Unless you repent, you too will all perish.
The death of some Galileans during a time of sacrifice (vv. 1–3); the death of some upon whom a tower collapsed (vv. 4–5); and the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (vv. 6–9).
The incidents reported here, in which reference is made to the murder of some Jews from Galilee and the death of 18 people in Siloam, is unique to Luke.
Neither of the episodes is mentioned in secular histories (though some scholars point to two or three inexact parallels to the incident of the murdered Galileans; see Marshall, p. 553).
Concerning theme, Evans (p. 46) points to a parallel with Deut. 13:12–18, where the emphasis on turning to the Lord in order to live is quite similar to the Lucan passage under consideration (cf. the similar expression, “all who live in that town,” Deut. 13:15, with “all the others living in Jerusalem,” Luke 13:4).
13:1–5 / Some people who presumably have just arrived from Jerusalem told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
For some unknown reason, Pilate had slain a few Galileans while they were offering their sacrifices. Since laymen were allowed to perform their own Passover sacrifices, this may very well have been the occasion.
The report that Pilate had “mingled their blood with their sacrifices” is not literally the case, for such an action would have incited the populace to a possible insurrection; but it is probably meant in a proverbial sense, that is, not only was the blood of the sacrificial animals shed, but the blood of the Galileans was as well. Passover time was often a time of political unrest, a time when Jewish patriotic feelings ran high and Roman concerns were justifiably aroused. (Jesus was crucified under precisely such circumstances.)
These Galileans (how many is unknown) were seemingly caught up in some sort of plot or activity deemed treasonable by Pilate. Whatever the circumstances, the death of these unfortunate pilgrims evokes the question that Jesus asks in v. 2, a question that reflects the Pharisaic belief that misfortune was often brought on by God in retaliation for sin (see John 9:1–2).
Did their murder prove that they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Their death proved no such thing. But their death should remind all who hear of it of the need to repent.
Similar is the case of the eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them (see note below). Their accidental death most certainly does not indicate that they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem.
From this episode, Jesus draws the same lesson: Unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Various historical incidents that have been proposed as underlying the murder of the Galileans include:
(1) the riot that ensued Pilate’s posting of imperial ensigns in A.D. 26 (Pilate’s first year in office); and
(2) riots resulting from the work on an aqueduct; however, as Marshall (p. 553) has noted, “this incident involved the murder of Judaeans [not Galileans] with cudgels outside the Temple” and had nothing to do with sacrifices; and (3) the murder of some Samaritans.
But since this incident involved Samaritans, not Galileans, and occurred in A.D. 36 (Pilate’s last year in office), it is scarcely the event alluded to in Luke. It was probably a less noteworthy incident.
We may ask why the report was delivered to Jesus. Although by no means certain, it is possible that the messengers thought the newsworthy of Jesus’ attention because of his fame and following. Had many regarded him as a or the Messiah in the popular sense they might have hoped that Jesus’ movement would gain additional support by spreading the news of this fresh outrage.
According to his contemporaries Philo (Embassy to Gaius 38) and Josephus (Antiquities 18.55–62; War 2.169–174), Pontius Pilate was a cruel and violent man. The Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44; ca. A.D. 115) mentions Pilate in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus.
Evans, C. A. (1990). Luke (p. 205). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
