It was sometimes thought that unusual suffering and death were God’s punishment for unrepented sin. Some will attribute sufferings like disasters as indicative of this. In the above passage, Jesus was asked about an atrocity committed by Pilate; apparently he had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices (13:1), perhaps at Passover time.

Jesus’ answer was clear but his words are tough:”Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (13:2-3 NRSV).

His implication is that we are all guilty before God and justly deserve death. Jesus was saying that men and women are out of step with their Maker – and so too is Planet Earth. Certainly, every earthquake and flood, every conflict and war is testimony to that. Life as we know it is unpredictable and temporary. We need to wake up to this and turn back to God while we have time. Yes, one day there will be a world without pain, but it will have to be a world without sin.

To ignore Jesus’ words is to be heading towards a fate even more tragic than that of those Galileans, for we will be exposing ourselves to the second death (judgement and hell); if we wake up to the critical times in which we live (we cannot be oblivious to the climate calamites, fire, flood, war, disasters, and pandemics raging on currently), we will turn to God and ask for his grace to live our lives in harmony with him.

Jesus went on to say that the choice we have is not only difficult and vital: it is also urgent – and this is the point of the parable that he went on to tell (13:6-9).
Jesus, in the parable, emphasised the theme of delay regarding the timing of God’s intervention and judgement of everyone. His particular point is that we should not confuse ‘patience’ with ‘indifference’. The fact that God does not intervene in a situation of injustice does not mean that he is indifferent. Rather, it is because he is extraordinarily patient exercising great self-control (2 Peter 3:8-9). There are times when we may be tempted to think that Jesus will never return – it is with this parable that he addresses our questions and doubts.

Are there lessons to be learned from disasters and unusual sufferings and pain?

Here we are not attempting to pretend to know more than we can possibly know as finite created beings, and claim to figure out all of God’s reasons for allowing devastations to happen globally, or in our own contexts and lives.

But through God’s Word and through Jesus’ answer to the Galileans’ tragedy, we may get a glimpse into God’s purposes in disasters and unusual suffering. In the OT times, under the Mosaic covenant, God ruled the Jewish nation directly, so He dealt with them as a group that lived within a certain geographical area. Thus there was often (although not always) a direct cause-and-effect relationship between their obedience and the cooperation of natural forces – God said that He would use nature to reward or punish the people. Similarly, God also allowed disasters like wars, famine and suffering to punish the people for their disobedience (refer to the blessings and curses related to the Mosaic covenant).

In today’s context, just as unbelievers are blessed along with believers, so the believers are often victims of disasters with unbelievers. Disasters, illnesses, suffering may strike down people without regard to position, status, age, or morality. And disasters also do not discriminate according to people’s religion.
Nonetheless, natural disasters, pandemics, and various sufferings may indeed be God’s megaphone. He is speaking to us even if He is not saying what some people claim to be hearing. There are lessons we can learn which may be helpful to help us heed the warning of Jesus that unless we repent, we will all likewise perish; there are some clues as to what these tragedies and sufferings should mean for us.

Natural disasters have a leveling effect on humanity; at the moment of death, we are all reduced to the same helplessness.The rich may cling to their treasures but died with those who owned nothing (in the volcanic eruption of mount vesuvius at Pompeii, the exhibit displayed a rich woman clinging to her silver or gold coins and necklaces, dying next to her slaves).

Disasters help us to see what is truly valuable and what is not: tragedy separates the trivial from the important, the temporary from the eternal. Following the aftermath of a disaster, the survivors were not so concerned about the loss of their properties or expensive belongings as much as concerned for people lost and missing. These disasters have a way of prying our fingers off the things we love in this world. Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. LIfe is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12;15).

The suffering and illness of a child or the death of a loved one suddenly gives people a new set of spectacles through which to view the world. True loss reveals if we have been giving most of our attention to things that do not really matter in the end. Tragedy jerks us into reality – it separates time on earth from eternity, this world from the next.

Disasters, terminal illnesses, prolonged and recurrent suffering – they teach us about the uncertainty of Life. People who died from a natural disaster or from a war did not wake up that morning thinking to themselves and this could be the their last day on earth. Unfortunately, few of us believe that what happened to them could happen to us. As a doctor, I have encountered patients who were shocked when told that they were having a terminal disease – they could not believe that it was happening to them.

Tragedies, illnesses, severe setbacks and sufferings, – they rid us off the overconfidence we have that we are in control of our destinies. Sometimes, some of my patients thought they could defy the odds and control their destinies because they believed they were strong – nonetheless, they still succumbed to their illness.

Tragedy, sufferings, illnesses, pain – they end the illusion that our lives are predictable and our future certain. We think of what James wrote: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:14-15).

When disasters strike or illnesses surface and persist, thinking that we have lots of time becomes worthless – suddenly the reality of the frailty and uncertainty of life hits us full force – and we start asking questions about our own eternal future. We simply do not know the countless number of spiritually “content” people who are forced to take God seriously in a time of crisis.

Many survivors harden their hearts against God (I have seen patients who cried to God during their illnesses but end up easily and quickly forgetting about God and the gospel, when during the crisis, they seemed to respond positively). Thankfully, there are those who turn to Jesus in repentance and faith and they continue to walk with God, constantly remembering the lessons God taught them. Nevertheless, we are forgetful people, and even ungrateful people. Even as we watch the calamities, disasters, sufferings from a safe distance, God is saying, “Prepare for your own death…it may be sooner than you think”.

We may not have all the answers to why certain ones are victims of disasters, and why illnesses and suffering seem to affect others more than the rest, for we are not God – nevertheless, let us take heed to the warning of Jesus in Luke 13:1-8 – God, in His extraordinary patience, is giving us time to turn back to Him before it is too late. Are we listening to God’s megaphone??