I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
The saying answers a report brought to Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate slew at the altar while they were offering sacrifices, whose suffering the hearers assumed proved they were worse sinners deserving punishment for their sins. Jesus denies that those Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things, and denies that the eighteen killed when the tower in Siloam fell were sinners above all who lived in Jerusalem, and warns His hearers that unless they repent they will all likewise perish. The Galileans killed by Pilate's soldiers while offering sacrifices were not to be singled out as worse than others.
Calamity does not prove its victims were more sinful than others or less favored by God, and escaping calamity does not prove greater goodness or divine favor. Good and evil people live together and calamities come upon all, so suffering is not always punishment for personal sin, though those who pass beyond God's protecting care may be exposed to Satan's power. Blaming afflicted people's troubles on their sins and on God's judgment is a cruel way of treating suffering that adds to their burden. The warning therefore calls everyone to repent rather than condemn those who suffer.
Jesus turns the report of violence into a universal call for all hearers to humble their hearts and repent of their sins rather than condemn those who suffer. Calamities falling on individuals are warnings from God to a nation equally guilty. The storm of vengeance was gathering to burst soon upon all who had not found refuge in Christ. With prophetic meaning the warning looks forward to Jerusalem besieged by armies, with the tramp of aliens marching against the chosen city, and thousands upon thousands perishing in the siege, many like those Galileans slain in the temple courts in the very act of offering sacrifice. For a little time the day of probation still lingered, with time left to know the things belonging to their peace.
The saying belongs to Christ's warning about the coming kingdom of God, in which ignorance and indifference toward the signs of the times pointing to His mission brought reproof. It joins a warning of judgment to an invitation of mercy, placing God's justice and judgment in relation to His mission of mercy. That relation belongs to Christ's teaching that He came to save men's lives and not to destroy them, and that God sent His Son to save the world and not to condemn it, a relation illustrated by the parable of the barren fig tree.
All must repent or perish, making repentance central to the gospel message. Repentance is not merely professing belief in Christ without regard to past sins, nor merely a desirable emotion. It involves sorrow for sin, confession, a broken and contrite heart, and turning from rebellion. The sinner must recognize transgression of God's law and exercise repentance toward God with faith in Jesus Christ, and those who come to Christ in true repentance are accepted by Him. The call requires decisive action against sin, pictured by plucking out the right eye and cutting off the right hand, with hidden depravity carefully examined and uprooted.
The saying answers a report brought to Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate slew at the altar while they were offering sacrifices, whose suffering the hearers assumed proved they were worse sinners deserving punishment for their sins. Jesus denies that those Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things, and denies that the eighteen killed when the tower in Siloam fell were sinners above all who lived in Jerusalem, and warns His hearers that unless they repent they will all likewise perish. The Galileans killed by Pilate's soldiers while offering sacrifices were not to be singled out as worse than others.
Calamity does not prove its victims were more sinful than others or less favored by God, and escaping calamity does not prove greater goodness or divine favor. Good and evil people live together and calamities come upon all, so suffering is not always punishment for personal sin, though those who pass beyond God's protecting care may be exposed to Satan's power. Blaming afflicted people's troubles on their sins and on God's judgment is a cruel way of treating suffering that adds to their burden. The warning therefore calls everyone to repent rather than condemn those who suffer.
Jesus turns the report of violence into a universal call for all hearers to humble their hearts and repent of their sins rather than condemn those who suffer. Calamities falling on individuals are warnings from God to a nation equally guilty. The storm of vengeance was gathering to burst soon upon all who had not found refuge in Christ. With prophetic meaning the warning looks forward to Jerusalem besieged by armies, with the tramp of aliens marching against the chosen city, and thousands upon thousands perishing in the siege, many like those Galileans slain in the temple courts in the very act of offering sacrifice. For a little time the day of probation still lingered, with time left to know the things belonging to their peace.
The saying belongs to Christ's warning about the coming kingdom of God, in which ignorance and indifference toward the signs of the times pointing to His mission brought reproof. It joins a warning of judgment to an invitation of mercy, placing God's justice and judgment in relation to His mission of mercy. That relation belongs to Christ's teaching that He came to save men's lives and not to destroy them, and that God sent His Son to save the world and not to condemn it, a relation illustrated by the parable of the barren fig tree.
All must repent or perish, making repentance central to the gospel message. Repentance is not merely professing belief in Christ without regard to past sins, nor merely a desirable emotion. It involves sorrow for sin, confession, a broken and contrite heart, and turning from rebellion. The sinner must recognize transgression of God's law and exercise repentance toward God with faith in Jesus Christ, and those who come to Christ in true repentance are accepted by Him. The call requires decisive action against sin, pictured by plucking out the right eye and cutting off the right hand, with hidden depravity carefully examined and uprooted.