Verse-by-Verse Comments:
1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
(1) At that very time indicates that these remarks by Jesus continue a discussion He's been having with the crowd introduced at Luke 12:1.
(2) We have several accounts of bloodthirsty actions by the Roman governor Pilate from the ancient Jewish historian, Josephus. While there are no specific accounts of the incident the crowd around Jesus is evidently talking about, such an incident would have been par for the course for Pilate.
2He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
(1) Jesus' question indicates that the crowd's account of the massacre holds its victims accountable. This, as I mentioned yesterday, exemplifies retributive theology, which is not Biblical/Christian theology. Retributive theology holds that when even tyrants lash out at people or, as in the example Jesus Himself will cite in this passage, the victims themselves have done something wrong and caused God to punish or even kill them.
These notions go back a long way. Job's friends, as I mentioned yesterday, tried to explain the unexplainable, all the bad things that had befallen Job, with retributive justice. Jesus' disciples too, were guilty of this bad theology.
(2) Jesus asks a rhetorical question, asking the crowd to think about what it's saying.
3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
(1) Events like the massacre the crowd was buzzing about should cause us to contemplate the fragile nature of human life. It should incite us not to condemn others. That reaction is a way of denying reality, pretending that we are in more control than we are, or morally superior when, in fact, we are all human, all vulnerable. Our greatest need isn't to explain things, as Job himself discovered back in Old Testament days. Our greatest need is to repent--turn from sin--and believe in Jesus Christ.
(2) Those who don't repent allow a wall to exist between them and God, between them and God's forgiveness, between them and the life that God gives to the repentant alone.
(3) Brian Stoffregen has a great discussion of the implications of this and Jesus' subsequent statement. Please read what Stoffregen says carefully:
There is some truth to this cause and effect notion. I don't want to completely eliminate our human responsibilities that may cause our own suffering (or the suffering of others). Chain smokers are more likely to suffer from lung diseases. Drunks who drive drunk are more likely to suffer an accident. Our medical science assumes that there are definite causes for illnesses. In our text, Jesus does not deny that those who were killed by Pilate or the tower were innocent victims.4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
What Jesus discounts is: (1) God caused their deaths because they were sinners; and (2) the fact that they died in such tragedies indicates that they were worse sinners than other Jews.
Everyone needs to repent -- even pious Jews living in the holy city, or Lutherans living in Minnesota -- or even the few in California -- and the need is urgent. The "cause-effect" notion still stands; but now there is a way to avoid the (future) destruction brought about by our sins -- namely, to be repentant.
At the same time, the pain and suffering caused by human sinfulness are not all equal. The drunk who kills a family in a car accident has certainly caused more pain and suffering than the alcoholic who drinks at home; but the tea-totaller [sic] who condemns everyone who drinks is just as sinful as a murderer, even if the results are not as tragic.
(1) While the massacre ordered by Pilate was a humanly-created disaster, the fall of the tower at Siloam was apparently a natural disaster, the kind of thing that happens in a fallen, imperfect world.
(2) The tower of Siloam was constructed near the famous pool of Siloam, a place where Jews thought, healing could happen. (See here.)
(3) The ways we die are insignificant, Jesus says. The fact is that we all will die and usually at a time we don't plan. Repentance is still the essential preparation for death. It won't prevent earthly death, but it will ensure that all who have repented and trusted in Christ will live with God forever.
The greatest tragedy isn't to be victimized by a massacre or the collapse of a building. The greatest tragedy is to die without having given oneself to Jesus Christ.
I hope to complete these verse-by-verse comments tomorrow.
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