Now there were some present at
that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with
their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ADo
you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans
because they suffered this way? 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
themCdo you
think they were more guilty than all the others living in
Just recently I was able to meet up with my old German professor from college. He was a very intimidating man who knew the power of negative enforcement. When I was not prepared for translation, he would absolutely humiliate me and others in the class, and even resort to an occasional thwap on the head. I now look back on those days and laugh about them, because they taught me humility and hard work. When I saw him again, I joked with him about what he had done to me. He simply said, Athere is such a thing as cause and effect.@ In other words, I got what I had coming to me. Probably true.
This is the way people look at this world - as if it were a huge arena of checks and balances that somehow all work out in the end. AYou get what is coming to you.@ Within the confines of religion - even so called Christian religion - this is even preached ad nauseam. How so? Listen to preachers on the Internet and on television talk about Christian lifestyle. They will say, Awhen you follow these Biblical principles of investment or parenting - God will bless your efforts.@ How? Oh, with riches or obedient children or a host of other effects. This is partially true. God does promise, for instance, in the Fourth Commandment and in Ephesians 4 that when you honor your father and mother it will go well with you - and you will live a long life on the earth. God does Areward@ Agood behavior@ in some sense throughout the world. Law abiding citizens generally experience peace. Hard working people experience prosperity. We do live in a world of checks and balances - to a point.
But then there=s those anomalies - those things that
make us scratch our heads - that make us wonder. There are those instances that make us
question whether God really is in charge or not. The writer to the Ecclesiastes quipped, AI have seen something else under the
sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come
to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and
chance happen to them all.@ (
Those were the kinds of things that made people come to Jesus with their question in today=s text. The Awhat in the world was the reason behind that one@ kind of question. The one involved violent death of some Galileans. The other involved a random death of some people in Siloam. How would Jesus answer both of these seeming anomalies? There were no great philosophical debates - or deep theological answers. All He simply said was -
Repent
Let=s
take a few moments to look at both the scenarios of deaths. Let=s
look at the first one. Now there were
some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate
had mixed with their sacrifices. There has been some speculation by
commentators about what this is exactly talking about. In another passage in Acts chapter 5, it
refers to a Galilean who was a rebel.
Acts
However, what we do know is that it was a violent and painful crackdown. Listen to what Jesus said. Jesus answered, ADo you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Jesus specifically mentioned the SUFFERING that coincided with the death. He recognized that some thought that they died this way - painfully - because of their sins. It was a system of checks and balances that they had in their minds.
Isn=t this the way we tend to think as well? There was a well known and faithful pastor who inevitably got Alzheimer=s disease in his old age. Some of his old members were troubled at that thought. He was so sharp and wise - it didn=t seem right that he - of all men - would have to go through such embarrassment and pain in old age. You see, we all have this system in our minds - that if we=re really faithful and really good Christians - that maybe God will grant us our best dreams - and help us die in our rocking chair at home during a nap. None of us wants to suffer a long time - to go to a nursing home - or to slowly but surely fade away. When we do - we can=t help but think to ourselves, AGod is paying me back for things I did in my youth.@
Such a thought completely betrays the whole concept of the cross. Jesus said Ait is finished@ on the cross. That means that ALL of your sins were paid for in full. He did not reserve a few years of Alzheimer=s for you - or a few months of back pain. That=s not how the Gospel works. The Gospel says that all was paid for on the cross. Period. Suffering a violent death is not some sort of payback for the violence you performed in this life. Such a claim denies Jesus, and Jesus also denies such a claim. The concept of capital punishment and justice under the government is also not a payback for sin - some sort of eternal justice that makes up for what was done. It is simply a way to keep law and order in a sinful world.
Let=s
now look at the second scenario - it involves more of a random death. Or those eighteen who died when the tower
in Siloam fell on themCdo
you think they were more guilty than all the others living in
It would be nice if life always worked that way. Yet it rarely if ever does. Untimely deaths and freak accidents happen all the time. Yet Jesus denies that they have anything to do with someone having more guilt than others. Often it happens that the very opposite happens - those you wish would have a tower fall on them rarely escape - while the ones you want to live end up dying. This is what irritated Job to no end - and he let God know about it - even accusing God of not caring. He said in Job 21:7‑15
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them.
Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute.
They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
Yet they say to God, >Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
This was the big difference that made Job an enemy with his former friends. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar all assumed that Job was suffering and his children died because of sin and guilt. Job knew that it had nothing to do with that. They were not getting some sort of divine retribution for what he or they had done. This sort of thinking just is not right. Jesus denies such logic.
This kind of Afaith@ - that demands checks and balances in thiss life - really is no faith at all. It is what we would call a theology of glory - that demands that everything work out according to a visible system - that all wrongss must turn out right in a visible and understandable sort of way on this side of heaven. What we need to understand again - is that faith is not about what always makes sense. Faith is to believe in what God says - even when it does not appear so. It believes it all works out for good - even when everything says it is not. That=s why God calls Himself a HIDDEN God. Life isn=t always so neat and clean.
