‘Now on the same
occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose
blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you
suppose that these Galileans were greater
sinners than all other
Galileans because they suffered this fate?
I tell you, no, but unless
you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen
on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.”’ Lk. 13:1-5
One of the common misconceptions people have about tragic
deaths is that they were either deserved (presumably because the deceased was
actively pursuing evil) or completely undeserved (presumably because the
deceased was innocent). Its corollary is
that a long life is a sign of God’s favor while a short life is a sign of God’s
displeasure. When Jesus spoke to this
issue he brought up two groups of people we would all readily recognize. The first group were martyrs to the Roman
regime. In our recent history America saw
3000 of her citizens martyred by the terrorist regime of Al Qaeda. The second group of people Jesus mentioned
were in the wrong place at the wrong time when a civil defense tower
collapsed. Do we not see this almost
daily on the news where a building fails or a tornado or flood wipes out a town
without warning? In both cases the Lord
corrects our popular misconceptions.
First of all, there are no innocent bystanders anywhere. Innocence in people is only found when God is
excluded. Before Him all men stand
condemned of sin because all are sinners.
There may be differences in the degree of our sinfulness (certainly an
infant has less guilt than Charles Manson) but that is the only
difference. What we fail to see is that
all sin is a heinous crime against a holy and just Creator. Our tendency is to make light of our sin and
consider the sins of others as greater evil.
The second misconception is that there is such a thing as a tragic
death. Now mind you I would prefer to
die in my sleep rather than be burned alive or face an entire platoon of angry
Samarai warriors. Certainly some ways to
go are better than others but reality according to Jesus is that the only
reason any of us are even alive is strictly the grace of God. We are all going to die eventually and while
physical death is unavoidable and inevitable, the second death, what is often
called “perishing” by Jesus is completely avoidable. Rejecting the Savior is a very deliberate act
which forces us to live with the full consequences of a lifetime of sin before
an utterly holy God. This is the true
tragic death and one that happens so often as to be commonplace. People don’t hear about Jesus without a
preacher. Are you doing something to
spread the urgent message of the gospel today?
I hope so. Do you know you are
not walking with Jesus? Repent and turn
to him today. The life you save may be
your own.
