Repent or Perish
Luke 13:1-5 AMPC Bible
JUST AT that time there [arrived] some people who informed Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
And He replied by saying to them, Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
I tell you, No; but unless you repent (change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost eternally.
Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them--do you think that they were more guilty offenders (debtors) than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?
I tell you, No; but unless you repent (change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost eternally.
Luke 13:1-5 Msg Bible
About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar.
Jesus responded, "Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die.
And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites?
Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die."
Ye shall all likewise perish - All ye of Galilee and of Jerusalem shall perish in the very same manner. So the Greek word implies. And so they did. There was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals. And many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and were literally buried under its ruins.
Suppose ye ... - From this answer it would appear that they supposed that the fact that these men had been slain in this manner proved that they were very great sinners.
I tell you, Nay - Jesus assured them that it was not right to draw such a conclusion respecting these men. The fact that men come to a sudden and violent death is not proof that they are especially wicked.
Except ye repent - Except you forsake your sins and turn to God. Jesus took occasion, contrary to their expectation, to make a practical use of that fact, and to warn them of their own danger. He never suffered a suitable occasion to pass without warning the wicked, and entreating them to forsake their evil ways. The subject of religion was always present to his mind. He introduced it easily, freely, fully. In this he showed his love for the souls of people, and in this he set us an example that we should walk in his steps.
Ye shall all likewise perish - You shall all be destroyed in a similar manner. Here he had reference, no doubt, to the calamities that were coming upon them, when thousands of the people perished. Perhaps there was never any reproof more delicate and yet more severe than this. They came to him believing that these men who had perished were especially wicked. He did not tell them that “they” were as bad as the Galileans, but left them to “infer” it, for if they did not repent, they must soon likewise be destroyed. This was remarkably fulfilled. Many of the Jews were slain in the temple; many while offering sacrifice; thousands perished in a way very similar to the Galileans. Compare the notes at Matt. 24. From this account of the Galileans we may learn:
(1) That people are very prone to infer, when any great calamity happens to others, that they are especially guilty. See the Book of Job, and the reasonings of his three “friends.”
(2) That that conclusion, in the way in which it is usually drawn, is erroneous. If we see a man bloated, and haggard, and poor, who is in the habit of intoxication, we may infer properly that he is guilty, and that God hates his sin and punishes it. So we may infer of the effects of licentiousness. But we should not thus infer when a man’s house is burned down, or when his children die, or when he is visited with a loss of health; nor should we infer it of the nations that are afflicted with famine, or the plague, or with the ravages of war; nor should we infer it when a man is killed by lightning, or when he perishes by the blowing up of a steamboat. Those who thus perish may be far more virtuous than many that live.
(3) This is not a world of retribution. Good and evil are mingled; the good and the bad suffer, and all are exposed here to calamity.
(4) There is another world a future state - a world where the good will be happy and the wicked punished. There all that is irregular on earth will be regulated; all that appears unequal will be made equal; all that is chaotic will be reduced to order.
(5) When people are disposed to speak about the great guilt of others, and the calamities that come upon them, they should inquire about “themselves.” What is “their” character? What is “their” condition? It “may” be that they are in quite as much danger of perishing as those are whom they regard as so wicked.
(6) We must repent. We must all repent or we shall perish. No matter what befalls others, “we” are sinners; “we” are to die; “we” shall be lost unless we repent. Let us, then, think of “ourselves” rather than of “others;” and when we hear of any signal calamity happening to others, let us remember that there is calamity in another world as well as here; and that while our fellow-sinners are exposed to trials “here,” we may be exposed to more awful woes “there.” Woe “there” is eternal; here, a calamity like that produced by a falling tower is soon over.
H. The Importance of Repentance (13:1-5)
13:1-3 Chapter 12 closed with the failure of the Jewish nation to discern the time in which they lived, and with the Lord's warning to repent quickly or perish forever. Chapter 13 continues this general subject, and is largely addressed to Israel as a nation, although the principles apply to individual people. Two national calamities form the basis of the resulting conversation. The first was the massacre of some Galileans who had come to Jerusalem to worship. Pilate, the governor of Judea, had ordered them to be slain while they were offering sacrifices. Nothing else is known concerning this atrocity. We assume the victims were Jews who had been living in Galilee. The Jews in Jerusalem might have been laboring under the delusion that these Galileans must have committed terrible sins, and that their death was an evidence of God's disfavor. However, the Lord Jesus corrected this by warning the Jewish people that unless they repented, they would all likewise perish.
13:4, 5 The other tragedy concerned the collapse of a tower in Siloam which caused the death of eighteen persons. Nothing else is known about this accident except what is recorded here. Fortunately, it is not necessary to know any further details. The point emphasized by the Lord was that this catastrophe should not be interpreted as a special judgment for gross wickedness. Rather, it should be seen as a warning to all the nation of Israel that unless they repented, a similar doom would come upon them. This doom came to pass in a.d. 70 when Titus invaded Jerusalem.
Luke13:3 Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die.
