Well, Luke 13, verses 1-9.
Luke 13, verses 1-9.
And hypothetical questions are irrelevant, aren't they?
! But they can be great fun, hypothetical questions.
!
What if Hitler had defeated the Russians in 1941?
What if I passed those exams back when I was 16?
What if that girl had said yes instead of saying no?
What if I got that job?
What if, what if, what if?
Mao Tse-tong was asked a what if question.
What if somebody asked Mao,
what if Khrushchev, the Russian leader,
had been assassinated instead of President Kennedy?
Mao, the Chinese leader, paused for a few moments,
then he replied,
well, I doubt if Aristotle and Arsist would have married Mrs. Khrushchev.
It's as good as that.
Other questions may be hypothetical, isn't it?
But certain questions are dead earnest.
They're deadly in earnest.
There are lots of questions that people have about Christianity,
but in every kind of evangelistic event I've ever done,
I mean, every Christian explored course I've ever done,
very near the top, if not at the top,
is the question of God and suffering.
God and suffering.
And many people doubt that they can come to terms
with the kind of God that we speak about,
and the kind of God that we sing about,
when they see the suffering that's in the world.
It's a very real problem.
It's a problem, isn't it, for us?
If we want to believe in a loving, all-powerful God,
and yet we live in the kind of world we do,
with all the kind of suffering that we know exists,
it's a problem.
And I have not got all the answers.
You wouldn't believe me if I said I did.
I have just got one, I think, fascinating insight
that Jesus gives us.
Jesus touches on this subject in conversation.
And in chapter 13, verse 1,
it looks like, doesn't it,
those around there have seen the news.
They've read the internet of the latest massacre.
They've been watching BBC or CNN,
and they've seen the dead bodies,
whom Pilate has done away with,
and had their blood mingled with sacrifices.
It's a foul thing.
And they seem to be saying,
well, what do you make of that, Jesus?
For all we're told in verse 2,
he answers them,
and as he answers them,
he gives us a fascinating glimpse.
He gives us something of an insight
into the whole issue of suffering.
So, I've got three points.
I want to look at Christ's question,
Christ's answer,
and then why you should listen to him.
Christ's question.
They ask him a question, don't they?
Verse 1.
Some person at that very time told him
about the Galileans whose blood piled
and mingled with their sacrifices.
And he answers them with a question of his own.
Look at verse 2.
He answers them,
do you think that these Galileans
were worse sinners than all the other Galileans
because they suffered in this way?
And verse 4.
All those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell
and killed them,
do you think that they were worse offenders
than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Christ's question echoes, does it?
Very obviously the question that people ask.
You see, when people are face to face
with tragedy,
the question that springs automatically
to their lips is,
why?
Why?
I think of a family I know.
The two oldest daughters have committed suicide.
The oldest son
has had a brain tumour.
There are three other children.
One of the other children has attempted suicide.
The boy has Asperger's.
And what can you do
when you go and sit with them?
That family.
What can you say?
Let me tell you what you can say.
You can say nothing.
All you can do is sit there
and have a cup of tea.
And you sit.
You listen.
You read a bit of the Bible.
You pray.
And you feel your fish.
Why now?
Why here?
Why me?
And we don't think logically
in those moments, do we?
And we ask the question,
why?
We went on holiday to Kendall
and as a person that managed the flats
and that we live in,
he's a very good friend of ours,
his father went on holiday to Greece
two weeks ago.
He said goodbye to his sister,
the father did,
and he went for a day trip
on a Greek island.
He's not been seen since.
You might have seen it.
It's on the news.
And nobody knows where he is.
They've had scanning helicopters.
This father, he seemed pretty normal.
He's a normal Cumbrian man,
full of humour.
Why?
And I want to say to you,
the Bible knows that question.
In fact, the Bible knows that question
so well,
it devotes the whole book of the Bible to it,
the book of Job.
There are 42 chapters in that book,
aren't there?
Dealing with the question,
why?
And Jesus echoes it here.
It's as if he knows it's on their mind.
And he echoes the obvious question.
He offers,
as he asks his question,
he offers the easy answer.
Do you see that?
Because it seems to be the only solution
that can solve the problem.
If you can link suffering,
if you can link tragedies
with sin and God's judgment,
then perhaps I can live with
an all-powerful, loving God.
If suffering was only allowed in this world
as a punishment directly for sin,
well, I can just about cope with it.
But it doesn't fit the evidence, does it?
You know that.
And that is why we keep asking the question,
why?
