In the book of Luke, Chapter 13 opens with a story of Jesus teaching the crowds. Luke reports the crowd telling Jesus “about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Luke 13:1 (New International Version) This statement, according to R. Alan Culpepper in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, involves the crowd informing Jesus of Pilate’s action against men from the region of Galilee. Culpepper states that Pilate ordered the death of these men, and during the execution the blood of the slain mixed with that of the Galileans’ sacrifices.
It is not clear from Luke’s account what type of sacrifice was being referred to, but the most common was the burnt offering that was offered daily and given to restore a right relationship with God. The animal offered was to be “without blemish.” Leviticus 1:3 If anything corrupted the animal (in this case, blood), it would render the sacrifice ineffective. While complaining to Jesus, the crowd doesn’t appear to be concerned with the loss of life of the Galileans; they are only focused on the mixing of blood at the temple—intent on their outward act of trying to please God. However, the lesson that was most applicable here, had already been given back in Luke, chapter 10: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbour as thyself.” The crowd’s lack of compassion for their “neighbor” in this incident leads to Jesus’ response: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish [as the Galileans did].” Luke 13:3
While most scholars agree that Jesus preached in Aramaic, it is important to note that the authors of the New Testament wrote in Greek. This language was spoken throughout the Roman Empire and writing in Greek allowed for the broadest dissemination of ideas. So looking at the original Greek of the New Testament we find the verb that translates “to repent” is the word metanoeo. Similar to English, the Greek language also has a noun form of the word that translates to “repentance.” This Greek verb is a compound word, composed of two smaller words: meta meaning “after” and noeo “to think.” Thus metanoeo, in its most literal translation means to “think afterwards” or “to have second thoughts.” Which can suggest to us today the essential element of transformed thought in repenting.
