What Would Jesus Have Said After a Tragedy?

Another mass murder in the news. Another disaster claiming many lives. The number of people killed grows every day. What would Jesus have said about such tragedies? Well, consider something he said in Luke 13.

Jesus Interprets Tragedy Through Repentance

Some Galileans were murdered while they were sacrificing in the temple and their blood was mixed in with their sacrifices. Were they guilty of some terrible sin because this happened to them while they were worshipping?

Jesus said, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Were those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others in Jerusalem?

No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. We live in a fallen world where people die, sometimes at the hands of lunatic psychopaths, sometimes in tragic accidents. Why do these casualties keep happening?

Because of sin. Not because one person's sins are worse than another's, but because all have sinned. The wages of sin is death, the scripture says, and all things have been subjected to futility because of man's rebellion against God.

The Call to Repent Before Death Comes

As long as we live here, people will keep dying in unexpected, unforeseen ways. We will never solve that problem. So what is there to do? Well, Jesus said, Repent. Apologize to him for your sin and he will forgive you.

And on the day that you die, expected or unexpected, you will not perish in judgment. You will live with God forever in a place where every tear will be wiped away and evil and death shall be no more, when we understand the text.