The Day That Jesus Took His Newspaper to Work...Continued from page 1

In verse 4, Jesus turns from the slaughter and reminds the crowd of an unfortunate accident?a tower had collapsed at the pool of Siloam in the southeast section of Jerusalem, and 18 people had lost their lives. Hezekiah had carved this pool out of the rock some seven centuries earlier to provide a water source inside the city walls when the Assyrians had prepared to besiege the city. The Romans had improved the existing water works, and the structure that had collapsed may have been an observation tower or scaffolding for construction work on the aqueducts. It’s interesting that Jesus puts these two events together?one directly attributable to human wickedness and the other to 18 people being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jesus Faces the Unavoidable Question

Human nature has not changed from back then to today, and so as Jesus discusses these two tragic events, he must also face the unavoidable question?why? Why did this happen? Why these people? And the more painful question?why did this happen to someone I love?

Jesus tackles the question of “why” head-on in verse 2: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, ‘No!’” And then once again in verse 4 in case we missed it; “Or those 18 who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them?do you think they were more guilty than all those living in Jerusalem? I tell you, ‘No!’”

There was an idea in Jesus’ day and long before (it still floats around today) that bad things only happen to bad people. When Job had lost everything, his friend (aren’t you glad you don’t have friends like that) Eliphaz came to him and said, “Who being innocent, has ever perished? When were the upright ever destroyed?” Job, if you’re looking for an explanation, then look in the mirror. When the disciples see the blind man in John 9, they want to know: “Who sinned?this man or his parents?” Jesus corrected their theology and told them it was neither; the blindness would serve to bring glory to God.

In Luke 13, Jesus once again overturns the simplistic notion that bad things only happen to bad people. These catastrophes didn’t happen because the victims involved were terrible, wicked sinners. In fact, Jesus’ words remind us that the students at Virginia Tech are no different than the students at UVA, Roanoke, William and Mary, or Liberty.