Finding Good News in a Hard Passage

Sometimes the news is too much

This weeks Gospel reading (Luke 13:1-9) was really cheerful, wasn’t it? Sometimes, when I sit down to prepare a sermon, I come across a passage that makes me think, This is going to be a joy to unpack. Other times, my Bible presents me with a passage ominously titled, Repent or Perish—and I know I’m in for a challenge. The reading is only nine verses long, yet it manages to pack in a massacre, a tower collapse that crushes eighteen people to death, and a parable about how God will come at us with an axe if we don’t shape up.

When I was in theology college, my New Testament lecturer always advised, Whenever you preach from a passage, make sure you find the good news. When I read passages like this, I often think back to that advice and wonder, Great! Thanks! Where exactly is the good news in this? But believe it or not, there is good news in this passage. There is always good news in the Bible. However, before we get to the good news, we need to wade through the bad—and this passage certainly doesn’t hold back.

A Dark and Broken World

Our reading begins with the words, “At that very minute,” which tells us that it follows directly from the previous chapter. There, Jesus has been speaking about the end of days, describing how terrible they will be:

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” (Luke 12:49-51)

Not exactly a comforting discussion about the weather! And just then, someone interrupts Jesus to tell Him about a massacre Pilate has carried out. Instead of lightening the mood, Jesus responds by adding another grim news item—a tower collapse that killed eighteen people.

Why does Jesus do this? He is painting a picture of a world that is dark and broken. And, honestly, we don’t have to look far to see that today. Our news feeds are filled with stories of war, economic instability, and human suffering. Jesus is telling His hearers something we can still recognize: The world is broken.

The Problem of Suffering and Sin

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He also challenges the assumptions of His audience. People in that time often believed that suffering was a direct punishment for sin. And to an extent, the Old Testament does link faithfulness to blessing and sin to judgment. However, Jesus pushes back against a simplistic view of suffering.

“Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:2-3)

In other words, suffering isn’t always a direct result of personal sin, and we cannot measure a person’s righteousness by how much or how little they suffer. This is a hard truth. We long for justice, but in this world, it often seems absent. The wicked sometimes flourish, while the innocent suffer. It’s unsettling, yet Jesus doesn’t offer a simplistic explanation—He calls for repentance.

So Where’s the Good News?

If all of this sounds bleak, that’s because it is. But here’s the flipside: It isn’t meant to be this way.

Jesus follows up with a parable about a fig tree that isn’t bearing fruit. The owner wants to cut it down, but the gardener intervenes, asking for more time to tend and nourish it. The message? God is patient. He desires not our destruction, but our flourishing. Like a doctor diagnosing an illness, Jesus is telling us the truth about sin and suffering. It’s painful to hear, but the diagnosis leads us to the cure.

Hope in the Cross

Jesus doesn’t just identify the problem—He is the solution. His journey through suffering, death, and resurrection is the answer to the brokenness of the world. On the cross, Jesus took on the weight of sin so that we might live.

We may not yet fully experience the healing of the world, but the promise is there. The gardener is still at work, tending, nourishing, and patiently waiting for us to bear fruit.

Embracing the Whole Gospel

I don’t know about you, but when I think about sharing my faith, I instinctively want to focus on the good news. I want people to see the joy and hope Jesus brings. I don’t want to lead with sin, judgment, and repentance—largely because I don’t think people want to hear it. But here’s the challenge: If doctors, mechanics, and accountants only shared good news, people would walk around oblivious to their problems and to the solutions they need.

The Gospel contains both bad news and good news. We live in a world where sin, suffering, and injustice are real. But the cross tells us that God has not abandoned us. He is at work, bringing light into the darkness, healing to the broken, and new life where there once was only death.

And that is very good news.