Why?
How can you believe in a God
who is so unfair?
Part of the tragedies that we see all around us,
it's not that the particularly sinful die,
is it?
It's not.
The good suffer with the bad.
Why him?
Why her?
Why that family?
And the assumed premise
for all those questions
and all our statements
is that the only solution
to the problem
could be if suffering was God's judgment.
But if suffering
is because of God's judgment
always,
God isn't actually a very accurate shot,
is he?
And Christ just seems to be floating
that kite.
Do you think that these Galileans
were worse sinners
than all the other Galileans
because they suffered like this?
Or those 18
on whom the tower in Siloam
fell and killed them?
Do you think that they were worse offenders
than all the others
who lived in Jerusalem?
And I want to say to you today,
Jesus rejects the easy answer,
wonderfully.
He doesn't buy into it
any more than you or I do.
The Bible doesn't take that line.
He could hardly be clearer.
Could he?
Look at verse 3,
No, I tell you.
Look at verse 5,
No, I tell you.
There are no easy,
glib answers to suffering.
We've got two different types of tragedies
in this paragraph.
Look at verse 1,
you've got Herod's violence.
It's an atrocity.
It's a horrific thing
when you think about it.
And there is no denying
is there human wickedness
in many of the tragedies
that we face.
I think it's tough, isn't it,
to put all the blame on God.
That's what people do.
When very often,
much of the suffering we face
is because of human wickedness.
And that tower falling
in verse 3,
what's that like?
It's like some air crash.
It's like some earthquake.
A tsunami.
The floods.
The famines.
A car crash.
It's very complex, isn't it?
It's so complex
that in the book on suffering
that the Bible has written,
two-thirds of the book of Job
is full of the wrong answers.
So whatever you do,
don't give up.
If you start,
don't give up halfway.
You're just ahead
full of wrong answers.
So those are Christ's questions.
Let's look further
because he doesn't just
pose a question,
he gives the answer to it.
He goes on to give
his own reply.
So secondly,
Christ answers,
Were sinners,
I tell you,
no.
Verse 3,
No, I tell you,
but unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
Were they worse offenders?
Verse 5,
No, I tell you,
but unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
Now notice please,
he doesn't try to explain away suffering.
He doesn't try and explain it away.
Jesus does not pretend
that suffering does not exist.
But rather strangely,
Jesus' reply doesn't need
to comfort you at all,
does it?
It's what a hard message.
It does in other circumstances.
There are other parts of the Bible
that we could go to
where there is great comfort.
Jesus' reply doesn't need to pity.
It leads to warning.
You see,
when we're face to face
with tragedy,
we want to scream out
and we want to say
something is wrong.
Something is wrong.
And Jesus says,
He did right.
Jesus agrees with you.
Yes, there is something wrong.
But Jesus says,
it's closer to home
than we imagine.
Look at it again,
verse 3,
unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
Verse 5,
unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
If we go for the easy answer,
if we think suffering and tragedy
are like God's laser beam bombing,
God's kind of precision punishment,
well, it leaves you and I
so complacent,
doesn't it?
If suffering is just God's judgment,
it's very easy to end up saying,
well, actually,
I'm alright, Jack,
aren't I?
But you see,
when you ask Jesus
about these tragedies
and these sufferings
that are taking place around him,
he reverses that way of thinking.
He picks a tragedy
and Jesus gives a warning
and the warning is,
watch out, Jack.
Not, I'm alright, Jack.
Were these worse offenders?
No.
And unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
Now, what does he mean by that?
Is he speaking that there is some faith
that isn't limited
to selected sinners,
but it is universal.
What does he mean by that?
You will all likewise perish.
But he doesn't really mean
that Pilate's going to massacre
all his hearers.
The Romans are going to come
and wipe them out.
Well, Pilate can't do that
because he'd need this
huge sword
as well as just a tower
falling on them.
He can't even actually mean
that they will all die.
He doesn't mean that, does he?
Because he seems to imply
if they repent,
they will not perish.
So he's not just talking about death.
But repentance
does not allow you
to avoid death.
So what does repentance
allow you to avoid?
Not death,
but God's ultimate judgment.
And repentance
is always linked
to my sin
and my relationship
with God.
And these tragedies,
they are not,
they are not God's
ultimate judgment
on people.
But they are consequences
of living
in a rebellious
and a sinful world.
these sufferings
are vivid illustrations
of God's coming
judgment.
God's coming judgment
on those who will not
turn around
and will not turn back
to him.
