“He must have had it coming to him.” Isn’t that what we often say when bad things happen to people we know? Oh, we may be sorry for the smoker who gets lung cancer, or the obese person who develops Type 2 diabetes. But being able to link certain behaviors with their consequences allows us to feel like we’re in control of our lives. Yes, we like to believe that if we only behave responsibly and avoid risky behaviors, we’ll somehow be immune from suffering.

But in today’s passage, Jesus shatters such smug self-confidence. In verse 2, He refutes the idea that the worshippers who were killed by Pilate somehow deserved their brutal fate. Moreover, in verse 4, He points out that accidents don’t necessarily befall only the worst of people. And in our more honest moments, we are forced to agree. We all know that attending a music festival in Israel doesn’t earn anyone a death sentence. We all know that just because we get behind the wheel we don’t somehow deserve a drunk or distracted driver plowing into us.

Yes, Jesus is right to remind us that terrible things often happen indiscriminately in a sinful world, and that, however careful we might be, there’s nothing we can do to protect ourselves from all suffering and pain. In fact, unless the Lord returns beforehand, all of us will eventually die.

So, what lesson would Jesus have us learn from the unpredictability of life and the certainty of death? He boils it down to one word: repent. Instead of trusting in our budgets or our diets or our exercise programs to keep us safe, we need to turn away from our sin and turn to the Lord more consistently every day. For either when we die or when He returns, Jesus is the only One Who can truly keep us safe. For on the day we all face God’s holy and righteous justice, it is only those who trust Jesus as Savior and bow the knee to Him as Lord who will have nothing to fear.

So, will we repent? Or will we perish?

Luke 13:1-5 (NASB)

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And He answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate?
3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”