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He asks: "Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered these things?" His answer is no. But he uses the incident to warn the Jews:  "Unless you repent, you will all likewise be destroyed." (Luke 13:2, 3  Jesus then refers to another tragedy that may have occurred recently and may have been related to the construction of that aqueduct, asking: 

"Those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell, killing them-do you think that they had greater guilt than all other men who live in Jerusalem?" (Luke 13:4)  The crowd may feel that those individuals died because of some personal badness. Again Jesus disagrees.  He knows that "time and unexpected events" happen  and are likely  responsible for this tragedy too.  (Ecclesiastes 9:11)  The people, though, should take a lesson from the event. "Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed, as they were," Jesus says.  (Luke 13:5) But why is he stressing this lesson now? 

It has to do with where he is in the course of his ministry, and he illustrates the matter this way: "A man  had fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. The he said to the vine dresser,  'Here it is three years that I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, but have found none. Cut it down!  Why should it keep the ground useless?' In reply he said to him, 'Master, leave it alone for one more year until I dig around it and put on manure. It it produces fruit in the future, well and good; but if not, then cut it down." - LUKE 13:6-9. 

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