Paul was appealing to the people to change their ways. Christ had equipped each person with gifts that would enable them to minister and work together to build up the Church.

As each person grew in their love and knowledge of the way of Christ and spoke the truth in Christ, the community would build itself up in love. Instead of division, there would be a community unified by the love of Christ. How powerful the message of Christ would be if we all spoke the truth in love!

The two reports of death, firstly of the Galileans in the Temple and secondly, of the eighteen killed by the tower of Siloam, are used by Jesus to warn the people to repent. Those who had been killed were no worse than the people with whom Jesus was speaking; therefore, his warning was to repent to avoid a similar fate. Jesus then added another warning in the parable of the fig tree, which was unproductive. The people still had the opportunity to repent and bear fruit, but they must make that decision and act on it. The choice was theirs, just as the choice is ours today.