It’s interesting that we have Jesus’ response to a mass murder in Luke 13:
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.”
The Tower of Siloam, James Tissot.
His response is first to question their social norms and then tell them to repent. He didn’t tweet about how much he cares or how horrible this was. He didn’t emote, or hashtag or show solidarity. He didn’t even accuse PIlate, and he certainly didn’t find other random people to blame.
1. In scapegoat cultures, people get what they deserve and it absolves the whole community of guilt. Just like Job. All these bad things happened to him, he must have been a sinner. If we get rid of Job, the gods will be appeased and the rest of our culture will continue on. The Jews looked on with a sort of glee, of course Galileans were killed, they were second class deplorables, the MAGA people of the day. Now that they were gone, the community was more pure, they were more pure, and blessings would ensue.
2. He repeats it twice, unless you repent you are all gonna die. That is the radical refocus of the Gospel. While the wrath is poured out on Christ as the ultimate scapegoat, our response should be humility not gloating. It’s avoiding the sidelong glance Jesus talks about other places. What is that to you? Events should spur us to self reflection and repentance and going a better way.
Specifically in context. The Jews thought they were doing fine, better now having gotten rid of some riffraff. And they would be even better if they could get rid of this Jesus. But after they killed him, forty years later, they all did perish. The faithful Christians fled to the hills, and the Jews in their arrogance stayed and fought Rome, and each other, and they all died.
We do the same thing in a mass shooting. We look for someone else to blame. We go along with our cultural cues, virtue signaling, placating, politicking, appeasing, the last thing we would do is repent. Are you hopping on the bandwagon to blame the innocent? Are you contributing to a culture of death? Are you supporting government policies that encourage fatherlessness? Are you supporting the training of young people to hate their creator? To lack purpose? To question even their sex? To think they just happened as the result of chance? Are you fine paying for education that does this and embracing this pluralism, which defies the work of God and his son Jesus?