Articles
Luke 13:1-5
Luke 13:1-5
By Derek Long
Luke 13:1-5 says, “There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; 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 sinners than all other men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’” What are some important lessons we can take from this set of verses?
Jesus was confronted with current events and at times used current events to help teach important lessons to those around Him. There are times we may encounter those around us who are interested in the news and some particular current event. If we are prepared, we can use certain current events as a starting point from which to discuss spiritual lessons. Jesus throughout His life often started out talking about something in everyday life or physical to teach people a spiritual lesson. For example, He started a conversation with the woman at the well in John 4 by saying “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). How many times do we pass up opportunities when people are discussing some topic of interest to turn the conversation toward something spiritual?
Jesus corrected people’s false assumptions. It appears the people who brought up Pilate mingling the Galileans’ blood with their sacrifice thought they were worse sinners than everyone else. Jesus corrected their flawed assumption. If we are aware of the fact someone is operating under a false assumption, do we take the time to seek to point them to the truth of God’s word?
Not all suffering is the direct result of personal unrighteousness. It is easy for people to think if something goes bad in a person’s life it is the result of their own personal unrighteousness. There are times when a person’s sin brings about earthly consequences even if the sin is forgiven by God (2 Samuel 12:10-14). There are also times when an individual’s suffering has nothing to do with wickedness in his life or in the lives of those close to him (John 9:1-3). Suffering provides us with a reminder to pray, study, and examine ourselves (James 5:13; Psalm 119:71). However, we make a terrible mistake to assume every time something bad happens to someone it is directly related to their personal unrighteousness. Job’s friends made the mistake of assuming his suffering was the result of his wickedness when it really was a test brought about by Satan and allowed by God.
Valuable lessons can be learned from the suffering of others. Jesus takes the suffering of these Galileans and those who were killed by the tower in Siloam and uses these events to
teach an important lesson to others. We may not always understand the reason why something happens to an individual. It may even be the individual suffered as a result of “time and chance” (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12). God can use suffering for good even if it came about simply by “time and chance.” One may face a tragedy due to no fault of their own, like Job, and yet stand out an an example to others of endurance (James 5:11). We may encounter hardships through no fault of our own and yet those hardships may lead us to trust in God more and equip us to better help others facing similar struggles (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 8-11). If we are the type of people who love God by keeping His commandments (John 14:15), no matter why the suffering came upon us God can cause it to work together for good (Romans 8:28).
Without repentance we will all likewise perish. If we fail to realize people can suffer without necessarily being a worse sinner, we might take comfort in the fact nothing too bad has happened to us. Jesus issues a sobering reminder to us all (Luke 13:3, 5). We may not have our blood mingled with our sacrifices by Pilate and we might not have a tower fall down on us but if we do not repent, we will perish. The Bible makes it very clear a person must repent of their sins in order to be pleasing to God (Matthew 3:2; Acts 17:30-31; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11; 2 Peter 3:9, etc.). One who fails to repent of their sins has a far worse fate awaiting them than the individual who suffered an immense tragedy in this life (John 5:14).
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