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| HANDLING TOUGH QUESTIONS |
| Why so many stories? |
| The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. 19:47-48 |
| Suffering strikes like an earthquake, without warning, causing sudden devastation. Twenty-nine teenagers die when a school bus plunges off a bridge. A roaring wall of water from a broken dam slams into a college while students sleep, tossing bodies like branches. A Roman Catholic church explodes in flames. Psychological tremors follow, often in the form of questions. "Why did God let this happen? Did we do something wrong? Why does God permit such suffering?" In Jesus's day, rumors buzzed about two catastrophes: Pontius Pilate's slaughter of Galileans and the collapse of a tower (13:1-4). Naturally, people around Jesus questioned him about these events, but his answers puzzled them. He refused to be drawn into a discussion of the age-old problems of pain. He merely dismissed the common opinion that tragedies happen to people who deserve them and deflected the issue back to the questioners as a general warning (13:4-5; see also "What Job Teaches about Suffering"). The Heart of the Question Jesus' response to the questions on suffering illustrate how he dealt with difficult issues. Religious leaders and philosophical types were constantly trying to stop him with an arsenal of tough questions. Usually their tactics backfired as Jesus expertly turned their questions back on them. Conscious of the listening crowds, Jesus avoided long arguments, instead emphasizing the need for people to change behavior. His answers cut to the heart of the question, and to the hearts of his listeners. |