Yes…and no.
God’s Word is there to help us see past appearances and plunge us into the reality. Such must be the case with interpreting events unfolding around us. Is this pandemic a manifestation of God’s judgment? Luke 13 provides a good starting point.
In vv. 1-5, Jesus is asked to assess the theological reasons for two recent tragedies. And he uses the occasion to warn people about the need to repent. The warning is: those who do not repent will perish.
It suggests there was a faulty view circulating among the crowds. They took the absence of tragedy in their own lives as a sign of God’s approval. But Jesus is quick to correct this saying, in essence, “your sense of security is wrong and the issue of perishing is only a matter of time.” Those who perished in these disasters were not more guilty than those who survived, but those who survived needed to wake up and take a serious look at their relationship with the Lord.
So if Jesus was sitting next to you and you asked him, “Jesus, how are things between the two of us?” What would his answer be?
