Luke 13:3

Ye shall all likewise perish - All ye of Galilee and of Jerusalem shall perish in the very same manner. So the Greek word implies. There was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals.

And we might as justly conclude that the oppressors, and Pilate among the rest, on whose side are power and success, are the greatest saints, as that the oppressed, and those Galileans among the rest, who are all in tears and have no comforter, no, not the priests and Levites that attended the altar, are the greatest sinners.

It must moderate our censure, not only that we are sinners, but that we are as great sinners as they, have as much sin to repent of as they had to suffer for. (2.) That therefore we are all concerned to repent, to be sorry for what we have done amiss, and to do so no more. The judgments of God upon others are loud calls to us to repent.

Whoever they were, it was a sad story; yet such melancholy accidents we often hear of: for as the birds are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them, Eccl. ix.

The parable of the fruitless fig-tree, by which we are warned to bring forth fruits meet for that repentance to which he had in the foregoing passage called us,

The murder of the Galileans, mentioned in the first verse of this passage — is an event of which we know nothing certain. We are left to conjecture what the motives were, of those who told our Lord of the event. At any rate, they gave Him an opportunity of speaking to them about their own souls, which He did not fail to employ. He seized the event, as His manner was, and made a practical use of it. He bade His informants look within, and think of their own state before God.

About this time that party would be at its height, and if Pilate caused this detachment of them to be waylaid and put to death as they were offering their sacrifices at one of the festivals, that would be "mingling their blood with their sacrifices" [GROTIUS, WEBSTER and WILKINSON, but doubted by DE WETTE, MEYER, ALFORD, &c.].

Accidents, Not Punishments Spurgeon preached this message in response to two disasters that had hit very close to home. On Sunday, August 25, 1861, a nightmarish collision between two trains in the Clayton Tunnel (a 1.5-mile long tunnel between London and Brighton) had claimed 23 lives and severely injured hundreds. Barely more than two weeks later, on Monday, September 2, another train wreck in Kentish Town Fields (in North London) claimed 15 more lives. See: http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/glossary/clayton.html http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/glossary/sigs.html http://www.hassocksuk.com/clayton_tunnel.htm A Sermon (No. 408) Delivered on Sunday Morning, September the 8th, 1861 by the Rev. C. H.

Accidents, Not Punishments Spurgeon preached this message in response to two disasters that had hit very close to home. On Sunday, August 25, 1861, a nightmarish collision between two trains in the Clayton Tunnel (a 1.5-mile long tunnel between London and Brighton) had claimed 23 lives and severely injured hundreds. Barely more than two weeks later, on Monday, September 2, another train wreck in Kentish Town Fields (in North London) claimed 15 more lives. See: http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/glossary/clayton.html http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/glossary/sigs.html http://www.hassocksuk.com/clayton_tunnel.htm A Sermon (No. 408) Delivered on Sunday Morning, September the 8th, 1861 by the Rev. C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem! I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”—Luke 13:1-5. THE YEAR 1861 will have a notoriety among its fellows as the year of calamities. Just at that season when man goeth forth to reap the fruit of his labors, when the harvest of the earth is ripe, and the barns are beginning to burst with the new wheat, Death too, the mighty reaper, has come forth to out down his harvest; full sheaves have been gathered into his garner—the tomb, and terrible have been the wailings which compose the harvest hymn of death. In reading the newspapers during the last two weeks, even the most stolid must have been the subject of very painful feelings.

The murder of the Galileans, mentioned in the first verse of this passage — is an event of which we know nothing certain. We are left to conjecture what the motives were, of those who told our Lord of the event. At any rate, they gave Him an opportunity of speaking to them about their own souls, which He did not fail to employ. He seized the event, as His manner was, and made a practical use of it. He bade His informants look within, and think of their own state before God. He seems to say, "What though these Galileans did die a sudden death? What is that to you? Consider your own ways. Except you repent — you shall all likewise perish." Let us observe, for one thing, in these verses — how much more ready people are to talk of the deaths of others, than their own deaths. The death of the Galileans, mentioned here, was probably a common subject of conversation in Jerusalem and all Judea. We can well believe that all the circumstances and particulars belonging to it, were continually discussed by thousands who never thought of their own latter end! It is just the same in the present day. A murder, a sudden death, a shipwreck, or a railway accident — will completely occupy the minds of a neighborhood, and be in the mouth of every one you meet. And yet these very people dislike talking of their own deaths — and their own prospects in the eternal world beyond the grave. Such is human nature in every age. In religion, men are ready to talk of anybody's business — rather than their own! The state of our own souls, should always be our first concern. It is eminently true that real Christianity will always begin at home. The converted man will always think first — of his own heart, his own life, his own deserts, and his own sins. Does he hear of a sudden death? He will say to himself, "Would I have been found ready — if this had happened to me?"