Luke 13:1 - 5 (NLT)

1About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple.

2“Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered?

3Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.

4And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem?

5No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”

5 false assumptions that people often make:

1. Suffering is proportional to sinfulness.
2. Tragedy is a sure sign of God’s judgment.
3. Bad things happen only to bad people.
4. God isn’t always fair
5. We have the right to make such judgments.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

1. God is good all the time!

Psalms 107:1 (KJV) 1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms 86:5 (KJV)

1. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
2. We don’t know the mind of God.

We must acknowledge that human beings, who are not eternal, infinite, or omniscient, cannot expect to fully understand God’s purposes and ways.

1 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)

16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 11:33 - 36 (KJV)

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.