Luke chapter 13

Repent or perish. Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Enter through the narrow door. Herod wants to kill Jesus. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem.

 


 

REPENT OR PERISH

 

VERSE 1. Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

 

VERSE 2. Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners. In those days, many people believed that God punished sinners by making them suffer or, in the worst cases, killing them.

In our day, this notion that God punishes sinners with suffering or death is still common among Christians.

 

VERSE 3. I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.

This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to Luke and from the entire Bible.

I tell you, no. Jesus answers from his own authority. This is an answer from the Messiah. The Messiah says their suffering was not a punishment from God.

unless you repent. It is a tragedy to pass into Eternity without ever having repented.

 

VERSE 4. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?

do you think that they were worse. Jesus cites another example. It is the people who died when a tower collapsed. He asks if they were worse sinners.

 

VERSE 5. I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”

This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to Luke and from the entire Bible.

I tell you, no. Jesus answers from his own authority. This is an answer from the Messiah. The Messiah says their suffering is not a punishment from God.

 

THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE

 

VERSE 6. He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.

 

VERSE 7. He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’

 

VERSE 8. He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.

this year also. The vine dresser asks for one more year.

 

VERSE 9. If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’ ”

If it bears fruit, fine. The vine dresser hopes it will bear fruit in the future.

 

JESUS HEALS ON THE SABBATH

 

VERSE 10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.

 

VERSE 11. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up.

 

VERSE 12. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.”

you are freed. Jesus liberates her from her suffering.

 

VERSE 13. He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God.

immediately she stood up. Her healing was instantaneous.

 

VERSE 14. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”

 

VERSE 15. Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?

You hypocrites! The Lord Jesus does not mince words. He uses the term “hypocrite” to address his opponents directly. Read more »

 

VERSE 16. Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

whom Satan had bound. Jesus sees Satan as the cause of human suffering.

eighteen long years. That is a very long time to have suffered.

 

VERSE 17. As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

his adversaries were disappointed. That is, “his adversaries were humiliated” (NAB translation).

 

THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED

 

VERSE 18. He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it?

 

VERSE 19. It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.”

a grain of mustard seed. A mustard seed is tiny.

It grew and became a large tree. The tiny seed grew into a large tree.

 

THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST

 

VERSE 20. Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom?

 

VERSE 21. It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

 

ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR

 

VERSE 22. He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.

 

VERSE 23. One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them,

 

VERSE 24. “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (NIV translation)

Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. (NLT translation)

This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to Luke and from the entire Bible.

Strive to enter. What does it mean to strive to enter?

by the narrow door. What is the narrow door?

will not be able. Some translations say “will not be strong enough.” Why would one need to be “strong enough” in order to become a Christian? Here are two possibilities:

  • Some people do not sense how God is leading them.
  • Other people can sense God’s leadings but do not act on them.

2 Esdras 7:92. The first order, because they have labored with great effort to overcome the evil thought which was fashioned together with them, that it might not lead them astray from life into death.

 

VERSE 25. When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

Matthew 25:10. While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

 

VERSE 26. Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’

We ate and drank in your presence. Many liturgical Christians have “ate” and “drank” in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

They ate the Eucharistic Bread, and they drank the Eucharistic Wine. In other words, they took part in the Christian community.

However, there is a much bigger issue at stake:

 

VERSE 27. He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’

NIV translation: But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

I don’t know you. Jesus Christ does not know these people, even though they were professing Christians.

 

VERSE 28. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.

yourselves being thrown outside. Many Christians deny this is a possibility for themselves. They brag that they are saved no matter what.

However, they might be wrong.

Very wrong.

The Lord Jesus Christ talks about Hades, Gehēnna, fire, and darkness. Christians often call those things Hell. Is Hell a location where people are sent? Or a state of being? Read more »

 

VERSE 29. They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom.

 

VERSE 30. Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”

 

HEROD WANTS TO KILL JESUS

 

VERSE 31. On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”

 

VERSE 32. He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.

 

VERSE 33. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’

the next day. That is, the third day. In this verse, there is today, and then tomorrow, and then the next day.

outside of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the Lord’s destiny.

 

JESUS WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM

 

VERSE 34. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!

The Lord God wants to gather us together in unity. But we believers fight the will of God. We kill the prophets, and we stone the people God sends. Read more »

 

VERSE 35. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. This phrase was from Old Testament days. But the Lord Jesus applied it to himself, when he triumphantly arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Read more »

 


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LUKE

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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.