Luke 13:1-9
Jesus on the Tower of Siloam
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered,“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 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? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
1 Corinthians 15:1-58
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Galatians 1:18-20
Paul Meets with Peter and Jesus' Brother James
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
Tragedies can happen at any time...And these tragic events have an impact on our thinking and our beliefs...Jesus was once ask about the people of Siloam and how a tower had fallen on eighteen men and they had all died...This event of the Siloam Tower shows how fragile human life is...A tragedy can shorten our lives...Was this falling tower just due to random bad luck?...Was this a national tragedy or a political tragedy involving Pilate and other Romans?...After all, the Romans had invaded their country and Romans were occupying the country of Israel...
As we grow and mature, we look at life from one of two different philosophies or beliefs...So have only two choices about life...As we grow up we make an assumption about life...And this may happen at an early age...We believe that the universe and our lives are all and completely about randomness and luck...Or we view life as something sacred and believe Someone is watching over us...We either believe the world can came out of nothing or we believe it was carefully designed and put together by Someone who is Very, Very Intelligent...We have a either have a belief in God, or a disbelief in Him...And our beliefs get influenced either one way or another each day...When we have something good happen to us or others, and we can see that as pure luck, and that may influence us...We can just think, this is my lucky day, and my luck of the draw, and my randomness is good today...Or we can have something bad happen to us or to others, and it is our unlucky day, and our randomness is bad today...This randomness can lead to a feeling of uncertainty and maybe fear...Which way will this days go for me today, good or bad?...Will my numbered days all be by the turn of pure chance?...If we believe in God, we think that no matter what happens, God is watching us from above...These things good or bad are not just the luck of the draw and of just random bad luck...We believe God has a Plan...One group believes life has no meaning, everything is random...The other group believes life has meaning, and God controls everything...One belief system sees more uncertainty, while the other belief system sees more hope...
Jesus in explaining the tragedy of the Tower of Siloam, teaches us that life is more than man's personal mortality...Life is eternal...Tragedy is not necessarily sin...And if we believe in God, He is with us, even in times of tragedy...There is this real importance of facing our own personal mortality and choosing to believe in God...The timing our our death is not as important for those who died at the tower, but did they believe in God at the time of their deaths...Of the two choices the eighteen could of made, which had each of them make as the tower tumbled to the ground...Jesus reminds us of the importance in this story of choosing God...
St. Paul, who also was a believer, says let us believe that there is not a resurrection of the dead....Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, what will those do who are baptized for the dead?...What has happened to all those who have previously died?... If the dead are not raised at death, why are people baptized at all?...And as for those who preach and get persecuted for it, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?...Paul faced death every day he preached about Jesus...If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained?...If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”...Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”...The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law...But thanks be to God!...God gives us the victory over death and has shown this through our Lord Jesus Christ...Paul believed in the resurrection...
Are these two stories just random, by two unknown and random men?...Is is possible tragedies may happen, but there is this much more overarching plan beyond these tragedies?...Does everything in our lives just randomly happen or there this Greater Good out there?...Is there Something beyond random luck and tragedy?...Can you read each of these stories from the Bible and draw any hope?...Those of faith are drawn to God...Those of faith have hope...
There are those who do not believe in the resurrection on in Jesus...And these two stories of the Tower of Siloam and the resurrection of Jesus maybe will not change their belief system or their philosophy on life...But if you believe that both Jesus and Paul are historical figures, how do you explain Jesus trying to explain to those around Him and to us that there is more to life than the timing of our death, and that is the belief in God...And if you cannot believe in Jesus or that He existed, how do you explain Paul...Almost all scholars and historians believe that Paul existed as an historical figure...And He went to the Disciples after Jesus' death to learn more about Him and wound up writing thirteen books of the New Testament...How do you explain Paul trying to preach the gospel each day and getting persecuted for it, and yet, still continuing to do it?...
This most important question of life is about God...And the question comes down to two choices...You either believe your life is based around random tragedies day in and day out, or you believe that there is this One Almighty Intelligent Creator with His Son above watching down on us...And the Bible and its stories do influence your belief...One, because the Bible is about God and Jesus...And two, as one reads the stories, these stories cannot be dismissed easily...(How can one dismiss all the stories in the Bible)...Three, the Bible is a book about hope and faith...And also a fourth reason, because you, as a believer, see the stories as true...