And God's judgment
is far more universal
than just some highly
selective group of sinners
that suffer.
unless you repent,
you will all likewise
perish.
Let's try and put this
in the context
of Luke's gospel.
Of all the gospels,
Luke's mustn't just be
treated as a pick and mix
gospel.
It's not a series
of independent stories.
Luke says,
I wrote it
and I've written down
the incidents
in a particular order
so that you can know
the truth most clearly.
So go back to verse 54.
In page 54,
he's speaking to multitudes.
He's speaking to crowds.
And we automatically
assume crowds are innocent.
That's the starting point
for us.
Most people think
they're innocent
but Jesus says,
no, they're not.
He knows that the
average person,
indeed all of us,
are guilty.
We are all those
who've rebelled against God.
And he says to the multitude
a number of things.
Look at verse 54 to 56.
He says,
read the times.
He said to the crowds,
when you see a cloud
rising in the west,
you say at once,
the showers coming.
So it happens.
When you see the south wind
blowing,
you say there will be
scorching heat
and it happens.
You hypocrites.
You know how to interpret
the appearance of earth and sky
but why do you not know
how to interpret
the present time?
Why don't you understand
what is going on
at the minute?
That God
has stepped into the world
in the person of his son
and you are rejecting him.
And in verses 57 to 59,
judge yourselves.
Judge for yourselves.
Use your common sense.
Time is short.
See the picture?
Judgment is coming.
Judgment has come.
Time is short.
So beg for mercy.
Every one of us is guilty.
So the only sensible thing to do
is to throw yourselves
on God's mercy.
Those are the times
you are living in,
says Jesus.
And he comes to our paragraph
and he says,
take the warnings.
Take the warning.
Do you think Jesus judges
just especially wicked sinners?
No.
Those who
the tower fell on them,
they are facing their judge now.
And how long will it be
before you are face to face
with your judge?
So repent
while you've got time.
Turn around.
Turn around from living
your own way
and turn to God
and do it now.
He tells you another parable
in verses 6 to 9
and it's all part of
a series of stories.
And the story really
is don't presume.
It's a little story
of a man with a fig tree
in his garden.
He comes looking for fruit on it
and he finds none.
Now I am no gardener.
I don't know anything
about gardening.
But you can see
his frustration.
Can't you?
He said to the vine dress,
how long have I got
to put up with this fig tree?
Let me pull it up.
Let me stick in something else.
And he answers,
doesn't he?
He says,
no, let it alone, sir.
Let it alone, sir.
Until I dig around it
and put on manure.
Then if it should bear fruit
next to you,
well and good.
If not,
you can cut it down.
You see,
his hearers have not had
any towers fall upon them.
They've not been cut down
in a massacre yet.
But don't presume.
Don't presume.
Where's the sign
that you're bearing
the fruits
that befit repentance?
What are the signs
of your repentance?
That you're living
a life towards God.
Now of course,
all of this has got
very particular reference
to the people of Jerusalem
in Jesus' day,
isn't it?
It may well be
that they've had
three years
of his public ministry
and within a year
their final rejection
of Jesus
will be complete.
They will lay him
to a tree.
And their predicted
destruction
will be sealed.
But every tragedy
that you and I
read about,
that you and I
experience,
is a reminder
of the same warning.
It's not that those
who suffer
are especially wicked.
It is that we will
all have to face
God's judgment
unless we repent.
And that is why,
let me say this to you,
that is why
a world of tragedies
is a very fitting
world for you
and I to live in.
If you're like me
and all too many
of you are,
we are so selfish
and rebellious
that we need
a world
that won't let us
think that it's okay.
We need a world
full of constant
reminders
that if there were
no tragedies
to bring us up short,
if there were no
deaths to bring us
up short,
we might think
God doesn't care
about sin.
But God cares
intensely
about sin.
He cares intensely
about you.
But unless
you repent,
you will all
likewise
perish.
Somebody says,
well,
it's a bit of a
sledgehammer
and a crushing nut,
isn't it,
Jesus?
It's a bit over
the top.
No,
it's not.
Because God's
judgment that we
look at tonight
is a terrible,
terrible thing.
And I am so,
I'm so anesthetized
to my need.
I'm so blandly
indifferent
that I need
to be put in a
world that sets
my nerves
jangling.
That it sets
my mind
screaming,
there is
something wrong.
There is
something wrong.
I need to be
driven
to turn
from my sin
because I
don't do it
and I won't
do it
naturally
or easily.
