In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Last Tuesday evening there was a program on Vision television that was entitled “the Lost Tomb of Jesus”. Perhaps some of you had the opportunity to see it and I think it was on again last night as well. The program told the story of a tomb that was discovered accidentally by a construction crew in Jerusalem in 1980.

Now when you consider the long history of Jerusalem the discovery of a tomb is not that unusual nor was it unusual that there were ten ossuaries or bone boxes inside the tomb. What was unusual were the names on six of the boxes; Jesus, son of Joseph, Maria, Mariamene, Matthew, Judas, son of Jesus, and Jose, a diminutive of Joseph.

The producers of the program are arguing that this is the Jesus’ family tomb. Obviously a great deal more scholarly work needs to be done in order to determine whether this is truly the tomb of Jesus but already the argument has proved controversial with people on both sides of the argument.

I think this story has legs and will continue to run because in spite of what most people think concerning institutional Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, as a historical figure, continues to be very popular. The only problem is that the historical sources concerning the historical Jesus are so scant.

Outside of the Gospels there is nothing really written about the man. And even though there have been a number of searches for the historical Jesus they have always come up bust. I think it was the Biblical scholar Albert Schweitzer who once said, “that the search for the historical Jesus was like looking into a deep well where all you see in the water is your own reflection. The point being that those searching for the historical Jesus will find the Jesus that they are looking for in the first place. And this is true for not only Biblical scholars but for each one of us.

Due to the lack of historical evidence, we all have formed an image of the historical Jesus that is near and dear to us. It is an image that has been shaped by church tradition, Sunday school, and our own experiences. There is a good book on this subject entitled “American Jesus: How the Son of God became a national icon.”

And yet our gospel reading from Luke presents a real challenge to our image or images of the historical Jesus. It presents a challenge because the contemporary North American church has succeeded in sentimentalizing Jesus to the point where we have taken the “gentle Jesus – meek and mild” of the 19th century and reworked him into Jesus our good friend, our buddy who always affirms and never criticizes. But our reading presents us with an image of Jesus that is far from meek and mild. It is a Jesus who judges us and who unsettles our sentimental images.
“Now there were some present at the time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? I tell you, no!

But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Two incidents taken from the news of the day. One an example of human evil and the other describing a natural disaster. Looking at the paper this week we could insert our more recent examples. We have suicide bombers slaughtering at least 100 people in Iraq and an earthquake in Indonesia that killed almost 70 people.

And so on this Third Sunday of our Lenten Journey a question naturally emerges as we consider these tragic events, Why? Why did these tragedies happen to these people? It is a good question that has bedevilled theologians and philosophers for centuries. But Jesus won’t let us ask the question let alone answer it in any detail. The only response he makes is that as a general rule suffering is not the result of sin or the punishment for sin.

Jesus wants to talk about judgement, our judgement at the hands of God, the sacred, the Holy Other. And then he has a question for us. “Will you turn, repent, change direction in your life and walk with me? Will you go the way I am going – the way of the cross? It is a question that we don’t want to acknowledge because it challenges the image we have of Jesus and the image we have of ourselves. Not only are we Christians but we are also Canadians – the most benign people on the face of the earth.

But still Jesus’ question comes, “Will you turn now, repent now, change direction now? The question is grounded in the eternal now. It has to do with time namely the present moment. We all want to live to be a ripe old age and expire peacefully surrounded by family and friends. And our current standard of living allows must of us to do that. And yet there our lives are fleeting. Today or tomorrow might mark the end of our lives on earth.

Now Jesus does not say specifically what we need to do to repent, to turn, to change now. Maybe he doesn’t lay things out neatly because that is a question between each of us and God. Maybe the answer for each of us is different and the season of Lent is the perfect time to figure that out. For as the parable of the barren fig tree tells us, God expects us to bear fruit. But the parable also tell us because of God’s love and grace, God will give us a second chance to get it straight, actively labouring over us to make us fruitful.
Yes, God is just but God is also gracious. This is the good news.