Luke 23:33-43

Picture the scene from today’s gospel. The hill is known as “The Skull.” It is a place defined by dust, agony, and shame. Three men hang on crosses, suspended in suffering. Yet, in the middle of this bleak picture, we hear conversations that reveal everything we need to know about the human condition and the heart of God.

In this narrative, four distinct voices emerge.

Luke 21:5-19

“Nations will go to war; conflicts will break out between nations. You can expect massive earthquakes, food shortages, and deadly pandemics globally.  On top of that, there will be terrifying phenomena visible in the sky. And soon after, you will be hunted down, detained, and punished simply for believing in me.”

This is what Jesus told the disciples who had asked when the end of the world would come in Luke 21.  It was Jesus’ apocalyptic statement. 

Something similar began in 2020 as well.  The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world, and around 8 million deaths were associated with the pandemic in the years of 2020 and 2021. The whole world was in lockdown. We couldn’t see friends, go to work, visit cafés, or restaurants— not even attend church on Sundays.

Just as the world was starting to recover, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, causing massive destruction and leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and military personnel. The war continues, forcing an estimated 41 million people to flee from their homes.

What about the climate crises happening in many parts of the world? Extreme weather and natural disasters—including heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires—highlight escalating environmental chaos.

Tonga is one of the continuing victims. The sea level is slowly rising every year, causing the islands to lose their coastline and land to live on. For many Tongans, this is a daily battle for survival against the rising tides, happening right now in their lifetimes.

The reading from Luke today is very powerful, but let’s shift our attention to a more personal level. Instead of thinking about the global end, let’s focus on our own lives and struggles. Simply put, instead of talking about ‘giant forest’, we’ll focus on the individual tree.

Luke 20:27-38

In ancient Jewish society, there were two prominent groups: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their main difference lay in their belief about the afterlife: the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, while the Sadducees did not.

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, some Sadducees approached Jesus with a challenging question. They were trying to discredit the idea of resurrection and heaven, but we won’t go into the specifics of the familiar story.

Even today, people still grapple with similar questions: Is resurrection real? Is there truly life after death? Will we continue to age in heaven, or will we remain the same age?

Luke 19:1-10

Great Britain achieved significant victories in wars against France in the mid-18th century. These conflicts often took place in locations including North America and India and Britain became the dominant global power during that time. However, the cost was immense.

The years of warfare had left the nation on the brink of financial crisis. The nation was left deeply in debt. To pay off this massive debt, the British Government began to impose heavy taxes on its colonies, including those in India and the American colonies.

In India as well, the British government created a similar problem by enforcing a highly unfair taxation called the ‘Salt Act’, which stopped Indians to produce or sell their own salt. The British controlled all salt sales and imposed a heavy tax on the Indian salt product.

The British government sent their officials to India and North America to enforce these taxation policies. And these British officials in India and America hired local people to collect taxes on their behalf.

Naturally, these local tax collectors were seen as traitors by their own people. They hated and hated these tax collectors because they worked for their enemies by exploiting their own fellow people.

These stories are the first-century version of Zacchaeus’ story in today’s reading.  Whether it was Britain taxing America or India in 19th century or Rome taxing Judea in the first century, their unjust and heavy taxes took advantage of millions of ordinary and struggling people in other countries.