Whenever there is a massive natural disaster or an atrocity, there is a natural tendency to question God, to wonder why God allows such evil and such suffering on this earth. Since we are human beings, and largely self-absorbed and view things very naturally from our own perspective, this is entirely to be expected, that whenever something happens that threatens our beliefs about how life should be that we question God, who is supposed to be in control of our lives and of the world, and who is to be expected to keep bad things from happening to average people. Let us recognize that this is not generally the right question to ask.
If we are people of faith, and believers in Jesus Christ, it would be instructive for us to examine what our Lord and Savior said about the subject of atrocities and “natural” disasters and its lack of correspondence to the spiritual state of the victims in Luke 13:1-5. Luke 13:1-5 reads: “There were some present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
In contrasting two disasters, one of which was a “natural” disaster and the other of which was an atrocity, Jesus Christ pointed out what should be an obvious truth that the people who suffer disasters, whether they be killed in floods or hurricanes or tsunamis, or who suffer atrocities, whether they are gunned down by soldiers or shot by cold-blooded assassins while minding their own business in a movie theater, are not being punished as worse sinners than everyone else. Before we can come to an understanding of why such disasters happen we have to avoid the tendency to blame the victims, which is an extremely common way of justifying the bad things to other people. This is not to say that those people were entirely righteous either. Most of the victims of disasters, whatever disasters may occur, are no greater or lesser sinners than the rest of us, not deserving of special protection nor special punishment beyond that which we all deserve.
Instead of blaming the victims for the disaster, Jesus Christ points to the disasters as providing a lesson for all of us that we should heed. Disasters and atrocities are reminders (as if any were necessary) that we live in a world that has chosen to follow its own wicked ways rather than accept the authority of God and live under his laws. Because we have chosen as a world to live under time and chance rather than to have the predictable enforcement of God’s standards, which we all fall far short of, we have to accept that the rejection of these predictable and just ways will lead to disasters (anarchy) and atrocities (tyranny) that bring suffering, pain, and death into our lives. If we choose death instead of life, God will respect our choice, and give us what we choose.
Not coincidentally, since all human beings have the doom of choice, the freedom to decide whether to submit to God’s ways or to be governed by their own whims and lusts, we must all accept that this freedom can (and does) bring misery and suffering into the lives of others because of the mistaken choices that are made. As the apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 4:12-17: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
If we suffer for righteousness sake, we can expect to receive praise and glory from God for sharing in the suffering of Jesus Christ, who alone did not deserve death and suffering. The rest of us have faults that we are beaten for, but Jesus Christ deserved none of His suffering, which He willingly suffered for our sakes, that we might receive grace and salvation that we do not and cannot merit. It is no credit to us if we are beaten for our faults. We are honored, in a strange way, by having the ability to understand in some small part the unjust nature of this world when we suffer without fault. God knows we deserve enough suffering for our folly and our wickedness on our own.
And that is a point we often forget. We do not deserve life, wealth, health, or the other gifts that God so freely gives to us. This ought not to make us miserable or guilty for having what we do not deserve, but it ought to fill us with gratitude to God for His mercy in treating us far better than we deserve, and to inspire us to treat others better than we think they deserve as well. The problem results in when we take the good things that God has given us for granted, do not appreciate them, and then are upset and angry when we (or others) suffer the natural disasters and atrocities that are to be expected from a world that has wholeheartedly rejected God’s ways ever more progressively and completely over the last few generations.
God does not owe us anything. He created us all for His purposes, and we owe Him everything that we possess, whether life or happiness or possessions or talents. And even though we all want to know why we and others suffer for seemingly no reason, He does not even owe us an explanation. I know, speaking for myself, that I have spent many lonely hours meditating and praying with God, wondering within myself why God has brought the trials of my own life upon me. Over time I have recognized that as difficult and traumatic as my life has been, it has made me a person I would not have been otherwise, passionately devoted to justice for all and deeply considerate of others, qualities I do not think I would have developed without having deeply suffered myself. Having seen a reason for the suffering, I am better able to deal with the path that God has laid out for me.
