Queen's Road Cell

 17. The Jews looked at tragedies and concluded that the victims must have deserved it. But what lesson should the people have learned from the sudden deaths (13:1-5)? The people raised a question in conjunction with the idea of judgment in the preceding passage. They linked tragedy directly with personal sin (cf. Jn 9:2). Suffering in this view is proportional to the extent of sin. In response, Jesus raised yet another example of disaster/evil and delinks this from personal sin (the Gk for 'offenders' is 'debtors')  This passage gives insight into the Biblical perspective on moral and natural evil.  Suffering is not directly related to personal sin. Jesus assumes that suffering is what all men deserve. None is innocent. Some will receive judgment in this life, but allwill receive similar judgment in the next. The lesson drawn is that we must 'settle our affairs' (12:58) with God before we are similarly judged. The Bible does not speak of God as permitting evil ...

  Consider the work of God:      who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14  In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15  In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16  Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17  Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18  It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19  Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20  Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21  D...