Luke 13:1-5
Jesus had just called the multitude hypocrites; able to discern and deduce logical outcome by observing the events of the sky. Yet, they could not discern the spiritual landscape by observing the actions and words of Jesus. They claimed a relationship with God, but couldn't discern Him as he stood nearby.
Luke tells us it was during this discourse that Jesus was informed of Pilates actions against some Galileans. It sounds as though these Galileans were on their way to the temple, or at the temple, when Pilate executed them. There are records of similar incidents by Pilate towards the Jews, but there is no record of this incident. It makes you wonder how frequent of an event this was. The common belief of the day would be that God must be angry for such a terrible thing to happen to them. Jesus makes the correction; it was not because of sin that this happened. However, he would use this horrible slaughter as a teaching moment. No one should walk away and think that sinning didn't have its repercussions. Apart from repentance, all of the multitude would meet an end similar to this. This was looking beyond physical death to the judgment. While men may get away with sin today, and think it is forgotten and hidden, they will find if they do not repent and trust in Christ that sin will bring a catastrophic end.
Jesus mentioned the incident where the tower of Siloam fell and killed 18 people. Siloam was located in the southeastern corner of Jerusalem. The tower may have been part of the original construction from the days of King David. Many people likely did have discussions about how these people must have been horrible sinners to have such a horrible and sudden death. Imagine people saying, "Old Joe got was coming to him. I'm glad I'm not as bad as him!" Maybe they didn't say it out loud, but they believed that it was the worst of sinners that had these things happen. Jesus reinforces his point. There is a day of reckoning for all sin, those that have not repented will face a catastrophic end on that day. They will die a spiritual death and spend eternity apart from Christ.
If your future hope is based on your comparison to others, you are in trouble. If your defense against God's wrath is that churches are all full of hypocrites and sinners, you are in trouble. What is it in us that wants to compare our self with others and feel good about it? If you want to make a reasonable, just and valuable comparison, you must compare yourself to Jesus.
Luke 13:6-9
The man who planted had the fig tree doesn't say how old it was or how long he long he'd had it. He simply said he'd come 3 year seeking fruit and found none. Why three years? We don't really know, but it was the approximate duration of Jesus' ministry. A fig tree that bore no fruit wasn't even good fuel for the fire. It used up the ground and gave nothing back. The owner believes its time to cut it down. The keep though asks for a little more time. It would be fertilized and tilled. If it still bore no fruit the following year, it would be cut down.
This parable seems to indicate the call for repentance was subject to a limited time of grace. There was a limited time for the turning from these wicked ways.
- Failure to discern the times was not a good defense against the wrath of God.
- Maintaining ignorance would not protect a sinful human.
- 'Because everyone else ignored God' is also not a good posture to take.
- Nor is comparing yourself to others – i.e. "I may be a sinner but I'm not as bad as that guy over there."
???????Jesus is calling for a transaction that takes place between God and man.
Luke 13:10-14
Luke jumps to a scene in a synagogue where Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath. Women were not allowed to be with the men in the synagogue. Jesus saw her this woman from some distance and called her to him. She had dealt with a 'spirit of infirmity' for 18 years. She was bent over and was not able to straighten. It seems this woman was possessed with a demon who kept her in this physical state. Jesus simply utters a few words. 'You are loosed' meant she was free, pardoned and unbound from this spirit. The word could also mean divorce or separated; she was divorced from that life of 18 years. He laid His hands on her and straightened her up. What a glorious moment that must have been for her.
This woman barely had time to realized she was healed and glorify God before the ruler of the synagogue expressed his displeasure. He did not see a woman delivered from physical pain and infirmity. He didn't see new life and a reason for praise. He saw disobedience, disrespect for the law. He saw a Jesus as a renegade and troublemaker. He was angered, indignant. Its fascinating he did not speak to Jesus, the disciples or even the woman, but he spoke to the crowd. This man thought it was terrible that the Sabbath would be used in such a way. Apparently restoring lives, healing and praising God had no place on the Sabbath. Those things could be done on any of the other 6 days.
They saw Jesus healing as work. It seemed pretty effortless, but they, nevertheless, held that this was work and should not be done in violation of the Sabbath. The crowds sought healing without regard to the day and Jesus accommodated them, filling the Sabbath day with great joy, healing, restoration and praise.