While pointing out that the victims of natural disasters and atrocities are not any worse sinners than the rest of us, Jesus Christ does point out the ultimate purpose of such suffering for those who witness such disasters, and that is to bring us to repentance in the knowledge that we deserve no better ourselves than those who have suffered and died. After all, as Jesus Christ reminds us in Matthew 10:28, our physical lives are not all there is to be concerned about: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in gehenna.” We ought to remember that if we behave in ways that are worthy of judgment that our judgment will not sleep forever, and we will be held accountable for our deeds. The reminder of present suffering and death out of time and chance ought to be a reminder of the need to pay attention to our eternal destiny, something that all too easily slips our minds.
Edge Induced Cohesion 
Just for consideration in regards to Luke 13:1-5
Josephus War Book 6, chapters –
4. When this accident had unexpectedly happened, the minds of both parties were variously affected; for though one would expect that the Jews would be discouraged, because this fall of their wall was unexpected by them, and they had made no provision in that case, yet did they pull up their courage, because the tower of Antonia itself was still standing; as was the unexpected joy of the Romans at this fall of the wall soon quenched by the sight they had of another wall, which John and his party had built within it. However, the attack of this second wall appeared to be easier than that of the former, because it seemed a thing of greater facility to get up to it through the parts of the former wall that were now thrown down. This new wall appeared also to be much weaker than the tower of Antonia, and accordingly the Romans imagined that it had been erected so much on the sudden, that they should soon overthrow it: yet did not any body venture now to go up to this wall; for that such as first ventured so to do must certainly be killed.
5. And now Titus, upon consideration that the alacrity of soldiers in war is chiefly excited by hopes and by good words, and that exhortations and promises do frequently make men to forget the hazards they run, nay, sometimes to despise death itself, got together the most courageous part of his army, and tried what he could do with his men by these methods. “O fellow soldiers,” said he, “to make an exhortation to men to do what hath no peril in it, is on that very account inglorious to such to whom that exhortation is made; and indeed so it is in him that makes the exhortation, an argument of his own cowardice also. I therefore think that such exhortations ought then only to be made use of when affairs are in a dangerous condition, and yet are worthy of being attempted by every one themselves; accordingly, I am fully of the same opinion with you, that it is a difficult task to go up this wall; but that it is proper for those that desire reputation for their valor to struggle with difficulties in such cases will then appear, when I have particularly shown that it is a brave thing to die with glory, and that the courage here necessary shall not go unrewarded in those that first begin the attempt. And let my first argument to move you to it be taken from what probably some would think reasonable to dissuade you, I mean the constancy and patience of these Jews, even under their ill successes; for it is unbecoming you, who are Romans and my soldiers, who have in peace been taught how to make wars, and who have also been used to conquer in those wars, to be inferior to Jews, either in action of the hand, or in courage of the soul, and this especially when you are at the conclusion of your victory, and are assisted by God himself; for as to our misfortunes, they have been owing to the madness of the Jews, while their sufferings have been owing to your valor, and to the assistance God hath afforded you; for as to the seditions they have been in, and the famine they are under, and the siege they now endure, and the fall of their walls without our engines, what can they all be but demonstrations of God’s anger against them, and of his assistance afforded us? It will not therefore be proper for you, either to show yourselves inferior to those to whom you are really superior, or to betray that Divine assistance which is afforded you. And, indeed, how can it be esteemed otherwise than a base and unworthy thing, that while the Jews, who need not be much ashamed if they be deserted, because they have long learned to be slaves to others, do yet despise death, that they may be so no longer; and do make sallies into the very midst of us frequently, no in hopes of conquering us, but merely for a demonstration of their courage; we, who have gotten possession of almost all the world that belongs to either land or sea, to whom it will be a great shame if we do not conquer them, do not once undertake any attempt against our enemies wherein there is much danger, but sit still idle, with such brave arms as we have, and only wait till the famine and fortune do our business themselves, and this when we have it in our power, with some small hazard, to gain