Repent Or Else

• Why might God allow a tragedy to happen?

• What would you say to someone who claimed that tragedy is God’s way of punishing people?

“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Luke 13:3-5

In Biblical times, people believed that tragedies happened only to those who were extremely sinful. They figured that people got what was coming to them. The worse the tragedy, the more sinful the victims were assumed to be.

In Luke 13:1, Jesus’ followers told him about an incident at the temple in which several Galilean worshipers were killed while offering their sacrifices. Apparently Pilate, the Roman governor, ordered their execution, though the Bible doesn’t say why. The people who told the story probably expected Jesus to denounce the dead Galileans for whatever sin brought such judgment on them.

Like most people who thought they could predict Jesus’ response, those followers were surprised. Instead, Jesus referred to another incident in which a tower in Siloam fell and killed 18 people. He refuted the idea that the people killed in the temple or by the falling tower were any more sinful than the people who survived.

Jesus’ message was this: Everyone has sinned. No sin is worse than another in God’s eyes. Therefore, everyone deserves a tragic death both spiritually and physically, but if we turn from our sinfulness to Christ, we will ultimately live. No one can be good enough to earn salvation; it is a gift that we accept when we repent and entrust our lives to Christ.

PRAYER
Dear God, give us the words and wisdom to tell people the truth about sin and repentance. Let your Holy Spirit work in people’s lives in such a way that they are eager to hear about your Word. Amen.