Luk 13:1-5 | KingComments | STEP | On the same occasion, that is the occasion when the Lord spoke of the attitude of the crowds toward God ( ), people come to Him with a report of a horrible event. The cruel, heartless governor Pilate had dealt with the Galileans with outrageous cruelty and insensitivity by killing them and mixing their blood with that of their sacrifices to God. By doing so, he had shown his deep contempt for their sacrificial service. The background of their report is that these Galileans must have sinned greatly. It is not so much about Pilate’s horrible act, but more about their judgment of what happened to the Galileans. The Lord answers them that it is not for them to conclude the sins of others from what they have suffered. If someone is affected by a disaster, we tend to look for causes without including ourselves. It is about the other and not me, we think. Thus the friends of Job also judged his suffering and spoke to Job, but they spoke not right neither of him nor of God ( ). The Lord makes the report with which people come to Him a message that is addressed to their own conscience. He is the Light that enlightens every human being, revealing the deplorable condition of all human beings without exception. His call to them to repent stems from His service of grace, but if they do not repent, the same fate will affect them. That is how it happened. The Jews who did not repent were, according to the Lord’s word, killed by the Romans in the destruction of Jerusalem. The Romans did with the Jews what Pilate did with the Galileans. The Lord Himself adds another message. They have spoken about Galileans. It concerns people far away, in the north. He reminds them of an incident closer to home, of what happened to people from Jerusalem. Some time ago, eighteen inhabitants of Jerusalem died because a tower in Siloam fell on them. Why did the tower kill those very eighteen inhabitants and not other inhabitants, or more inhabitants? Is it because these eighteen people deserved to die and the others did not? Did those eighteen have a greater debt than the other people of Jerusalem? Here, too, He says a clear “no” to this thought and makes the incident with the tower an event that must appeal to all of them in their conscience. If we are allowed to continue living while something bad happens to others, it is not up to us to raise the question of guilt. The Lord wants to speak to our own hearts and conscience with every event. It should lead people to realize that it could have happened to them too and that they will ponder where they will spend eternity if they die without Christ.

‏ Luke 13:1-5

Repent or Perish

On the same occasion, that is the occasion when the Lord spoke of the attitude of the crowds toward God (Lk 12:54-59), people come to Him with a report of a horrible event. The cruel, heartless governor Pilate had dealt with the Galileans with outrageous cruelty and insensitivity by killing them and mixing their blood with that of their sacrifices to God. By doing so, he had shown his deep contempt for their sacrificial service. The background of their report is that these Galileans must have sinned greatly. It is not so much about Pilate’s horrible act, but more about their judgment of what happened to the Galileans.

The Lord answers them that it is not for them to conclude the sins of others from what they have suffered. If someone is affected by a disaster, we tend to look for causes without including ourselves. It is about the other and not me, we think. Thus the friends of Job also judged his suffering and spoke to Job, but they spoke not right neither of him nor of God (Job 42:7).

The Lord makes the report with which people come to Him a message that is addressed to their own conscience. He is the Light that enlightens every human being, revealing the deplorable condition of all human beings without exception. His call to them to repent stems from His service of grace, but if they do not repent, the same fate will affect them. That is how it happened. The Jews who did not repent were, according to the Lord’s word, killed by the Romans in the destruction of Jerusalem. The Romans did with the Jews what Pilate did with the Galileans.

The Lord Himself adds another message. They have spoken about Galileans. It concerns people far away, in the north. He reminds them of an incident closer to home, of what happened to people from Jerusalem. Some time ago, eighteen inhabitants of Jerusalem died because a tower in Siloam fell on them. Why did the tower kill those very eighteen inhabitants and not other inhabitants, or more inhabitants? Is it because these eighteen people deserved to die and the others did not? Did those eighteen have a greater debt than the other people of Jerusalem?

Here, too, He says a clear “no” to this thought and makes the incident with the tower an event that must appeal to all of them in their conscience. If we are allowed to continue living while something bad happens to others, it is not up to us to raise the question of guilt. The Lord wants to speak to our own hearts and conscience with every event. It should lead people to realize that it could have happened to them too and that they will ponder where they will spend eternity if they die without Christ.