all that we desire! For if we go up to this tower of Antonia, we gain the city; for if there should be any more occasion for fighting against those within the city, which I do not suppose there will, since we shall then be upon the top of the hill (1) and be upon our enemies before they can have taken breath, these advantages promise us no less than a certain and sudden victory. As for myself, I shall at present wave any commendation of those who die in war, (2) and omit to speak of the immortality of those men who are slain in the midst of their martial bravery; yet cannot I forbear to imprecate upon those who are of a contrary disposition, that they may die in time of peace, by some distemper or other, since their souls are condemned to the grave, together with their bodies. For what man of virtue is there who does not know, that those souls which are severed from their fleshly bodies in battles by the sword are received by the ether, that purest of elements, and joined to that company which are placed among the stars; that they become good demons, and propitious heroes, and show themselves as such to their posterity afterwards? while upon those souls that wear away in and with their distempered bodies comes a subterranean night to dissolve them to nothing, and a deep oblivion to take away all the remembrance of them, and this notwithstanding they be clean from all spots and defilements of this world; so that, in this ease, the soul at the same time comes to the utmost bounds of its life, and of its body, and of its memorial also. But since he hath determined that death is to come of necessity upon all men, a sword is a better instrument for that purpose than any disease whatsoever. Why is it not then a very mean thing for us not to yield up that to the public benefit which we must yield up to fate? And this discourse have I made, upon the supposition that those who at first attempt to go upon this wall must needs be killed in the attempt, though still men of true courage have a chance to escape even in the most hazardous undertakings. For, in the first place, that part of the former wall that is thrown down is easily to be ascended; and for the new-built wall, it is easily destroyed. Do you, therefore, many of you, pull up your courage, and set about this work, and do you mutually encourage and assist one another; and this your bravery will soon break the hearts of your enemies; and perhaps such a glorious undertaking as yours is may be accomplished without bloodshed. For although it be justly to be supposed that the Jews will try to hinder you at your first beginning to go up to them; yet when you have once concealed yourselves from them, and driven them away by force, they will not be able to sustain your efforts against them any longer, though but a few of you prevent them, and get over the wall. As for that person who first mounts the wall, I should blush for shame if I did not make him to be envied of others, by those rewards I would bestow upon him. If such a one escape with his life, he shall have the command of others that are now but his equals; although it be true also that the greatest rewards will accrue to such as die in the attempt.” (3)
6. Upon this speech of Titus, the rest of the multitude were aftrighted at so great a danger. But there was one, whose name was Sabinus, a soldier that served among the cohorts, and a Syrian by birth, who appeared to be of very great fortitude, both in the actions he had done, and the courage of his soul he had shown; although any body would have thought, before he came to his work, that he was of such a weak constitution of body, that he was not fit to be a soldier; for his color was black, his flesh was lean and thin, and lay close together; but there was a certain heroic soul that dwelt in this small body, which body was indeed much too narrow for that peculiar courage which was in him. Accordingly he was the first that rose up, when he thus spake: “I readily surrender up myself to thee, O Caesar; I first ascend the wall, and I heartily wish that my fortune may follow my courage and my resolution And if some ill fortune grudge me the success of my undertaking, take notice that my ill success will not be unexpected, but that I choose death voluntarily for thy sake.” When he had said this, and had spread out his sheild over his head with his left hand, and hill, with his right hand, drawn his sword, he marched up to the wall, just about the sixth hour of the day. There followed him eleven others, and no more, that resolved to imitate his bravery; but still this was the principal person of them all, and went first, as excited by a divine fury. Now those that guarded the wall shot at them from thence, and cast innumerable darts upon them from every side; they also rolled very large stones upon them, which overthrew some of those eleven that were with him. But as for Sabinus himself, he met the darts that were cast at him and though he was overwhelmed with them, yet did he not leave off the violence of his attack before he had gotten up on the top of the wall, and had put the enemy to flight. For as the Jews were astonished at his great strength, and the bravery of his soul, and