382nd Post Jesus On Judgment Con't. - Luke 13: 2 - 5.

Luke 13: 2 - 5.
Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will likewise perish.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 - 2 years into His earthly ministry. This passage is hard to understand if you don't have the following information. First, our text starts with verse 2, and I think verse 1, should also be included. Pontius Pilate is not spoken of much in the New Testament, so it is hard to know how ruthless he was. When you look at the account the Bible tells concerning Jesus' Roman trial, Pilate looks timid and maybe even afraid of the Jews. Pontius Pilate would do anything he could to make the Jews life miserable. Pilate came across some Jews Worshiping in the Galilee area and killed them. The Jews were supposed to be sacrificing in the Temple, they were wrong but did not deserve death for that. Jesus then talks about a tower is Siloam falling and killed 18 Jews. Were their sins bad enough to die this way? The answer on both is no. Jesus was telling them that if bad things happen to you, it does not mean you were being judged for you sins in this way. Jesus was saying that the wages of sin is death, it will not necessarily come any sooner if you sin. It is like if you know someone who is a bad person and they come down with cancer; the sin did not cause the cancer.