In Luke 13, Jesus was approached with two questions from people who are a lot like folks, today. When bad things happen to good people, some will conclude that they must not have been living right. Judgment is passed and conversation is always turned on those people to avert attention away from themselves. It may or may not be intentional to draw attention off oneself but it has that effect and becomes their pattern to leave the impression that they are not like “those people.”
On this day, they came to Jesus and told him about those on whom the tower of Siloam had fallen and killed and the tragic incident of others who had gone to offer their blood sacrifice for sins and while there were slaughtered by invaders who mingled their blood with the blood of the animal sacrifice. In each case, the conclusion that they were wanting Jesus to confirm and agree with was, “They must have been the worst sinners in all Israel.” Churches do this when a preacher starts talking about what other denominations are doing or what the church across the street believes. All of it is an effort to demean others in order to elevate themselves.
As was customary for Jesus, He was not going to passively shake his head in agreement or add another similar story to support their false conclusion. Instead, He took the emphasis off of everyone around them and said, “No, but except Ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3). As far as I am concerned,I need to focus my attention on myself because the only way to affect change to improve any condition in life is to look focus the attention of the person that has some control over the results. So, first, Jesus disagrees with the conclusion that they were worse sinners and then focused attention away from everyone around them and on themselves. If you are prone to saying and thinking such things, please, consider a change of heart that will produce fruit unto repentance.