What the Scriptures Say About Evil (2)
In Luke 13:1–5, Jesus is asked about some cases of evil:
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
We tend to read each bit of Scripture as a separate, stand-alone unit, but context matters. Just before this, at the end of Luke 12, Jesus discussed the Jewish leadership's inability to understand the "signs of the times." Because of this inability, they reject who Jesus is.
Just after this, Jesus continues with his discussion of Israel with the parable of the vineyard—a hard parable to understand on its own.
But if we take the entire context as Jesus saying something about the way God deals with evil in world history, we can see how these three sections fit together:
Even the failure to understand the times is considered evil in some situations
Tragic events, seen from a human perspective as evil…
Are sometimes a judgment of God on individuals who have committed specific sins
Are not always a specific judgment of God for specific sins but a result of pervasive sin within a society
God patiently tries to "dig around" and "fertilize" a society until there is no other option but to cut it down
Because Jesus is using a fig tree, we can be confident he is talking about Israel—but we can see this replicated throughout the Scriptures. For instance, God was patient with Nineveh, sending Jonah (against Jonah's will!) to allow the city to repent before bringing down destruction.
We can even see Nineveh as a sign to Israel: "If I send a prophet to even such a pagan city as Nineveh, they repent. You have all the prophets, Israel, yet you will not repent."
Jesus does not say the tower fell because the people who died were significantly worse sinners than anyone else in Israel at that time. In fact, to the contrary, they were no worse sinners than anyone else. These evils happen because of a general level of sin rather than specific sins on the part of individuals.
Jesus also does not state any purpose for the mingled blood or falling tower. There is no increase in God's glory. There is no "greater good" that Jesus, or anyone else, can point to. It might be that these evil tragedies will lead the nation to repent, or it might not. Whether these evils lead to some good depends on people paying attention and understanding the times.
The passage following emphasizes the points Jesus is making here. In Luke 13:10–17, Jesus is teaching on the Sabbath when a woman who had a "disabling spirit for 18 years" approaches. Jesus heals the woman, leading to the Jewish leaders saying the people should come for healing on the "six days set aside for work,' rather than on the Sabbath.
The synagogue's leaders would prefer to see the woman remain under evil than to break the Mosaic Law. Placing adherence to the Law above healing a woman is placing outward show above eliminating evil.
Finally, no tour of evil in the Scriptures would be complete without considering one thing Jesus constantly confronted as evil in his incarnation: leading others astray through incorrect teaching. We are so attuned to "evil as death or destruction" that we often miss this aspect of evil. For instance, in John 8:44, Jesus says:
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Have the Pharisees literally murdered anyone? Have they literally blinded people or caused them to starve to death? There is no indication the Pharisees did any of these things. So why does Jesus call them evil?
Because they rejected him, which is the same as rejecting God.
Because they rejected him and caused others to reject him, through their false teaching.
False teaching and lack of faith are, in Jesus' view, as great an evil as any war, death, or destruction wrought on the face of the earth.
What, then, can we say about evil?
Sometimes, God causes situations that appear evil for some specific purpose.
Sometimes, evil is the direct result of human decisions and actions.
Sometimes, evil seems to "just happen." Tragedy is part of the human condition resulting from living in a fallen world.
Evil is not "just" a physical thing but rather a spiritual thing that sometimes works itself out in the physical world.
This tour of evil in the Scriptures will lay the foundation for answering the questions posed in the first part of this series.