Bible Study series: Luke 13:1-5. Human-caused disasters and evil happen. Be ready or perish.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 13:1-5
1 Some people were present at that very time and reported to him about Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. 2 In reply, he said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all Galileans because they had suffered those things? 3 No, I tell you, but rather, unless you all repent, you will likewise perish! 4 Or the eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them: do you think these were worse moral debtors than all the people living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but rather, unless you all repent, you will likewise perish!” (Luke 13:1-5)
Comments:
1-5:
These verses are about moral evil (murder) and natural disaster (falling tower).
Some teachers say that the Jews of Jesus’s generation will witness the fall of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20), and the stones of Siloam falling on the eighteen are a warning about the stones falling on the Jerusalemites during the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D, 70. Pilate killing the Jews is a warning to Jews of his generation. If they do not repent, they too will perish when the Romans kills the Jews during the conquest of Jerusalem. If Jews of Jesus’s generation do not repent, then they too will perish as the Jews did in the two reports of recent events.
Fair enough. But I will interpret the events as evil happening by accident (tower falling) and by the will of a human (Pilate).
First let’s look at some basic concepts.
“very time”: the noun here is kairos (pronounced kye-ross and is used 85 times), which speaks more of a quality time than quantity. BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the noun as follows: (1) a point of time or period of time, time, period, frequently with the implication of being especially fit for something and without emphasis on precise chronology. (a) Generally a welcome time or difficult time … fruitful times; (b) a moment or period as especially appropriate the right, proper, favorable time … at the right time; (2) a defined period for an event, definite, fixed time (e.g. period of fasting or mourning in accord with the changes in season), in due time (Gal. 6:9); (3) a period characterized by some aspect of special crisis, time; (a) generally the present time (Rom. 13:11; 12:11); (b) One of the chief terms relating to the endtime … the time of crisis, the last times.
All of this stand in a mild contrast—not a sharp contrast—from chronos. Greek has another word for time: chronos (pronounced khro-noss), which measures one day, one week or one month after another.
No scholar (so far) has been able to pinpoint when these events happened, but the Passover is the time when people could sacrifice their own animals (v. 1). In any case, the Jewish historian Josephus says that Pilate was cruel, so this report fits his profile. It is awful to think that these pious Jews were sacrificing animals according to the law (Lev. 1-7), and Pilate killed them on the spot and mixed their blood with animals.
And now let’s reintroduce Pilate.
The Christian creeds remember him as the governor under whom Jesus Christ suffered (1 Tim. 6:13) (see the Apostles Creed). The NT calls him governor while other sources call him prefect (his official title). Pontius was his nomen (tribal name) and Pilate was his cognomen (family name). His praenomen (personal name) is nowhere recorded. He came to power in A.D. 26. He was an anti-Semite. He brought into Jerusalem the insignia of the Roman military bearing the image of Caesar. He planted armed Roman soldiers, disguised as civilians, among the populace. This may have been the historical occasion for Luke 13:1, which says that Pilate mingled Galilean blood with their sacrifices. It is surprising then that he felt pressure from the Jewish authorities to put Jesus to death. However, he could have believed his position in the empire was precarious; John 19:12 says that if he released Jesus he would be no friend of Caesar. The NT writers were eager to show that he was innocent in regards to Roman law. Yet the only way the Jewish Council could convict Jesus was to accuse him of claiming to be king. Pilate’s name does not appear in Judea after A.D. 36/37, and this indicates he was removed shortly after he slaughtered Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim (Holman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary).
Also see Luke 3:1 for a brief biography of Pilate.
“sinners”: it is the noun hamartōlos (pronounced hah-mahr-toh-loss and used 47 times and 18 times in Luke), and it means, depending on the context, “sinful … sinner, of one who is not free from sin; … of one not careful in the observance of ceremonial duties, unobservant or irreligious person; … of one especially sinful = heathen.” BDAG defines the adjective hamartōlos (pronounced hah-mar-toh-loss and used 47 times) as follows: “pertaining to behavior or activity that does not measure up to standard moral or [religious] expectations (being considered an outsider because of failure to conform to certain standards is a frequent semantic component. Persons engaged in certain occupations, e.g. herding and tanning [and tax collecting] that jeopardized [religious] purity, would be considered by some as ‘sinners,’ a term tantamount to ‘outsider.’” Non-Israelites were especially considered out of bounds [see Acts 10:28].)” “Sinner, with a general focus on wrongdoing as such.” “Irreligious, unobservant people.” “Unobservant” means that he did not care about law keeping or observing the law.