And it
is mercy
God will
do anything
to provoke
me to do
just that.
It is a
very blunt
warning,
isn't it?
Unless you
repent,
you will
all likewise
perish.
But it is
born of
mercy
and of
love.
So we
have Christ
question
and Christ
answer.
But I
want to
step back
for a moment
and I
want you to
see who
delivered this
warning.
Who delivered
this warning?
Why should
you listen to
such a harsh
message?
Why should
you listen to
this person
as he brings
me a warning
from tragedy
and suffering?
How dare
he do that?
But let me
give you two
reasons.
Two reasons
why you need
to listen
and why you
should listen
and why you
should be
glad to
listen.
The first
reason is
this,
because the
Jesus who
is speaking
here is on
his way to
Jerusalem.
That's the
section we're
in in Luke's
Gospel.
He's in this
vast narrative,
Luke is,
of telling you
Jesus is on
his way to
the cross.
He's on his
way to the
judgment of
God.
Most of Luke's
Gospel is taken
back with Jesus
journeying to
Jerusalem and
Jerusalem is the
place of death
for him.
The place of
the cross.
And what is
the cross?
The cross is
the place of
the most unjust
suffering of
all time.
We talk,
don't we,
about innocent
people being
killed and
suffering.
But actually
none of them
are really
innocent.
none of us
are truly
innocent.
And yet
he was.
He lived a
pure life.
He had
pure lips.
When they
pulled Jesus'
heart apart,
that is literally
what happened
in crucifixion,
they pull your
heart apart at
the cross.
And what came
out of Jesus'
heart?
Not selfishness,
but love.
There was no
thought for
himself for a
moment.
You can
excuse it,
can't you,
at the cross
in that
immense agony.
No thought
for himself,
but thought
for others.
His mother,
behold your
son, he
said.
John, look
after her.
Out of his
heart, when they
pulled it apart,
came not bitterness,
but forgiveness.
Whether it was
for the soldiers who
were hammering the
nails into his
wrists, or perhaps
more likely the
Jewish religious
establishment that
had kind of
finished their
kangaroo court,
Father, forgive
them, they know
not what they
do.
Yes, this
appeal of
Jesus, this
answer from
Jesus, is
from somebody
who knows
first-hand
unjust
suffering.
And that is
why we must
listen to him.
John
Stott writes
in the cross
of Christ,
in the real
world of pain,
how could one
worship a God
who is immune
to it.
I have entered
many Buddhist
temples in
different countries
and stood
respectfully before
the statue of
Buddha, his
legs crossed,
his arms folded,
his eyes closed.
There goes
from a smile
playing round
his mouth, a
remote look on
his face, detached
from the agonies
of the world.
But each time
after a while,
I have had to
turn away, and
in imagination I
have turned
instead to that
lonely, twisted,
tortured figure
on the cross,
nails through
hand and feet,
back lacerated,
limbs wrenched,
brow bleeding
through thorn
pricks, mouth
dry and
intolerably
thirsty,
plunged in
God-forsaken
darkness.
That is the
God for me.
There's a
well-known
poem,
Jesus of the
scars,
last verse,
was like this,
the other
gods were
strong,
but thou
was weak.
They rode,
but thou
did stumble
to a throne.
But to
our wounds,
only God's
wounds can
speak,
and not a
God has
wounds,
but thou
alone.
The one
who delivers
the warning
is the one
who experienced
suffering.
the one
who delivers
the warning
is the one
who went
to the
cross,
not to
suffer just
physically,
but to
take the
judgment,
the spiritual
judgment,
that we
deserve.
That is the
one who
warns.
In his
body he
bore our
sins on
the tree,
by his
wounds you
have been
healed.
Christ dies
once for
all,
the righteous
for the
unrighteous,
the just
for the
unjust,
that he
might bring
us to
God.
Why
listen?
Because he
knows.
He suffered.
And why
listen?
Secondly,
because he's
dealt with
suffering.
That Jesus'
death has
reversed the
effects of
our rebellion.
One writer
puts it like
this,
says this,
the leaves
of the
New Testament
rustle with
the promise
of a new
world.
Don't they?
The leaves
of the New
Testament,
they rustle
with the
promise of
a new
world.
A world
where in
righteousness
dwells.
A world
where there
will be
no sickness
or sorrow,
no pain,
no death.
A world
where all
these things
will be
sorted out.
And his
cross gives
me access
to that
world.