as, withal, they imagined more of them had got upon the wall than really had, they were put to flight. And now one cannot but complain here of fortune, as still envious at virtue, and always hindering the performance of glorious achievements: this was the case of the man before us, when he had just obtained his purpose; for he then stumbled at a certain large stone, and fell down upon it headlong, with a very great noise. Upon which the Jews turned back, and when they saw him to be alone, and fallen down also, they threw darts at him from every side. However. be got upon his knee, and covered himself with his shield, and at the first defended himself against them, and wounded many of those that came near him; but he was soon forced to relax his right hand, by the multitude of the wounds that had been given him, till at length he was quite covered over with darts before he gave up the ghost. He was one who deserved a better fate, by reason of his bravery; but, as might be expected, he fell under so vast an attempt. As for the rest of his partners, the Jews dashed three of them to pieces with stones, and slew them as they were gotten up to the top of the wall; the other eight being wounded, were pulled down, and carried back to the camp. These things were done upon the third day of the month Panemus [Tamuz].
Stay blessed Brother Nathan.
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Josephus – Wars Book 5 -Chap.1, para. 3 – . . . slew moreover many of the priests, as they were about their sacred ministrations. For notwithstanding these men were mad with all sorts of impiety, yet did they still admit those that desired to offer their sacrifices, although they took care to search the people of their own country beforehand, and both suspected and watched them; while they were not so much afraid of strangers, who, although they had gotten leave of them, how cruel soever they were, to come into that court, were yet often destroyed by this sedition; for those darts that were thrown by the engines came with that force, that they went over all the buildings, and reached as far as the altar, and the temple itself, and fell upon the priests, and those that were about the sacred offices; insomuch that many persons who came thither with great zeal from the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and Barbarians, with their own blood; till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of the priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. And now, “O must wretched city, what misery so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans, when they came to purify thee from thy intestine hatred! ‘For thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor couldst thou long continue in being, after thou hadst been a sepulcher for the bodies of thy own people, and hadst made the holy house itself a burying-place in this civil war of thine. Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of that God who is the author of thy destruction.” But I must restrain myself from these passions by the rules of history, since this is not a proper time for domestical lamentations, but for historical narrations; I therefore return to the operations that follow in this sedition.
(from para. 5)
They agreed in nothing but this, to kill those that were innocent. The noise also of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the other; nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their lamentations, because their calamities came perpetually one upon another, although the deep consternation they were in prevented their outward wailing; but being constrained by their fear to conceal their inward passions, they were inwardly tormented, without daring to open their lips in groans. Nor was any regard paid to those that were still alive, by their relations; nor was there any care taken of burial for those that were dead; the occasion of both which was this, that every one despaired of himself; for those that were not among the seditious had no great desires of any thing, as expecting for certain that they should very soon be destroyed; but for the seditious themselves, they fought against each other, while they trod upon the dead bodies as they lay heaped one upon another, and taking up a mad rage from those dead bodies that were under their feet, became the fiercer thereupon. They, moreover, were still inventing somewhat or other that was pernicious against themselves; and when they had resolved upon any thing, they executed it without mercy, and omitted no method of torment or of barbarity.
(Josephus – Wars Book 6 -Chap.2 – para. 1 – HOW TITUS . . . PERSUADED JOSEPHUS TO EXHORT THE JEWS AGAIN [TO A SURRENDER)
And WHO IS THERE THAT DOES NOT KNOW what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them, – and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? For they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen. And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions.”
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Ouch. Sometimes the truth hurts.
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Thanks for adding the Josephus quote there. 🙂
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