On Suffering & Evil

LUKE 13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen 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? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

How did Jesus respond when confronted with the problem of suffering? Many people have a difficult time reconciling the idea of a loving God with a world in which rape, famine, poverty, disaster and death exist. How could a loving God allow such dreadful things to transpire? How could a loving God stand by as Pilate mingled the Galileans blood with their sacrifices?

First and foremost, Jesus is quick to point out that those who suffer such tragedies are not to be judged unfairly. He tells his audience plainly that the Galileans and those crushed by the tower in Siloam were not the worst sinners living in their communities. It is an all too human temptation to automatically assume those who are enduring hardship are being punished. This was the mistake made by Job’s friends who persistently told him his own grave misfortunes were the result of some terrible sin in his life. And of course we know from our own experience that hardship does not play favorites. Life is not so simple that it is only the most corrupted who are in danger of facing devastating ordeals. Even the best of human beings are subject to them.

Jesus affirms this remarkable fact about the world in which we live. However, he then goes on to teach something unexpected. He does not continue by justifying God in the ears of his audience. He continues by telling his listeners that in spite of the fact that tragedy plays no favorites, they nonetheless must repent. The suffering and pain in the world without is great, but it is not nearly so dangerous as the evil within every human heart. And until we remove this great plank in the eye of our own soul, how can we expect to know what the nature of true justice and mercy are? Those who would judge God for being unjust, or those who would deny His existence completely because of injustice, are usually ignoring or dismissing something very important—the undeniable fact (though moderns may try to deny it) that all human beings are in many respects corrupt, unrighteous and unjust. One can easily see the absurdity of a wicked man condemning a fellow creature or even his Creator for not knowing the true nature of justice. Equally absurd is any man on this earth who believes he has reached perfection morally. Surely perfect justice will make sense to a soul that is perfectly just; it will look odd and perhaps even erroneous to a soul that is anything less than perfectly good. We would be sidetracked by philosophical discussions about the nature of right and wrong in order to point the finger at others (or even God), but Jesus brings us back to the crux of the matter—the sin inside our own hearts. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” You cannot right the wrongs of the world without repenting the wrong inside your very own being first.