Luke 13:1-5

Luke 13:1-5

And some were present in this time bringing word to Him regarding the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices.  And answering, He said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans became sinners more than all the other Galileans because they suffered like this?  No!  I say to you, except that you all should repent, you will all perish similarly.  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell upon them and killed them.  Do you think that they became sinners more than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?  No!  I say to you, except that you should repent, all will perish in a like manner.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see Jesus dealing in the relevancy of the culture around Him.  The crowd around Him have questions about the events that are happening.  They want to understand the world around them, and they are curious how that understanding fits into a Judea-Christian perspective.  Jesus doesn’t back away from this.  He handles the questions.  He is willing to make faith relate to the world around Him.

How is your faith relevant?  Where do you have opportunities to make faith relevant to the people around you?

Second Thought:

One of the situations that they ask Jesus about is a situation that we don’t know much about.  Apparently, Pilate mixed the blood of Galileans in with the sacrifices.  This would be an incredibly offensive act.  But do you notice what Jesus focuses upon?  He doesn’t teach about Pilate.  Instead, he turns on the people and asks if they are assuming these Galileans are worse people because such a horrible thing happened to them.  Don’t we all do this?  Isn’t it so easy to assume that a person who experiences lots of turmoil in their life probably either deserves it or brought it upon themselves by the choices they made?  Jesus is telling people to be careful.  Instead of spending so much time judging others, perhaps we should be worried about our own humbleness before God and repent where we need to do so.

Are you humble?  Do you have anything about which you need to repent?

Third Thought:

The other situation is a similar one, although notice that Jesus brings this one up to the crowd.  A tower fell on some people in Siloam.  Can we conclude that they must have been more horrible than all the rest because they died horribly?  Can we conclude that God must have had some vendetta against them because this freak accident came upon them?  Of course not.  Sometimes bad things just happen.  What is important is that we analyze ourselves and make sure that we humble approach our God.

Do you ever judge others based on their circumstances?  Do you ever equate your circumstances with God’s love of you?  Why is this dangerous?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 13:6-9