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greater sinners

Luke 13:1&2
"1 There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?"

Today we begin the last parable we will study this Lenten season. This is a parable we don't learn in Sunday school as children. Like the Seeds of the Sower we will want to “Pay close attention—this matters.”

In these verses, some people tell Jesus about a shocking atrocity: Pontius Pilate had ordered the slaughter of Galilean Jews while they were offering sacrifices in the Temple. The vivid phrase “mingled their blood with their sacrifices” paints a gruesome picture of worshippers killed in the middle of a sacred act.

Jesus immediately uses the tragedy to confront a common misconception and deliver a vital spiritual lesson.

The people reporting the event apparently assumed these Galileans must have been worse sinners than others to deserve such a fate. Jesus directly challenges this: “Do you think that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?”

Do you think people get what they deserve?

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