Luke 13
13
Repent or Perish
1There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6He also spoke this parable: #Is. 5:2; Matt. 21:19“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can #(John 15:2)cut it down.’ ”
A Spirit of Infirmity
10Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your #Luke 7:21; 8:2infirmity.” 13#Mark 16:18; Acts 9:17And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had #(Luke 6:6–11; 14:1–6); John 5:16healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, #Ex. 20:9; 23:12“There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and #Matt. 12:10; Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7; 14:3not on the Sabbath day.”
15The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! #(Matt. 7:5; 23:13); Luke 14:5Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16So ought not this woman, #Luke 19:9being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were #Mark 5:19, 20done by Him.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
18#Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:30–32Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
The Parable of the Leaven
20And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three #Matt. 13:33measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
The Narrow Way
22#Matt. 9:35; Mark 6:6And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there #(Matt. 7:14; 20:16)few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24#(Matt. 7:13)“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for #(John 7:34; 8:21; 13:33; Rom. 9:31)many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25#(Ps. 32:6); Is. 55:6When once the Master of the house has risen up and #Matt. 25:10; Rev. 22:11shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, #Luke 6:46‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, #Matt. 7:23; 25:12‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27#(Matt. 7:23; 25:41)But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. #Ps. 6:8; (Matt. 25:41); Titus 1:16Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28#Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 24:51There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, #Matt. 8:11when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30#(Matt. 19:30; 20:16); Mark 10:31And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
31On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
32And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day #Luke 24:46; Acts 10:40; 1 Cor. 15:4; (Heb. 2:10; 5:9; 7:28)I shall be perfected.’ 33Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem
34#Matt. 23:37–39; 2 Chr. 24:20, 21; 36:15, 16“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35See! #Lev. 26:31, 32; Ps. 69:25; Is. 1:7; Jer. 22:5; Dan. 9:27; Mic. 3:12Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, #Ps. 118:26; Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10; Luke 19:38; John 12:13‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
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Luke 13: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Luke 13
13
Unless You Turn to God
1-5About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.”
6-7Then he told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’
8-9“The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”
Healing on the Sabbath
10-13He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn’t even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. “Woman, you’re free!” He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.
14The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, “Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath.”
15-16But Jesus shot back, “You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?”
17When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.
The Way to God
18-19Then he said, “How can I picture God’s kingdom for you? What kind of story can I use? It’s like an acorn that a man plants in his front yard. It grows into a huge oak tree with thick branches, and eagles build nests in it.”
20-21He tried again. “How can I picture God’s kingdom? It’s like yeast that a woman works into enough dough for three loaves of bread—and waits while the dough rises.”
22He went on teaching from town to village, village to town, but keeping on a steady course toward Jerusalem.
23-25A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?”
He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’
26-27“You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’
28-30“That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s kingdom. You’ll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God’s kingdom. And all the time you’ll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last.”
* * *
31Just then some Pharisees came up and said, “Run for your life! Herod’s got your number. He’s out to kill you!”
32-35Jesus said, “Tell that fox that I’ve no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I’m busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I’m wrapping things up. Besides, it’s not proper for a prophet to come to a bad end outside Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killer of prophets,
abuser of the messengers of God!
How often I’ve longed to gather your children,
gather your children like a hen,
Her brood safe under her wings—
but you refused and turned away!
And now it’s too late: You won’t see me again
until the day you say,
‘Blessed is he
who comes in
the name of God.’”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.