Luke 13- Andy's thoughts

Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?

Difficult situations made worse by judgmental people

When Jesus begins to teach the people in this chapter, there existed a preconceived notion about the relationship between a person’s situation in life and that person’s relationship with God. The essence of that thought went something like this- if you were materially or externally prosperous and healthy, then you must be doing something right (right with God and the world). For those who were suffering, it was assumed that they must be sinners who had rightfully earned the displeasure of God.

This ideology is very similar to the mistaken ideology of Job’s counselors. It is easy for us even today to think that those who are doing well financially or socially or physically must be somehow more righteous people. We also are easily led into thinking that those who are experiencing difficult times must have done something bad to deserve it. For example- we may see someone have a bad accident and so we think- they must have been drunk or stupid. We may see someone fall upon difficult financial situations and so we assume that the person must have been reckless or wasteful. Yet this is so much rubbish. There are plenty of good and honest people who still fail financially. There are safe and sober people who get into car wrecks.

Why do we buy into this kind of thinking? Because it gives us a false sense of security. If bad things only happen to bad people, then there is a clear path to security- don’t do evil. By casting these judgmental conclusions upon those who suffer, we delude ourselves into thinking that we will not come upon similar situations if only we “do the right thing.” Folly. Nonsense.

The wicked have long drunk from the well of prosperity. The righteous have long known the toil of suffering. Jesus soundly refutes the kind of foolish and obnoxious thinking that still lingers today. I was so grieved to hear Christian leaders make awful statements after September 11 and Hurricane Katrina or the earthquake in Haiti. These leaders said things like, “the towers fell because America tolerates evil” or “New Orleans was devastated because of their evil” or “Haiti was punished because of their evil.”

As followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to stand up to such foolish judgmental and false leaders. “The rain falls on the just and the unjust,” as Jesus says. We cannot and should not look at the suffering of peoples as a sign of God’s divine displeasure. Woe to those who do. Woe.

I imagine that in Jesus’ time, there were people from Galilee (where Jesus grew up) who knew people who suffered at the hands of Pilate. How cruel the words must have been that said that those Galileans must have deserved it. Or for those people who lost loved ones when the tower of Siloam fell, how absolutely dreadful it must have been to hear the whispers that those who perished must have been really bad people. Good people die in tragic ways. Let us not compound the suffering of the bereaved by our callous and false theological pronouncements.

How ought we to respond to witnessing tragedy? We should be reminded of the frailty and brevity of life. If there are things that we need to make right, we should speed toward making those things right. If there are things that we feel convicted of changing in our lives, then we ought to make those changes. As the saying goes, when we point a finger at someone, we have three pointing back at ourselves. Before we rush into judgment of others at a tragic moment, let us take stock of our own lives and recommit ourselves to lives of penitence, contrition, and repentance.

Doing good in the midst of evil

In the middle portion of this chapter, we read the account of Jesus healing the woman who had been afflicted with an evil spirit that kept her crippled. In his mercy, Jesus freed her. Yet, because this happened on the Sabbath, there were some religious leaders who got offended. These leaders believed that they had God so figured out that they could dismiss a clearly godly act because it didn’t fit their preconceived notion of how God should act.

The immediate implications of the story are clear and yet the extended implications are so vast as to exceed our ability to describe in a few short paragraphs. For the woman in the story, she learned that God is merciful and delights in being gracious. For the religious establishment, they were confronted with the notion that their conception of God might have to change (this comes back to the imagery of new wine needing new wine skins- ones that would expand as the wine did). For the witnesses to this event, they were compelled to acknowledge God’s shattering of the boxes that we keep trying to put Him in.

For us today as we read this- I have a few questions. These questions are for me as well. Are there boxes that we have put God in that he is currently shattering? Are there limits to God that we imagine that he can’t ever exceed? Have we somehow envisioned God in such a way as to restrict His capacity to be gracious? While these questions may sound a bit abstract, I believe that there are some who will read this blog and be convicted of the ways that they have been limiting God. When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing

Dania- you talked about the spiritual and demonic implications of this story. I’m thankful for that. At this point, I have to acknowledge that there are at least two different groups of people who are reading this far into the blog. Some are very familiar with the language of demonic activity and some for whom such language is not only alien but suspect. So to both groups, I will say this. Throughout the gospels, Jesus confronts people inflicted with demonic possessions. It would be impossible to read the gospels and dismiss these passages that discuss evil spiritual forces while at the same time asserting the existence of good spiritual forces.

How did Jesus respond to these evil forces? He showed his power over them and showed his delight in giving grace to those afflicted by them. How should we respond to these stories? I believe that we ought to trust in God’s power over evil and be thankful for his delight in giving grace to those afflicted by evil. This ties back to what I was saying about those who make judgmental statements about those who are suffering. It is our job- not to cast blame or judgment during evil times- but rather to look to and long for deliverance from evil.

So to address the concept that you raise Dania- I do honestly believe that there are evil forces at work in this world. Some of them are rightfully considered demonic, some are human, and some are natural. Regardless of the source, however, as you properly point out- we should not focus on the evil or its source. We should focus on Jesus, our deliverer from evil. When our day of suffering comes, let us not focus on ourselves or the suffering or even its source (though it is very okay to pay some attention to it- let us just not make it our primary focus). Let us instead focus on God, who has power over evil and pleasure in deliverance.

Application:
• How do we respond to the suffering of others?- Do we rush to find a reason for their suffering or do we rush to give them grace and comfort?
• When we encounter suffering ourselves- do we rush to find fault with ourselves and others or do we rush to seek grace and mercy?