The Kindness and Severity of God; Luke 13:6-9

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 2/11/2024. Jesus' teaching session that began with the 12th chapter of Luke's Gospel, comes to its conclusion with a powerful parable about a fig tree that did not bear fruit. When the landowner decides to dig the tree up and destroy it, the vinedresser appeals for another year-- hoping that with his loving care, the tree might indeed bear fruit. We will carefully identify the principles established by the parable and then apply them on several different levels and to several different groups. We will learn that God is a complex God-- perfect in His merciful Loving Kindness; while at the same time perfect in His holiness and severe judgment of sin. Ultimately we will recognize the complexity of the Triune God and find the reason for His Redemptive Plan, and the essence of the Gospel, manifest in the kindness and severity of God.