Luke 13:15-17
The ruler of the synagogue attempted to separate this crowd from Jesus. As the ruler of the synagogue, he was an important person in the community. He had a lot of authority and power as well as respect. With all of that said, Jesus looked at him and called him a hypocrite. If this man was indignant before, he just blew a gasket. Jesus made the case; they had no problem untying their ox or donkey and leading it to water. Those were just animals. This woman however, was a daughter of Abraham, so much more precious. She ought to be allowed to be loosed also on the Sabbath. Satan had kept her bent and in bondage for 18 years. These men ought to have been celebrating with her.
Jesus won the crowd back, putting this man in his place. All the adversaries of Jesus, of which there were beginning to be quite a few, had been put to shame. The multitude rejoiced; God was praised. It had been a good Sabbath.
their enemy.
Luke 13:18-19
Luke showed us the legalism that would keep us bound by Satan and his works contrasted to the work of Jesus. Where did this repentance lead to? We know what this woman was delivered from, but what was she delivered to? Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The mustard seed is one of the smallest of seeds. It grew into what we might call a large bush. The impression from the parable is that this grew into a great tree, far beyond what we would consider normal. The word He used for tree is 'dendron' meaning a fruit bearing tree. This tree bore fruit and provided food and shelter for the birds and animals. It seems one couldn't claim the kingdom of God if you weren't bearing fruit.
In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar has his second dream of a great tree that reached the heavens. It bore fruit and it was pleasing to look at. It provided food for all and the birds dwelt in it while the beast dwelt in the shade of it. But this tree was Nebuchadnezzar and it would be chopped down until such a time as he learned the Most High rules the kingdom of men.
Great kings and kingdoms were often portrayed as trees. The Garden of Eden was characterized as a place of trees; the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In obedience you ate from the tree of life. In disobedience, you ate from the other and came to the knowledge of good and evil.
Ezekiel told us in chapter 17 verses 22-24:
22 Thus says the Lord God: "I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. 23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it."
The most famous tree of all was the one our Lord was nailed to.
Luke 13:20-21
It's interesting the leaven is usually used in the bible as a picture of sin. Its presence isn't isolated, it doesn't remain small and insignificant, but permeates to the greatest extent. This is the same picture of a pinch of leaven being added to a measure (about like a large mixing bowl). The leaven would make its way throughout the measure. This seems to be Jesus' point in speaking of the kingdom of God. It may have seemed small and insignificant. After all, teachers were constantly showing up making great claims. But Jesus stood apart, saying and doing things that had never been seen. While it wasn't clear at that moment to anyone, including the apostles, the name of Jesus would be a name to which every knee would bow.
The presence of His kingdom would permeate every culture, every continent, every language across all of time, until the time would His kingdom would come. It was a long, slow process among a people that don't cater to long and slow. We tend to follow what we can see and touch and what has an effect on us today. Jesus preached of the kingdom that could be possessed today but wouldn't fully come till another day. Many would not welcome the kingdom, instead finding the kingdom of earth more acceptable.
Why 3 measures? Why not more, or less? Some see eras of time or ages in these measures. The kingdom of God hidden in the measure of time before Christ. The Kingdom of God hidden in the midst of the Roman empire in 30AD. Or the kingdom of God in the church age; in a world of chaos and fear, of hatred, anger, ethnic fighting, wars and rumors of war. Others divide the ages differently and we can't be sure if the measures were to be seen that way.
What we do know is a day is coming when the kingdom will have permeated the entire world and then He will come.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:13)
Luke 13:22-30
Luke tells us once again that Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem, to the cross, to fulfill His primary mission (9:51). Along the way, the question came up about how many will be saved. By appearance, there was a few devout followers near Him. There were many disciples who followed and then there was, what appears to be, an uncommitted multitude. The Jewish Rabbis taught that very few would enjoy heaven immediately after death. They believed all Jews would ultimately go to heaven, but the most would wait in Gehenna for 3-12 months as punishment for their unrighteousness.
