Bad Things and Good People
1 There were some present at that very time who told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
If there’s anything in life that turns us all into philosophers, it is the age-old problem of evil. If God is good, why is there evil? What can a good and gracious God intend by allowing calamities to fall upon His children? We can understand why the bad guys get theirs, but when tragedy strikes the good and upright, we get a bit uptight. “Why can’t God be fair?” we wonder. “Where is the justice in this?” You know the questions; they pop up whenever the plot thickens in anyone’s life: “Why did my father have to die? Why did I lose my job? Why did my spouse leave me? Why did God allow this to happen?” The people in the Gospel text from St. Luke had the same sort of questions. “Why did Pilate kill the Galileans while they were worshiping in God’s temple?”
We keep thinking that we ought to be rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. Only bad people ought to suffer. But that’s not the way it works in the kingdom of God. If you want to see how God operates, just take a look at the cross of Christ. There God meted out the just penalty for all sin. But He punished the wrong person! Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was without sin. He had done nothing wrong. But there on the cross, God balanced the scale of justice. All the weight of all the sins of all the people in all the world was placed on Him. The weight of that guilt killed Him. The only innocent man who ever lived was offered as the stand-in victim for the sins of the whole world. Bad things happened to a good man. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the good things of God were passed on to all the bad people of the world.
“Unless you repent,” says Jesus, “you will all likewise perish.” Now that is straight talk. In our world we measure worth and status by our accomplishments, our bank accounts, and our standing in society. So it is only natural that we carry this attitude over to our relationship with God. We think that what matters is that we’re above average, that we are better than the next guy, and we have the idea that God must be fairly well-satisfied with us. Yet each of us, in his or her own way, stands guilty before God. Despite our good reputations and the admiration of our peers, we are all as guilty as sin. We stand condemned by the evil things we have done and by the good things we have left undone.
Thanks be to God that there is only one thing that really matters: Jesus Christ and His cross-His redeeming blood, shed for us. The forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation earned for us long ago are conveyed in the washing of His Baptism, in the eating of His Holy Supper, and in the Word of His Gospel absolution. Despite the evil in our world, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). It’s not fair! Thanks be to God-it’s grace. This is God’s own solution to the problem of evil.
Thanks be to God. He does all things well.
To God be the Glory,
Pastor Ray
1 There were some present at that very time who told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
If there’s anything in life that turns us all into philosophers, it is the age-old problem of evil. If God is good, why is there evil? What can a good and gracious God intend by allowing calamities to fall upon His children? We can understand why the bad guys get theirs, but when tragedy strikes the good and upright, we get a bit uptight. “Why can’t God be fair?” we wonder. “Where is the justice in this?” You know the questions; they pop up whenever the plot thickens in anyone’s life: “Why did my father have to die? Why did I lose my job? Why did my spouse leave me? Why did God allow this to happen?” The people in the Gospel text from St. Luke had the same sort of questions. “Why did Pilate kill the Galileans while they were worshiping in God’s temple?”
We keep thinking that we ought to be rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. Only bad people ought to suffer. But that’s not the way it works in the kingdom of God. If you want to see how God operates, just take a look at the cross of Christ. There God meted out the just penalty for all sin. But He punished the wrong person! Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was without sin. He had done nothing wrong. But there on the cross, God balanced the scale of justice. All the weight of all the sins of all the people in all the world was placed on Him. The weight of that guilt killed Him. The only innocent man who ever lived was offered as the stand-in victim for the sins of the whole world. Bad things happened to a good man. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the good things of God were passed on to all the bad people of the world.
“Unless you repent,” says Jesus, “you will all likewise perish.” Now that is straight talk. In our world we measure worth and status by our accomplishments, our bank accounts, and our standing in society. So it is only natural that we carry this attitude over to our relationship with God. We think that what matters is that we’re above average, that we are better than the next guy, and we have the idea that God must be fairly well-satisfied with us. Yet each of us, in his or her own way, stands guilty before God. Despite our good reputations and the admiration of our peers, we are all as guilty as sin. We stand condemned by the evil things we have done and by the good things we have left undone.
Thanks be to God that there is only one thing that really matters: Jesus Christ and His cross-His redeeming blood, shed for us. The forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation earned for us long ago are conveyed in the washing of His Baptism, in the eating of His Holy Supper, and in the Word of His Gospel absolution. Despite the evil in our world, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). It’s not fair! Thanks be to God-it’s grace. This is God’s own solution to the problem of evil.
Thanks be to God. He does all things well.
To God be the Glory,
Pastor Ray