Phoenix Preacher Contines Implosion

The Phoenix Preacher continues to send people to his favorite Calvinist (actually so-called Reformed Baptist) writers. The latest writer that he sends people to read is one of his favorites, John Piper. This time Piper writes on the subject of the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities. You don't have to go far into the article until Piper blows it once again taking the Phoenix Preacher down with him.

Piper quotes a passage from the New Testament that is one of the more obscure texts. Not because it is hidden, but because it is rarely well explained by preachers, particularly those who are after spiritual "notches on their belts". It's the following passage from Luke 13:1-5:

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."

Exactly how does Piper misuse the passage? He fails to understand and take account for the passage both in it's textual and historical contexts.

What is that passage about?
The passage itself provides the clue. It is not at all about natural disasters, as Piper claims. It's about rebellion against the Roman civil authorities. Pilate put to death people who were rebels against his authority. The collapse of the tower was not another natural disaster but a similar event. Both of these groups were not caught up in some newsworthy tragedy, they were both conspirators against the Roman authority of Pilate.

The warning Jesus is giving in the text is not some generalized warning about repentance at all. Nothing to do with that. He is warning the people of his day that if they rebel against the Roman authority using armed resistance that they would die just like those others had died. Jesus is using the word "repent" in the very literal sense of "change your mind". To paraphrase, Jesus is saying that if they don't repent about their plans to fight Rome with arms they will die like the others who already tried?

Did Jesus get it right?
But was Jesus right? Of course. In 67-70 AD the Jews did exactly what Jesus had warned them not to. They openly rebelled against Rome and the siege of the city of Rome was their downfall. They were carried out into the nations.

The followers of Jesus did not join in with the Jews who rebelled against Rome. They fled the city, just as they were warned to do by Jesus less than 40 years earlier. The judgment against Israel prophesied by Jesus had begun and they knew if they stuck around what would happened.