Luke 13:1-5

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

After Jesus is arrested He is led away on a dark path that ends at the cross.  Should the story have ended there, with His lifeless, battered body hanging there in shame and acrimony, there would be no hope.  All would assuredly be lost and the wisest course would, indeed, be to “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”  The atheist should be so honest but they are not. They talk about goodness and fairness and compassion when, in fact, their worldview gives them no grounding for such things.  Life is often brutal and man certainly knows not his time.  

What deep philosophy this passage is!  It goes right to the heart of the human dilemma.  The confused souls around Jesus want to know why this unspeakable tragedy occurred.  They want, in short, the Divine answer on suffering and evil.  For the first century Jew, as with the men in Job’s day too, the question is, “were these men so much worse than us that they deserved what they got?”  For them the existence of a good God was a given.  The error of their theology isn’t in their doctrine of God but in their anthropology – their doctrine of man.  

Today’s non-believer, on the other hand, takes God’s non-existence for granted and believes that the heart of man is fairly good, with a few grotesque exceptions here and there – like Hitler, mass-murderers, and their political opponents.  Well, then, the unbeliever has quite an angry reaction to the horrors of life.  When he witnesses the sudden horror of the Far East tsunamis, killing hundreds of thousands of men, women and children without discrimination or mercy, he has no way to comprehend the event.  But, still, the atheist rails against the God whom he says doesn’t exist.  He shakes his fist and says, “how could a good God allow such a thing?”  In truth, he has no other recourse and he knows it.  

All philosophy is bound up in this subject and we should contemplate it more often.  

In the beginning of a movie about a maverick teacher of literature, Dead Poets Society, the eccentric teacher takes his boys out of the classroom in order to view the old photos of previous classes.  The photos are of boys like them from generations past.  The teacher tells them, “see, boys, they were full of life – just like you…they had dreams and passions – just like you…and now they’re fertilizing daffodils.”  This was the source of the professors wisdom.  He started with the most basic known fact of physical human life – all men die.  This gives the context to everything else he teaches about beauty, poetry, and meaning.  You will die.  There is no escape.  It will come.  

So, Jesus, who sees this ever so clearly, shocks his hearers with His reply.  But He goes further because His theology is perfect. 

The first century Jews are shocked to hear that “you will likewise perish” in his answer.  What?  Are you kidding me?  We’re Jews!  We’re God’s chosen people!  To this line of thinking the book of Romans says in chapter 10 – “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”  In essence, Jesus tells them that their mistake is in believing in their own righteousness rather than the righteousness of God.  The first century Jew, the modern atheist, and all the world’s religions, stumble over this stumbling stone: man cannot save himself no matter what.  Jesus’ simple and chilling reply reveals that which sinful man hates: the righteousness of God.  Repentance is the turning away from the arrogant, prideful evaluation of self and falling in humble abasement upon the tender mercy of God in Christ.  

There is no other way to the kingdom of heaven or else God isn’t completely righteous.  The Christian message stands over against all other methods of self-soteriology (self-salvation).  God is so holy and righteous that only His own work can bridge the gap between rebellious man and Himself.  Every other religion and philosophy rejects God’s righteousness when it elevates the works of man.  You can save yourself by doing this thing and that…praying like this, not eating that, not wearing that, and so on.  All false religions think man is good enough to earn God’s forgiveness by being sincere enough, pious enough, and religious enough.  

To this, Jesus says, “repent!”  

That we will all perish is the basic truth of life.  C.S. Lewis called pain “God’s megaphone.”  Jesus uses the peril of these Galileans exactly as such.  Do you see what happened to them?  Yes, it was tragic and ugly.  He says this but goes a step further and tells them that most shocking truth of all: all men deserve such pernicious fates.  

Jesus’ theology isn’t troubled by error.  He knows that all the world was thrown into judgement back in Eden and that nature groans in anticipation for that day when all will be released.  This is the context that makes sense of everything under the sun.  Man deserves worse than he ever gets and the only truly unjust thing to ever happen was the betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was the only man of whom we can say, “he didn’t deserve that.”  

As rebels against an eternal God, we have incurred an eternal debt.  The wrath of God is revealed from heaven in such things as this.  Have you seen a tornado, a hurricane, or the personal ravages of cancer?  They are warnings of the wrath to come.  Jesus doesn’t waste words.  He says, “repent,” and so we should while there is still time in this present evil age.  

But cancer, heartbreak, divorce, tragedy and death don’t get the last word when you’re in Christ.  This is the good news of the gospel.  Christianity doesn’t “scare” people into repentance as some critics allege; it tells people the truth about life.  And that truth is glorious when seen for what it is.  For those who love God in Christ, all things will work together for good though we might not momentarily be able to make sense of things.  Nevertheless, these ravages of life – and the actions of men like Herod – warn us that something worse is coming – death apart from Christ!  In this way, the Christian can thank God even for the sorrows of his/her life when they draw us closer to Him.  What would be truly evil in life, ironically, would be the absence of the warnings.  This is a hard truth, I know.  To understand it, look at the garden of Gethsemane on that last dark and evil night.  We read of the account of Jesus sweating great drops of blood and His exquisite agony is literally beautiful to us.  And it’s beautiful because of the Sunday morning and its empty tomb!  In Christ, no evil thing ever has the last word.  Ever.