NO ONE WORSE OFF THAN ANOTHER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Luke 13:1-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you see yourself as better than someone else?

I think we have all done this at some time or another, measuring ourselves against our peers in some way.

Perhaps we do it out of a sense of competition, driven to excel and rise above the norm. We don’t want to fit in with the status quo and so we size up those around us and commit to be better than they are in some way, whether in the workplace, in sports, within our own families, and, yes, even in the church.  

Or maybe we do it to make ourselves feel better, to somehow take away our guilt for wrongs we may have committed by comparing them to something someone else did that was much worse. We might say to ourselves, “What I did was bad but at least it wasn’t as bad as what (fill in the blank) did.” This attitude would invoke the “two wrongs don’t make a right” principle but of course, the person trying to appease their own conscience won’t want to hear that.

Keep these thoughts fresh in mind because we are going to head back in time, more than 2,000 years ago, to the days of Jesus where we will see that this matter of one better than another is really a useless discussion. For through the words of our Savior, we are reminded that we are all in the same position and in need of the same thing to truly have victory in life. And we learn that it isn’t a matter of one against another but rather one that communicates the truth that we’re all in this thing called life together. Look at what Jesus said again here as we look at the opening five verses of Luke 13:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  Luke 13:1-5

There was a belief back in the days of Jesus, especially among the Jews, that if you were suffering in some way it was because you had sinned and were thus subject to God’s judgment which could take the form of any number of punishing events. The underlying attitude was that if someone else was experiencing agony and misery in some way it was because they had earned the punishment through their transgressions and this put them at a level below everyone else who wasn’t going through some form of hardship or torment.

In today’s passage, we find some people who were present in a crowd He had been teaching bringing a terrible event that had taken place to Jesus’ attention, one that involved some Galileans, the region where Jesus hailed from. It seems these Jews were bringing sacrifices to God when they were killed by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Here’s how the Good News Translation states verse 1:

“At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God.” Luke 13:1 GNT

We sense that within the hearts of those reporting this to Jesus, there was a belief that the Galileans had gotten what they must have deserved, that God was exacting His displeasure with them through the death penalty they received. But note that Jesus was going to have none of that thought process because He quickly asked this question to the people in the crowd:

“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?”

Which He followed by answering His own question:

“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Jesus’ point was clear, one that Paul would put into words later when he penned:

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

There was no bar set for sin where one would face judgment only of they exceeded it, no threshold that would trigger God’s punishment. No, everyone was a sinner and thus everyone was subject to God’s wrath and retribution, their very sins making them an enemy of God.

The only way out of this dilemma was to place one’s faith and hope in Jesus as Savior because no one possesses the ability to save themselves. Choosing not to do this was simply opting to not repent, deciding not to turn from wickedness toward righteousness. And ultimately, selecting this way of living would only lead a person to one place and that was a place of perishing.

Jesus could have stopped there but as we see, He wasn’t through driving His point home. This time He mentions a recent tragedy, one that took place in Siloam as a tower fell and killed eighteen people. This was followed with yet another question which Jesus answered on His own:

“Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”

“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 

Again, the point was made. There was no one worse off than another. No Jew was in any less need of salvation than another. All would perish from their iniquities if they failed to turn away from their sins and give their lives to Jesus.

The Jews who were present as Jesus shared these words were seeing and listening to the Savior of the world, the predicted and long awaited Messiah who had come to free all people from the bondage of sin, the Lamb of God who would be sacrificed to atone for the transgressions of all mankind.

If only their eyes would have been open to their fallen state and their need for redemption.

Indeed, if people today would stop trying to “one up” one another and see that we’re all in this thing called life together, all sinners in need of a Savior who brings a victory to anyone who chooses to place their faith, hope, and trust in Him.

Instead of all trying to be better than one another, let’s try to make sure we are all winners through Jesus Christ. Let’s put our energy toward doing what we can to ensure everyone is on the team that will receive salvation one day, claiming the ultimate win ever and doing it together.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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