Repent, Or Perish

A Meditation on the Word of God | Luke 13:1-9

Why do bad things happen? Sometimes we know the answer. Other times, not so much. Sometimes suffering comes as a result of our own stupidity: we do something stupid or sinful and then we have to suffer for it. Sometimes suffering comes because there are wicked people in the world like Pontius Pilate who massacred Galileans in the temple—a tragedy referenced in the Gospel for today. Other times we suffer and, like Job, we don’t know the reason. God doesn’t tell us why. We live in a fallen world corrupted by sin. We live in a world where the devil is active, and he delights in war, murder, and all forms of destruction. We live in a world where death reigns. For these reasons there will be lots of pain all around.

Why were those Galileans massacred? Why did that tower in Siloam fall, killing eighteen people? We might ask similar questions in our own day. Why did so-and-so die of a massive heart attack at such a young age? Why did wildfires destroy so much of California, or a hurricane, North Carolina? We’re always looking to pin the blame on somebody for evil. A common response to suffering is to conclude that people who suffer or die tragically are being punished by God, and so the catastrophe is punishment for a particularly bad sin.

Jesus rejects this. He asks whether the people whom Pilate killed were worse sinners than the rest. No. You can’t work backwards and deduce a person’s sinfulness by the tragedies that happen to him. Job, for example, was an example of uprightness, and yet is visited with tragedy after tragedy. We don’t look to our circumstances to learn where we stand with God. We go to his Word. Sometimes our Father in heaven calls us to sad circumstances to draw us closer to himself and to train us in faith and righteousness: he chastens whom he loves (Heb 12:6).

Jesus isn’t interested in telling us why the Galileans were massacred or why the tower-of-Siloam builders perished in the collapse of the structure. He is much more concerned with our response to tragedy. When bad things happen, how ought we as Christians to respond? Jesus instructs his Church: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. [3]

Whenever we see or hear of a tragedy we are to repent. Instead of standing in self-righteous judgment over and against victims of tragedy, we realize we deserve the same wickedness to befall us, or worse, and that it is only by God’s grace that we are spared and given another day. God’s purpose in suffering is always repentance: he calls us to contrition which means sorrow over sin, and at the same time to faith, or trust in the promise that our sins are forgiven through the death of Jesus on the cross. Repentance means to be sorry for sin and at the same time, to trust in the mercy of God available to us through his Son Jesus Christ.

The flesh reacts just the opposite when tragedy strikes. It rises up in pride and anger against God and cries, “How could you let this happen?” The sinful flesh thinks it deserves a life of peace with no suffering, but faith knows better. We deserve nothing that the Lord gives. May God grant that tragedies, big and small, always lead us to repentance and not a hardened heart—to humility and not to pride—that we may receive his visitation with meekness and faith.