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Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
It was probably comfortable to assume that others suffered because of their sin. Were that the case it would allow for the sort of casual and disinterested discussion of horrific headlines as only pertaining to others and never possibly to oneself. It was safe to become outraged about the suffering of others as long as it didn't imply anything about one's own state and circumstances. It allowed politics to become a game in which one didn't need to be deeply invested to play. It allowed a whole class of commentators to arise who would not need to contribute anything beyond their opinions.
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Jesus clarified that those who suffered in tragic events in question were actually not guilty of any special grievous sins, or even any more guilty than their surrounding countrymen. But in so saying he revealed that no one was exempt from the possibility of sudden catastrophe. Like the rich fool in the parable their lives could be demanded of them that very night (see Luke 12:20), regardless of whether they had done anything particularly heinous. The fact that tragedy didn't only befall the especially guilty meant that headlines such as those about the Galileans and about the tower at Siloam were no longer merely safe abstract topics of discussion. It meant there was the real danger that they could happen to anyone at any time. And this meant that there was a real urgency to repent, not as though doing so could avoid tragedy, but so that one would be ready for whatever might come. Tragedies might not target only the especially guilty. But there were not really any people so innocent that a sudden end without repentance was not a fearful prospect.
For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
Repentance was supposed to mean bearing fruit in keeping with repentance (see Luke 3:8). The fact that tragedy was not currently befalling the tree was not necessarily a sign it was doing well. In fact in the parable it was opposite. The gardener was pleading for patience on behalf of the tree, desperately doing all he could to coax from it the fruit it is meant to bear. We should not, therefore, see the lack of problems in our lives as an inherent sign of blessing, if we interpret that to mean that we are not in need of change. A lack of problems might be a blessing insofar as it gives us additional time to refocus all our energies and resources into bearing fruit, utilizing all of the care that the gardener never ceases to bestow.
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