In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus tells of two recent events in which people have suffered - first at the hands of murderous Pilate, secondly in the collapse of a tower in Siloam. In speaking of those events, Jesus asks the question, Were those who died worse sinners than other people?
There is an assumption behind the question that is clearly shared by both Jesus and his hearers: God is somehow involved in both situations, for the question of judgement revolves around him. Jesus knew, and his contemporaries knew, that judgement rests in the hand of God alone. If these acts were by way of judgement (and the text begs the response 'yes, in some way'), then God is involved.
The key issue for Jesus' hearers, made plain by Jesus himself, is whether they will learn and repent. It is the same issue that arises in Rev. 9:20f.
The same issues are not absent from life in this world today.
