The Gospel, which means “Good News,” took a profound turn when religious leaders presented a tragic story about the murdered Galileans to Jesus. They work with an image of God as an angry judge with a heavy and unrelenting arm, thrashing many.
Jesus’ answer is stark: stop imagining existence as a courtroom. There is no relationship between guilt and misfortune, between sin and disease. The hand of God does not sow death nor waste its power on punishment.
God was there, dying in your sick relative; he was there on that day of the slaughter of the biblical Galileans in the temple, but not as a weapon or threat, but as the first to suffer violence, the first of the pierced.
He stands beside the infinite crosses of the world where the Son of God is still crucified in infinite children of God. And he has no other answer to the world’s cry than the loud first proclamation of the paschal hallelujah: Christ is risen! Because God was never about death but life conquering death.
God does not hold the axe but fresh water to help you go beyond the surface; God is the guard of the fig tree, and even when no fruit sprouts, God will patiently try again, never teaching through punishment but healing with his love.
God helps you grow and shine if you give him space; he doesn’t suck life; he prunes for more joy. Emmanuel God is with us, with light and life.