Luke 13:5

Nay - No.

Tell - To number; count.

Ye shall all likewise perish - Ὡσαυτως, ὁμοιως, In a like way, in the same manner. This prediction of our Lord was literally fulfilled. When the city was taken by the Romans, multitudes of the priests, etc., who were going on with their sacrifices, were slain, and their blood mingled with the blood of their victims; and multitudes were buried under the ruins of the walls, houses, and temple. See Josephus, War, b. vi. ch. iv., v., vi.; and see the notes on Matthew 24 (note).

It is very wrong to suppose that those who suffer by the sword, or by natural accidents, are the most culpable before God. An adequate punishment for sin cannot be inflicted in this world: what God does here, in this way, is in general:

1st, through mercy, to alarm others;

2, to show his hatred to sin;

3, to preserve in men's minds a proper sense of his providence and justice; and

4, to give sinners, in one or two particular instances, a general specimen of the punishment that awaits all the perseveringly impenitent.

I tell you, Nay - It is improper to suppose that those on whom heavy judgments fall in this world are the worst of people. This is not a world of retribution. Often the most wicked are suffered to prosper here, and their punishment is reserved for another world; while the righteous are called to suffer much, and "appear" to be under the sore displeasure of God, Psalm 73. This only we know, that the wicked will not always escape; that God is just; and that none who do suffer here or hereafter, suffer more than they deserve. In the future world, all that seems to be unequal here will be made equal and plain.