It's one of
those books
written from
the US,
they come out
occasionally,
it's written
by a
child,
the child
was severely
disabled,
he lived
to the age
of six,
six and
died.
It's not a
great book,
but it's a
wonderful title
and it picks
up the promise
of this new
world.
Where There
Won't Be
Any Disability.
The title is
something that
the little boy
had said
that stuck
with his
parents.
It's from
the 1970s,
I won't be
a cripple
when I see
Jesus.
When you
come face
to face
with suffering,
you've got
problems,
I've got
problems,
if you want
to believe
in an
all-powerful
loving God.
We can't
duck them,
but please
don't think
this morning
that if you
remove God,
you've come
to the end
of your
problems.
You haven't.
You've just
got a completely
different set.
You've got
the same world,
the same tragedies,
the same unjust
suffering,
but actually
you've got
no hope.
I'm not
asking you to
believe God
because wouldn't
it be nice if
it were true?
That's not a good
enough ground.
But don't
let's throw
God out of
the window
until we're
dead sure
he's not
true.
We've got
nothing to
lose.
We've got
nothing to
gain by
doing that,
I mean.
Why listen to
that Christ?
Well, he knows
what suffering
is like,
he's faced
it himself,
and he claims
to have dealt
with it.
I was reading
last night's
little book,
and in it it
talks about
finding God
is in the
darkness
little book,
Irene Howard
is written,
and she
tells the
story of
Pat Cardy.
She and her
husband were
living in
Northern Ireland
around 1980,
and their
nine-year-old
daughter Jennifer
went to play
with one of
her friends.
She started
riding her
bike over to
her friend's
house, and
they never
saw her
again.
They found
her body
about a week
later.
She'd been
murdered.
They did
not know
why,
they did
not know
who.
You can
imagine the
parents facing
that situation.
Pat Cardy
relates how
she was
given grace
to make
it through
Jennifer's
funeral.
But then
she talks
about the
following day
when she
did not
find any
of that
grace.
She tried
to busy
herself tidying
up and
cleaning,
but it
did not
work.
She tried
to give
in to tears
as she
saw and
touched
Jennifer's
belonging.
Finally,
she was in
the bathroom,
and there
again were
Jennifer's
own personal
items,
and the
awful finality
of death
for her.
She said
that once
the tears
started,
there was
no holding
back,
and the
violent,
suffocating
sobs kept
coming.
I would
never see
her again.
I wished
that I
too could
die.
She began
as best
as she
could to
call on
God for
help and
for sustaining
grace in
that time.
There
followed
another stream
of bitter
tears as
she picked
up her
copy of
Daily Light,
which was
there in
the bathroom.
She said,
I could read
nothing.
My tears
were unwipeable
as well as
unstoppable.
Twice I
tried to
read,
but I could
not.
The third
time I
read these
words more
clearly.
And God
shall wipe
away all
tears from
their eyes,
and there
shall be no
more death,
neither sorrow,
nor crying,
for the
former things
have passed
away.
Why
listen to
Jesus Christ
this morning?
Because he
knows what
suffering is.
He's
faced it
himself and
he claims
to have
dealt with
it.
And he
offers to
lead you to
that world
where suffering
will be
removed.
He's
taken the
initiative,
isn't it?
It's an
amazing gesture
of love.
And he
says,
I love
you.
He
says,
stop the
war.
Stop the
war against
me.
Stop living
your life
your way
and turn
to me
and repent.
They
face him
with a
tragedy,
the latest
tragedy.
And as
he replies,
he makes
it clear,
the tragedies
are not
just meant
to leave
me pitying
the sufferers
only,
but they
are meant
to leave
me listening
to the
warning.
to live
on myself
without
repenting
is simply
to live
on borrowed
time.
And he
answered them,
do you
think that
these Galileans
are 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.
Please do
not walk
out of
these doors
and ignore
the warning.
Come
again,
speak to
me,
call to
God.
I'm very
aware this
morning that
there are
lots of
questions about
suffering that
I've not
answered.
And the
topic is
very,
very painful.
I'd be
glad to
try and
share some
of the
Bible with
you.
I know
David Barnes
did an
excellent
seminar at
the church
weekend.
I'm sure
he would
talk to
you about
it.
We'll
be hovering
around.
There
was some
present and
they asked,
do you
think that
they were
worse
sinners,
those
people in
Nairobi,
the latest
victims in
our city,
those who
died in
Nigeria?
No, of
course not.
But unless
you repent,
you will
all likewise
perish.
Let's pray.