Luke 13:2-3 “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? No, I tell you; but unless you repent you will all perish as well. (CSB)
The Wrong Turn
The descriptive words of repent reaches back to the garden. Before the fall, a different thought was introduced, reconsidered, comprehended and accepted against the word God had already spoken. To understand why repentance is so central to God’s plan of salvation, we must return to the beginning—where the first wrong turn began in the arena of the mind.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ “ “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5 (CSB)
Consequential Warning
The serpent, through his deception, he presented her focus with an alternative way of thinking and a different kind of knowledge. The prefix alter means “to change,” and the serpent’s suggestion did exactly that: it altered life from the way God created it to be.
In Genesis 2:17, God gave the man He created both the knowledge and a consequential warning: if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die.
Because knowledge is received and processed in the mind, the serpent targeted the mind first. The pattern is simple, but not shallow: shape the mind, and the choices of the body will follow. That same pattern is still at work today.
The woman listened and reconsidered God’s words, thinking differently about what would make her wise (Genesis 3:6). She ate, made the turn, and gave the fruit to her husband—the one who had received the command from the Lord God, who intended humanity to live forever.
The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it: she also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it. Genesis 3:6 (CSB)
Just a side thought: Although Henry David Thoreau admired Jesus as a moral teacher, reformer, and man of great wisdom rather than adoring Him as Savior, his words still speak meaningfully to the deception in the garden: “We should treat our minds as innocent and ingenious children whose guardians we are — Be careful what subjects we thrust on their attention.” The warning is fitting because the first deception began when attention was directed toward a thought that challenged God’s word. Repentance, then, guards the mind by turning its focus back to the truth God has spoken.
Reverse Parallel
That turn set God’s plan of salvation in motion after He witnessed their first decision (discussed in Made and Pattern page). In Luke 13, Jesus taught that everyone needs repentance. Repentance acts as the reverse parallel to the original sin of disobedience: while altered thinking led humanity away from God’s word, those same steps to repentance redirect the mind back toward God’s truth.
Each person is now presented with the knowledge Jesus taught concerning the Kingdom of Heaven and entering into it. The choice remains: will we continue living by the knowledge humanity chooses for itself, or will we turn toward the wisdom that comes from above?
Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom.But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth.Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice.But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.. James 3:13-17 (CSB)
The Way Back
The importance God placed on repentance is profound. Before His Son was born, God prepared a forerunner. In Luke 1:5, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, encountered an angel who announced that he and his aged, barren wife would have a child. This child would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb and would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children, turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:16–17). John’s life was then dedicated to proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, fulfilling what had already been spoken through Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3–5). Even in his manipulated and dramatic death, John did not waver from God’s purpose or the message of repentance. Repentance is foundational because it marks the way back toward God’s original design—the life and eternal fellowship intended before the fall. In that sense, repentance is the beginning of the journey back to the garden.
“Search the Scriptures”
Take a few moments to explore how this word is used throughout cross referencing Scripture. Let these passages guide your own study and reflection.