The word used for 'strive' is 'agonizomai' and means to press on, fight, strain and grind it out without giving up. 'The narrow way' means there is one way and it is exclusive. No one will enter side by side. No one will piggy back another. Each will stand on their own. It seems that because this way is narrow, many will seek to enter and will not be able. Why? The way is narrow and one won't fit through that way carrying all their sin and pride. All that has to be laid down. In fact, we can't carry our own life, but we must die to our self and commit our life to His care and direction. We must call Him Lord.
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Luke records the lesson from Matthews parable of the 10 virgins. The foolish ones had no oil and were not prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. They were left outside the door when the Master closed it. As these foolish virgins knocked on the door pleading to be let in, many will plead in a similar way to the Lord. While they claim to know the Lord because they enjoyed the fellowship meals and they saw Jesus teaching. From His perspective, they were not known. There was no relationship. Had they truly known the Lord, they would have been prepared.
The picture seems very similar to what you might imagine to have happened at the ark. The Lord shut the door without a cloud in the sky. Then the rains came and mockers laughed and scoffed and as the water rose, they became more silent. In the end, they knocked on the door and cried, "Let us in. Remember us. We're your neighbors." The Master then says, "Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." This appears to be a quote from Psalm 6:8.
'Weeping and gnashing of teeth' reflects remorse and trauma upon realizing they missed out on the promises of God. Jesus eludes to people from all the nations coming to His Kingdom and sitting with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob while many Jews would not make it into the kingdom. This would have sounded radical and downright ridiculous to most of them.
How many will be saved? Many who expect it won't; many who don't expect it will. We can't know how many. Wouldn't it be nice to say that all who come to church will be there? But we know that's no true. Our chairs and pews are full of unsaved.
Not all the Pharisees were hostile to Jesus. There were a few that seemed to have understood who He was. Herod Antipas was the ruler of Galilee where Jesus was ministering. It's ironic that a few of the Pharisees warned that Herod wanted to kill Jesus when some of the Pharisees did also.
Jesus offers a rhetorical reply calling Herod a fox, due to his cunning. He is essentially saying that His mission will be completed in spite of Herod's intentions. Yes, Jesus would give up His life, but it would not be taken by Herod or anyone else. It was given willingly for us. Jesus offers His indictment of the Jerusalem, the temple and its religious establishment. All the other prophets perished in Jerusalem; Jesus would not break the pattern. It appears that Jerusalem would not allow it. The indictment was the hard-heartedness of the Jews and their failure to recognize their messiah. They had grown to trust their works and religion and had lost their relationship with the Lord so much that they could not recognize Him when He walked among them.
Luke 13:34-35
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, the holy city. They had fallen so far from the Lord. Jesus wanted to gather them like a mother hen might gather her chicks to care for them, protect and feed them. However, Jerusalem would not be gathered. They rejected their messiah and Lord. This was the city that saw the warning and word of God come from so many prophets. Yet, instead of hearing and heeding the warning, they eliminated the messenger. Remember in Luke 11:47 Jesus spoke of those who built tombs for the prophets as if they were honoring them. However, their actions were just like their fathers who killed them in the first place. It was phony because they still failed to heed the words of the prophets.
The Master of the vineyard sent his son since they killed all the other messengers (Luke 20:10-16). Surely, they would listen to his son. But they cast Him out of the vineyard and killed Him. Their house was left desolate. This is a picture of a temple without God. It was without purpose. It was nothing more than a religious shrine because they missed the one they were supposed to be waiting on.
The cry of 'Blessed be the name of the Lord' was the messianic cry of Psalm 118. It would accompany the cry of Hosanna. Some said this at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Within a few days though, they were crying 'crucify Him'. In this passage, Jesus is likely referring to His second coming. Consider what Zechariah said:
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (Zechariah 12:10)
The mourning at Hadad Rimmon was for the death of Josiah, the last godly king of Judah.
Jerusalem had many names; the holy city, the city of God, the city of righteousness, the city of truth, the perfection of beauty and many more. One of the first names was the city of David when David conquered it from the Jebusites. It became the capital and center of Jewish life when Solomon built the Lord's temple there. The city was more than just geography and a collection of buildings. The city was the people – as the people went, so went the reputation of the city.
©2020 Doug Ford
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