesus reply tells us not to assume that bad things happen only to bad people and not to think that disasters are some kind of punishment for sin; stop thinking about the guilt of others and put your energy into repentance – turning back towards God.
The parable of the Fig Tree which follows answers the question, ‘If we do repent, what sort of reception will we get from God?’ God will work with us like the gardener in the parable. He will treat us with kindness and tenderness and nurture us back to life so that we can produce good fruit.