Does God still wipe out whole cities because of sin?This is a question that comes up after natural or man-made disasters occur. Statements

like “God wanted to destroy this place because of their sin” are thrown around. Places like New

Orleans are called “Sodom and Gomorrah” and the destruction of them are “God’s wrath”. But

is this fully true? In Luke 13:1-5, we see Jesus talking about this same issue.

When we look at Luke 13:1-5, we have to look back to see what Jesus was talking about

just before this passage. In 12:54-59, Jesus is talking to a crowd. These people can tell you what

the weather will be, but cannot tell you that the Kingdom of God is in Jesus’s ministry. These

people are blind to the fact that Christ was here bringing the Kingdom of God to them. In the

parable at the end of the passage, Christ gives the illustration of going to court over a civil issue

of debt. Christ tells them to make a deal and fix it outside of court, do not wait until they are

before the judge who could put them in prison until the debt is paid. At first glance, one would

think that Christ is giving legal advice. But this is a parable about fixing relationships. One

commentator equates it to getting your life right with God before the final judgment. This then

goes into chapter 13.

In Luke 13:1-5, we see Christ talking to the crowd still. He was told about a police action

that was taken against a group of people in the temple area. In one commentary, the writer

says, “Evidently the questioners believed the popular misconception that personal tragedy is

the result of individual sins. Jesus rejects that idea and stresses that all people are sinners who

need to repent before God.”

The incident mentioned here is unknown. Pilate was known to meet riots and rebellion

with sheer force, as was typical of Romans. But Jesus asks this question, “Do you think those

Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee? Is that why they

suffered?” So Jesus poses this question to them. It was popular back then, and still today to

think that tragedy was the result of personal sin. But Christ tells us that this is wrong thinking.

He answers the question he posed with, “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent

of your sins and turn to God.”

In a tv show, a character once made reference to this dilemma in today’s culture. He

spoke of two priests who wrote articles about Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. He tells of

one who wrote how it was God’s wrath on the city for their sins. He also mentions another

priest who wrote an article about how the Hand of God protected the city by holding the levees

in place long enough to hold back the worst of the storm. So we see that there are two

different ideas about the same God. Which one was it, an act of Grace, or an act of judgment?

We are told in Romans 3 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In

God’s eyes, sin is sin. No sin is greater than another sin. James 2:10-11 says, “For whoever

keeps the whole la and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who

said ‘you shall not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘you shall not murder.’ If you do not commit

adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” So we see here that by our

logic, we too, should be included in these disasters. We should also be killed by a storm or

earthquake, or fire, just like the people and places that we say are. In the Old Testament, we

see God destroying whole counties for their sin. But since Christ’s death on the cross, we no

longer have to worry about that. When Christ died on the cross, He was a sacrifice for the sins

of ALL people.

Christ goes on. “And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in

Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that

unless you repent, you will perish, too.” This event is unknown as to what happened. Scholars

say that it could have been either a fortification tower that fell, or part of the aqueduct. Again,

however, Christ ends this with a call to repentance, telling the crowd to repent, or they too

shall perish.

So what? Christ tells us that it doesn’t matter if an area is more sinful than others in our

eyes. To God, all sin is sin. One city or area is not better or worse than another. Our thinking

that God is punishing a certain area is wrong. Jesus tells us that in the passage above. God will

not take out His judgment until the final judgment mentioned in Revelation. We need to

remember that Christ came to save the lost, not destroy them with fire, water, ice, etc. We are

in the age of grace. But if we do not repent of our sins, we will be destroyed in the final

judgment. So if you have not accepted the free gift of grace, now is your chance. Just ask God to

forgive you and turn from your sins. If you have taken this free gift of grace already, take some

time to think about what we talked about and see where you need to change your thinking.