Unless YOU...
Luke 13:1-9
"There were some present at that very time who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." Gruesome, right?
No one knows exactly what happened here... the details aren’t clear... but most Biblical Commentators agree that Pilate (yes, that Pilate) suspected a group of Galileans was planning a revolt. So while they were making their sacrifices to God, Pilate ordered them killed; on the spot.
That’s why it was said that their blood was mixed with the blood of the sacrifices, because their blood was literally spilled where their sacrifices were made. It was bad enough that Pilate had these people killed, but to have it done in as they worshiped God added a sacrilegious element, for sure.
We know Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The people questioning Jesus may have very well been part of the crowd that was following him; some of his disciples. Many of these followers had come to believe that Jesus was God's chosen One, the Messiah, and that he would lead a rebellion when he reached Jerusalem. Maybe they were trying to incite Jesus to anger against Pilate and the Romans...
All we really know about their motivation comes from Jesus’ response. Jesus knew what they were thinking. From Jesus' reply we can conclude that the people believed that these Galileans deserved to die. That somehow God was punishing them for some sin by allowing them to be killed. In other words: if you’re good (righteous) you don’t suffer, but if you’re bad (sinful) you suffer.
Many people believe that all suffering is the result of some evil that the suffering person has done. Psychologists call it the "Just World Hypothesis." It’s a psychological defense mechanism that we all use to help us cope with death and disease. It’s basically the idea that everything that happens is just and right. In other words, if someone is blessed, it’s because they deserve it... and if someone is suffering, well... it’s because they deserve it.
It’s basically the story of Job. Job lost everything; this home, his wealth, his family... everything. And Job had three friends who came to comfort him by trying to convince Job that he’d had sinned egregiously against God, and that’s why he was suffering so much loss. But Job said... “No!” He refused to accept his friend’s hypophysis, proclaiming instead, “the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Of course, Jesus saw through all of this much quicker than we could. So he got straight to the point. He asked, "Do you (really) think that because these Galileans suffered in this way that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?"
Jesus could’ve condemned Pilate or the Galileans. Instead Jesus made people look at themselves. "Do you think you are better, or more righteous, than these? Is that why they died and you didn't." "And what about the 18 people who died when that tower fell on them? Had they committed some awful sin? Or were they just regular people, like you, who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
To make his point clearer... Jesus told a parable. A man had a fig tree in his garden that produced no fruit. The man had given the tree three years to produce fruit but it produced none. Finally he said to the gardener, "Cut it down, it is using up good soil." But the gardener pleaded with him. "Don't cut it down. Give it another year and I will take special care of it. Then, if it produces fruit, good! But if it doesn't, then we will cut it down."
The people understood Jesus well. The man in the parable is God the Father and the gardener is Jesus. But the tree was each of those who were listening. Jesus was saying, "You are supposed to produce fruit of love and mercy and forgiveness, but I see none. God has good reason to cut you down now. God could let you die just like those 18 the tower fell on, or like the Galileans killed while making sacrifices. But I pleaded with him and you have a little more time to produce fruit.”
Listen: the belief that all suffering is the result of sin, is itself a sin! And we’re all guilty at times. How many times have you and I driven by the homeless, the desperately poor, the oppressed... and said to ourselves, “They probably deserve that...” or “If they would only live right they wouldn't have those problems.”
But what do you suppose Jesus would say? Well... we don’t have to suppose: "Do you think that these people are suffering because they are worse sinners than every one else?"
Before you answer, think. Consider all the evil that people do in this world. Are the poor and homeless worse than all of them? What about the millions who died from cancer and heart disease? Are you any better than them? Do we think you won't suffer because we’re somehow different; maybe more righteous? Or good? "No, (Jesus says) but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
The belief that all who suffer deserve to suffer is wrong and sinful. There is Divine justice; God will do away with the wicked and reward the righteous. But most of us won’t see that level of justice in our lifetime. Sometimes righteous people suffer, and suffer incredibly. After all, Jesus was the sinless Christ... our Savior... yet he suffered.
And Jesus' message to his followers 2000 years ago is his message to us today. We shouldn't be wasting our time trying to determine whether someone else's suffering is a punishment from God.
Instead we should be trying to determine if we are being faithful to God. God calls us to love the lowly and the outcast, to follow him in his ministry of grace and reconciliation, to feed the hungry and bring good news to the poor.
But how do you love the Pilate's of the world? How do we love people whose life-choices are so contrary to the Word of God? How did Jesus do it? How did he love the Woman at the well? How did he reach out to Matthew? How did he show grace to Zaccheus?
He did it by looking beyond their sinful nature. He didn't overlook their sin. Matthew had sold his soul to the Romans. Zaccheus' love of money was destroying him. The Woman at the well had been married 5 times and the man she was currently with was NOT her husband.
But Jesus looked beyond their sin and suffering and loved them. He spoke tender words of forgiveness, he sat down and ate, he said, "Walk with me."
Jesus detested sin, but first & foremost, he loved sinners; he loved them enough to die for them - for us.
And we are called to do the same. Yes, we should call sin, sin. But if we fail to love even one sinner, we have sinned just as much as they. Like the fig tree in Jesus’ parable... our Lord has given us more time. That’s the only reason we’re here. Let’s use that time to share the Good News of Christ... let’s produce some fruit.
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