Bible Basics about Sin: Word Studies
Human Sin: Original and Our Committed Sin
Do you fail to conform to certain standards? Maybe you did break the demands of moral and religious law. The good news: God promises us forgiveness when we repent. Pray and repent, and God will accept you.
“tower of Siloam”: it was probably in Jerusalem, during a building project.
“When he labels these hapless victims as ‘sinners’ and lumps all other Galileans in the same category, he turns the case into an unwelcome reality check intended to force them to come to grips with the real issue facing them. It is not what Pilate has done; it is what God will do to all sinners. No one stands guiltless before God, and all Galileans alike will perish unless they repent” (Garland, comment on 13:2).
“repent”: used twice in these verses, it is the verb metanoeō (pronounced meh-tah-noh-eh-oh), and “to repent” literally means “to change (your) mind.” And it goes deeper than mental assent or agreement. Another word for repent is the Greek stem streph– (including the prefixes ana-, epi-, and hupo-), which means physically “to turn” (see Luke 2:20, 43, 45). That reality-concept is all about new life. One turns around 180 degrees, going from the direction of death to the new direction of life.
Make no mistake about repentance, because in this context Jesus really is saying, “Repent or perish!”
“perish”: it means, depending on the context: (1) “to cause or experience destruction (active voice) ruin, destroy”; (middle voice) “perish, be ruined”; (2) “to fail to obtain what one expects or anticipates, lose out on, lose”; (3) “to lose something that one already has or be separated from a normal connection, lose, be lost” (BDAG). The Shorter Lexicon adds “die.” The first definition fits here.
“moral debtors”: it comes from one noun opheiletēs (pronounced oh-fay-lay-tayss), and BDAG, which many consider to be the authoritative lexicon of NT Greek, says it means, depending on the context, (1) “one who is in debt in a monetary sense, debtor”: (2) “one who is under obligation in a moral or social sense, one under obligation, one liable for” … “one who is obligated to do something … one who is guilty of a misdeed, one who is culpable, at fault.” In other words, everyone of us should have done something righteous, but we omitted the righteous action. Or we should not have done a misdeed, but we did. Either way, we are moral debtors before God and often before people. In this context, all the Galileans and Jerusalemites were guilty of the sin of omission and commission. Unless the people in the north (Galileans) and the south (Jerusalemites) repent, they will all perish.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
Bible Basics about the Final Judgment
As noted, these verses are about moral evil (murder) and natural disasters (tower falling on people). Or it could be a manmade disaster because of poor construction. In any case, Jesus’s main point in these verses is that theology must not lead people to false conclusions. Just because people suffer does not mean that God has struck them down. If people at Jesus’s time do not repent and acknowledge that he is the Messiah, then they too will suffer. He is about to predict that armies will surround Jerusalem and destroy it (Luke 21:20-24). Many people will perish at that time, because Judaism, expressed in the temple worship, will sit under judgment (Luke 19:41-45; 21:20-24; 23:26-31; Matt. 21:33-45), though numerous individual priests (Acts 6:7) and thousands of Jews of Jerusalem and Judea converted (Acts 2:41; 4:4; Acts 21:20). God loves people, but he is not enamored with systems.
Therefore, Jesus tells the listeners and us not to think that we are morally superior than those who were murdered or those who were killed by a tower. Accidents happen in the latter case (the tower). And if people die from accidents, don’t foolishly conclude that we are good, and they were bad.
Jesus says that these moral evils and disasters are wakeup calls to examine our own lives. We all eventually die. Unless we repent right now, our afterlife will not be pleasant.
Does God Cause Natural Disasters to Punish People Today?
“people”: So “person” or “people” or “men and women” (and so on) is almost always the most accurate translation, despite what more conservative translations say.
In this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or unit or section of Scripture, the doctrine of original or universal sin is being advanced, though it was taught in the OT. We have a sin nature.
Bible Basics about Sin: Word Studies
Human Sin: Original and Our Committed Sin
And our sins—our very sin nature—disqualify us from appearing before a thrice holy God, to justify or defend ourselves before his heavenly tribunal. We need the grace that Jesus brings through the New Covenant, which he is about to launch in Luke 22:14-20.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
GrowApp for Luke 13:1-5
1. How do these verses change your mind about human evil and natural disasters? Did you used to think you were morally superior to victims like these?
2. These verses teach that evil, when it happens, serves as wakeup calls. God did not cause it, but what can you learn from it?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 