But Jesus takes it a step further. If Jesus were a modern day theologian, how would he answer this question? Go to almost any funeral - and you will get the answer. ADon=t worry about these eighteen. Have no fear over those Galileans! They were all good people! They are all in heaven! They=re looking down over us now - helping us in our lives!@ It makes me want to vomit. What did Jesus say to both scenarios? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. This is the key point that Jesus repeats both times. Do you see what Jesus is saying? Do you understand how He answers the common Asystem@ of checks and balances? He tilts the scale in the exact opposite direction and takes it a step further than anyone was thinking. How so? Notice what Jesus says, Aunless you repent, you TOO will ALL PERISH.@
The first question we have to answer is, Awhat does >perish= mean@? In the Greek, it is the word ajpovllumi. This word is used throughout Scriptures. For instance, look at these cross references.
Mark
1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians
In all of these cross references, Paul and Jesus do not use the word to refer to physical death - but eternal death in hell as a result of unbelief. I have not cherry picked these references. It is constant throughout. It shows us - without a doubt - that Jesus is referring to hell.
What does this mean? It means that Jesus insinuated that these people who died in the violent and freakish accidents did not just die - they ended up in hell. Jesus used the word Atoo.@ You TOO will all perish. Here=s the big picture. Jesus wasn=t just saying that some end up in hell as a result of doing really bad things - but all end up in hell - unless they repent. I know, I may sound like some completely wing nut hell and firestorm kind of preacher with this - but it is in keeping with the Scriptures. The Scriptures DO NOT assume that most if not all go to heaven - as long as they are pretty good. Listen carefully again to these cross references from Jesus and Paul.
Matthew 7:13‑14 AEnter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Romans 3:9‑10 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: AThere is no one righteous, not even one;
Ephesians 2:1‑3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Again, what is the picture you get of this world of people? A world of Agood people@ all headed to heaven? Or a world of evil people all destined for hell if they are not rescued? Jesus was clear and firm in his answer. Unless you repent you TOO will ALL PERISH. Life isn=t about a system of checks and balances. If everyone got what they deserved -they would all end up in hell no matter how they die.
If this system that Jesus presents terrifies you - if you believe it - do not give up hope. Listen on. For what did Jesus say to those who were troubled over Siloam and the Galilean slaughter? Jesus told them to Arepent.@ John the Baptist also preached the same message - as well as the apostles and prophets. But what does Arepent@ exactly mean? There are some who put this word of Arepentance@ back into their own system of checks and balances. They think that Jesus is giving a new system to work out the wrongs you=ve done by performing his own version of rights. But that=s not what repentance means. Repentance means literally to Achange your mind.@ Stop thinking that some people get it because they deserve it - while others don=t. Everybody deserves it. That=s what Jesus is saying. Repentance starts with confessing that you are sinful in your heart and core - that you can do nothing to make up for it - to somehow escape an eternal punishment. If everyone is bound and born for hell - stop thinking about what you can do to get out of it. You can=t do anything to get out of it.
Yet change of mind doesn=t
only involve admitting who you are - but it also wants you to think about who
Jesus is and what HE has done. Jesus
said of Himself in Mark 10:45, AFor even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.@ John the Baptist constantly included a
message of hope and forgiveness in with his message of repentance. In Mark
Luther said in his first of 95 Theses - the thing that started the whole Reformation - he said,
AWhen our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ARepent@, he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. (LW 31:83)
This is what the whole heart and core of Christianity is. We all - from the greatest of us to the least - need to daily confess that we are in and of ourselves nothing - and that Christ is everything. Jesus is our holiness. He is our righteousness. He is our perfection. From the day of our conception to the day of our death, unless we are found in him, we too will all perish in hell. No matter how we die, painfully, randomly, or normally - without repentance - we will end up in hell. This is the only way out - through despairing of ourselves and clinging only to Christ. This is why Jesus Himself said, AI am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father, except THROUGH ME.@ This is what repentance confesses and clings to.
In an age of Tsunamis, earthquakes, and violent tornados it is difficult to see the rhyme and reason to life. People wonder Awhere is God@ in the face of such disaster. They want to know why some die in such violent and such random ways. They look for cause and effect. What is the answer? All death is the effect of living in a sinful and fallen world. Like it or not - you too will die. It could come violently. It could come randomly. It could come Anormally.@ Either way - it will come. Like it or not - you deserve worse than death - eternal hell. There is only one way to get through it. God caused all of the sins of the world to come on Jesus= shoulders on the cross. God declared that the only way to get out from the punishment of hell is to repent and believe in Christ. Confess who you are - a sinner who has deserved hell. Confess who Christ is - your Savior. Then the effect will be eternal life - resurrection from the dead - freedom from sin, guilt and hell. Repent may seem like a simple answer - yet it is the answer that Jesus gives us. It is the only message of hope. Believe it and be saved. Amen.