The Walking Dead

(Luke 13:1-5 NIV)
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.’
Tragedy. All of us have faced it, or we will face it. We are going through it, or we know someone who is. Tragedy can take many forms; a serious accident, an unexpected illness, a natural catastrophe, financial collapse, a ruined relationship. The list can go on and on. News flash: Most of life is not “easy peasy”, or “easy as pie”. I never understood the whole “easy as pie” thing anyway. The pies I have tried to make always require a lot of work, and sometimes don’t turn out well!
When tragedy strikes, it seems like our first question is always “Why?” Perhaps you have a friend who is a fitness buff. He monitors his diet, eats all the right stuff, and works out regularly. He doesn’t smoke, drink, or put bad stuff into his body. Then, suddenly he finds out he has cancer. “Why?” Perhaps you have been a dependable, hard working employee for the company for a long time. Management changes, and the new boss does not know your character or past work history. You make a mistake, and suddenly find yourself out of a job. You job hunt for a long time, and the bills stack up. “Why?”
Apparently in this account from Luke, Pilate and his soldiers entered the temple and slaughtered some of the Galileans as they were offering their sacrifices. The Gospel does not provide much detail about what happened here, but I am sure some historical research could provide more information. But that is beside the point. I must assume the Galileans mentioned were doing what they thought they were supposed to do to fulfill their religious obligations. They were in the house of God, a place that is supposed to be safe. I am reminded of the many recent mass shootings that have occurred in places of worship. Why would anyone go into a place of worship and kill innocent people? Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to that question. It staggers my mind to hear of such things. This is an account of unexplainable human violence, an all too frequent occurrence in our day and time.
Then there was what might be considered a natural disaster. The tower in Siloam fell and killed 18 people. Perhaps the tower was old and dilapidated and collapsed. We really don’t know, again, not a lot of detail. Think of those who have lost their lives, and homes in fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Were they worse sinners than those who have never experienced such things? To this, Christ gives a resounding “No! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Unless you repent, you will perish. We are currently living through one of the worst times of political polarization in this country that I have ever heard of. Perhaps the worst. As far as I can ascertain, the basic issue, regardless of all the rhetoric that our political leaders dress their actions up in, is whether this country should remain as a capitalistic-democracy or continue to march down the path of what is referred to as “democratic socialism”, which is an oxymoron itself. The fact is, that line was breached a long time ago, and socialist ideology has influenced the decision making of our government for a long time, but the controversy has grown to fever pitch in recent years. While I do have some definite opinions regarding this matter, I will refrain from making those opinions known, to avoid distraction from the main point.
Political solutions, no matter what ideology they originate from, will only temporarily improve or worsen human problems. The reason is that mankind’s problem is not political. The problem is sin in the heart of man. Sin is that bend in human nature that drives us away from God, our Creator. Sin is the self-will that shakes its finger in the face of God and says, “Don’t tell me what to do! I will do as I please!” It has been that way since the beginning of the life of mankind on this earth. It is the reason why everything on this earth that is done with the best of intentions eventually fails. Sin always creeps in, worms its way to the top, and ruins everything man does that is not done in obedience to, and for the glory of God. That is why every kingdom or empire of man eventually fails.
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” (Revelation 14:8 NIV)
In prophecy, at times Babylon refers to the actual kingdom of Babylon, but often symbolically refers to the lost man’s world system. Man’s attempt to control the world, the world that belongs to God, without God. It is like, if a man owned a business, and he made another man the manager of his business and agreed to pay him a specific yearly salary, or a certain percentage of the profits, and then the manager began to act as if the business belonged to him and refused to run things in the way in which the owner had instructed him. I will guarantee you that the manager would be out of a job as soon as the owner found out what the manager was doing. Mankind brings judgement on himself when he tries to steal this world from its Creator and run things his own way.
Unless you repent, you will perish. Unless we repent as a nation, it does not ultimately matter if we are a capitalist-democracy, democratic socialist, Marxist-dictatorship or any other type of political set up. Without God, we are marching down the rod to ruin.
Unless you repent, you will perish. Education is not the answer to mankind’s problems. We live in an era in which we have access to more information than has ever been available to more people at one time, than at any point in history, as far as we know. With the internet, massive amounts of information about everything you can possibly image is available to anyone in the world with a computer with an internet connection, or even a smartphone with a decent data connection. If you need to know something, go out there and look for it. You will find it. Thanks to youtube, I have learned to fix my own appliances, my car’s brakes, and a host of other things I used to think I was unqualified to do. One thing information cannot do is change your heart. That can only come from a faith that leads you to believe, and obey what God says in HIS word.
God told Adam and Eve that if they chose to disobey Him and eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. They chose to eat and plummeted the entire human race into the abyss of living death. We start our journey towards the grave from the moment we take our first breath. We are truly, the walking dead.
Unless you repent, you will perish. God has made a way out. He has thrown us a life-line. He has stepped out of Eternity, out of the Eternal Now, into our realm of space and time, in the person of Jesus Christ, and He has laid down His own life as the payment for our sin and gives His life back to us as we repent and turn to the Savior. God did not create you to die. He created you to live, but HE is the only One who can give life to you. You cannot give it to yourself, no matter how much you want it. Turn to Him today and cry out for that life.