Did you hear about little seven-year old Brian who told his mother: “Mom, Nathan broke a window.” “How did he do it?” she asked. Brian replied: “I threw a rock at him, and he ducked.”

Blame…it’s the game we learn to play from our earliest days. When something bad happens to us, we have a tendency to point the finger of responsibility at someone or something, or maybe God himself?

Such was the situation Jesus and his disciples found themselves in as they discussed two recent tragedies: Pilate’s senseless killing of some pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem, and the collapse of a tower upon some innocent bystanders. Jesus asks them pointedly: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?…or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” In other words, did the disciples blame God for punishing them because they were worse sinners than most?

What a great question! With it, Jesus lays bare the human tendency to play the blame game whenever something bad happens. But is blaming really helpful? Does it get us anywhere?