Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Sunday, July 12, 2009 5:35:21 PM
The disciples of Jesus wanted to know whether the man blind from birth had committed some sin that led to his being born blind. Or was it the sin of his parents? Jesus denied both suppositions [John 9:1-3]. What about “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Jesus answers…
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; 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 offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” [Luke 13:1-5].
In the context of modern disasters, some have appealed to these passages in order to make the point that God's ways are ‘past finding out’. The Bible provides certain cases where God directly tells us His purposes. For instance, 2 Chronicles 36:15-17 and 2 Kings 23:26-27 make it clear that the exile of Judah to Babylon took place because of the people's sins. But unless we have such a statement from God, we cannot see his purposes infallibly. If we presume to draw quick conclusions, we may find ourselves doing the same thing that Job's friends did. They thought that the disasters that fell on Job must have come on account of his sins. Yet the ending of the Book of Job indicates that the friends were wrong [Job 42:7-9].
God’s providential rule is mysterious, and we must realize that there are many purposes of which we cannot know. But there is something peculiar about the way in which some have appealed to Luke 13:1-5. Whether intended or not, they have used it in order to turn aside the idea that God's judgment was being manifested in any particular disaster. The practical effect of this argument is largely to assure their audience that the disaster was not after all a judgment, and that we can all be comforted and spiritually put at ease, knowing that the whole thing is just unaccountable; we need not fear that it has anything to do concerning God and his judgments and his wrath.
The peculiarity here is that Jesus' words in Luke 13:1-5 actually point in the opposite direction. Jesus does unsettle rather than comfort His audience. According to customary thinking of the time, the Galileans must have been terrible offenders to experience the judgment that fell on them. So the audience thinks that they can comfort themselves that at least they are not going to experience such a disaster. Jesus overthrows customary thinking by saying that the Galileans were not worse. That is already unsettling. But then He adds an ominous warning, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” He accuses them of being guilty and needing repentance, and counsels them that unless they turn to God they will perish.
The appeal to Luke 13:1-5 as a lesson only of comfort, and never of judgment is completely one-sided and hypocritical. It presents an over simplified and unbalanced view of how the Biblical principles apply to the present. We must be ready to speak of judgment and wrath as well as mercy and comfort. Why are we ashamed of the gospel? The gospel is the only power sufficient to deliver men from wrath and bring them into the riches of God’s mercy displayed in Christ.
In particular, every disaster is a forerunner of the Last Judgment. It should be used as an occasion to reflect on the transitory character of this life [1 Corinthians 7:31], on the fact that God gives us blessings that we do not deserve [Matthew 5:45], and that men who are rebels against God rightly deserve wrath.