How would you verbalize the main theme of this passage? What is Jesus trying to communicate to the people that He is speaking to?

Jesus mentions an incident of religious persecution (Pilate killing Galileans who are worshipping) and a natural disaster (a tower collapsing and killing 18 people). How does your heart respond when you experience (or when someone you know experiences) religious persecution? How does your heart respond to events like natural disasters? What kinds of questions do you ask?

What framework does Jesus give us in this text for how to respond to these kinds of events?

Jesus seems to exhort us to be more concerned with our own sin than we are with the sins of others. Do you find it easier to be concerned with your own sin, or with the sins of other people? Why?

Matthew 7:1-5 implies that human beings instinctively have a keen awareness of the sins of other people, and yet, are often painfully oblivious to sin in our own life. Does this sound familiar to you? Why do you think that this is the case for so many of us?

Jesus presents us a with a binary option - repent or perish. What does it meant to repent? What does repentance look like? What are some practical ways that we can practice and embody repentance in our lives?

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