THE FIRE HAS BEGUN TO FALL. LET THEM THEREFORE LEARN THEIR LESSON FROM IT (13:1-5). Having declared that He will cast fire on earth, preliminary examples of it are now given, one an act of the civil authority, and one an ‘act of God'. But He warns that they must not see the unfortunate people invol... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.' Hot news has arrived from Jerusalem of Pilate's latest atrocity. Galileans offering their sacrifices in the Temple (anything from two upwards) have at the very time... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he answered and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things?” ' This confirms that there had been some suggestion that they had brought their suffering on their own heads, or possibly even the suggestion that fo... [ Continue Reading ]
“I tell you, No. But, except you repent, you will all similarly perish.” Jesus' reply is that that their deaths do not indicate that they were worse sinners than anyone else. They were not necessarily the more guilty because they died violently. Judgment is not always so direct. And then He seizes... [ Continue Reading ]
“Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, do you think that they were offenders above all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?” He then takes another example, this time of an ‘accident' that had happened in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Siloam was the reservoir from which Jerus... [ Continue Reading ]
“I tell you, No. But, except you repent, you will all similarly perish.” And His reply is that that is no different. Whether applying to a Galileans or to inhabitant of Jerusalem the same principle applies. Sudden deaths are not to be seen as necessarily resulting from the sinfulness of the persons... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And 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.” ' In the Old Testament fruit trees were regularly seen as symbols of Israel, especially the vine in the vineyard (Psalms 80:8; Isaiah 5:1; Isaiah 27:1; Jeremiah 2:21;... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and have found none. Cut it down. Why does it also act as a burden on the ground?” It appears that the owner had given it three years in order to see if its fruitless condition was permanent. He w... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he answering says to him, “Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and feed it with manure, and if it bear fruit from then on, well, and if not, you shall cut it down.” The vinedresser then suggested that the fig tree be given one more chance to prove itself. He will turn... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOMAN WHO WAS MADE STRAIGHT AND DELIVERED FROM SATAN (13:10-17). This story is central to this section of Luke, as is demonstrated by the chiasmus. We may ignore such literary methods, but we can be sure that Theophilus was fully aware of them. In it Jesus sets free a woman who is totally bent... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day.' This is the last mention of Jesus teaching in a synagogue, although that is not necessarily decisive, for such visits are usually only mentioned at this stage when specifically connected with incidents, and Luke in the main drops th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And behold, a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up.' ‘And behold.' This may well indicate that He suddenly spotted her while He was teaching. What He spotted was a woman who was bent double and could not straighten her... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” ' When Jesus saw her He called out to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” This was probably the equivalent of a command to the evil spirit to leave her, for with Jesus deliverance fro... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.' But while released from the evil spirit she had been so long in that condition that she could not straighten herself, and so Jesus went over to her and laid His hands on her and immediately she was made straig... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, answered and said to the gathered crowd, “There are six days in which men ought to work. In them therefore come and be healed, and not on the day of the sabbath.” But the ruler of the synagogue, w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the Lord answered him, and said, “You hypocrites, does not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?” ' Jesus answer was not to the ruler alone. He addressed the group of bristling opponents. He clearly saw that there were a group whos... [ Continue Reading ]
“And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath?” So if they were willing to loose domestic animals on the Sabbath day so as to water them (not a life threatening condition as other... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and the whole crowd rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.' ‘All his adversaries were put to shame.' The result of His words was that all His adversaries were put to shame (compare Isaiah 45:16 which is within... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGLY RULE OF GOD WILL GROW FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS JUST AS A MUSTARD SEED BECOMES A GREAT BUSH AND A LITTLE LEAVEN LEAVENS THE WHOLE LUMP (13:18-21). Having revealed how Jesus can loose men from Satan's power, and can make the crooked straight, Luke now gives us two parables of Jesus which illus... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He said therefore, “To what is the Kingly Rule of God like? and to what shall I liken it?” Note how the ‘therefore' connects these illustration of the Kingly Rule of God with the previous passage. Having again revealed His continuing power over Satan, and His continuing deliverance of people from... [ Continue Reading ]
“It is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his own garden, and it grew, and became a tree, and the birds of the heaven lodged in its branches.” Jesus then pointed out that it was like a grain of mustard seed, the smallest seed known to the farmers of Palestine. Yet when... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And again he said, “To what shall I liken the Kingly Rule of God?” Jesus then asks the question a second time. Among the Jews something vouched for a second time was seen as certain and secure.... [ Continue Reading ]
“It is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.” But He has another purpose in the second illustration and that is to introduce women into the equation. So He selects as His second example a woman's occupation, bread-making. The woman puts a l... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on to Jerusalem.' Having established the principle Jesus then went out to put it into practise. He went through their cities and villages preaching, and this preaching would necessarily include the preaching of the Kingly... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And one said to him, “Lord, are the ones who are being saved few?” This is the first outright use of the word ‘saved' in the main body of Luke apart from in a context where it can have a double meaning (i.e. healed - Luke 7:50; Luke 8:36; Luke 8:48; Luke 8:50; Luke 17:19; Luke 18:42), although comp... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CALL TO ENTER AND BE SAVED (13:23-24). This appeal, following the description of how the Kingly Rule of God will spread, parallels the descriptions of the Galileans and men of Siloam who perished. Those too ‘perished', they were unable to enter in. And the warning was then given that they shoul... [ Continue Reading ]
“When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us', and he will answer and say to you, “I do not know you, from where you are,' ” Many interpret this of a banquet to which later arrivals are r... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE CLOSED DOOR (13:25-27). The thought of the failure to enter through the doorway into life now issues in a parable. But there is a change in thought here to a crisis point in the future. The master of the house has risen up and closed the door. And meanwhile there are those who wan... [ Continue Reading ]
“Then will you begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets,' ” Their desperate reply will be to try to call to His mind past times. They had eaten and drunk with Him, He had taught in their streets. As we know there are many who could have said such, so many that... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know from where you are. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.' ” And His reply is simply, that He does not know from where they are. They are strangers to Him, for they are workers of iniquity. They have dwelt in places where He would not venture. The... [ Continue Reading ]
“There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, within the Kingly Rule of God, and yourselves cast forth outside.” Those who have found the door closed against them will then have the chagrin of seeing all those whom they... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR REJECTION (13:28-35). The parable having been completed the actual facts are now described. Having been refused entry through the door of salvation they will suffer the deepest possible regret. This passage parallels that where there were stewards both good and bad who wou... [ Continue Reading ]
“And they will come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and will sit down (recline) within the Kingly Rule of God.” And even worse for them to see would be those who would flood in from all parts of the world, as the prophets had prophesied, who would also as faithful servants take... [ Continue Reading ]
“And behold, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.” For at that final day everything will be turned upside down. The humble and rejected will be exalted. Those at the back of the picture will be brought to the front. Those who were God's ‘nothings' will become grea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying to him, “Get you out, and go from here, for Herod desires to kill you.” ' We do not know how genuine this warning was. Perhaps these were Pharisees who admired Him. But it may simply be that they hoped by this means to frighten Him off and pre... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to them, “Go and say to that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected.' ” But Jesus replies without fear. As in His reply to John the Baptiser He points to His signs and wonders. Let him consider those. (Even for Herod the do... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.' Yet although there is yet today and tomorrow, and then the next as well, He must use it to go on His way to Jerusalem. Time is short and He does not have time to was... [ Continue Reading ]
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you would not!” He then turns His grieving attention to Jerusalem. He may well have said something... [ Continue Reading ]
“Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, ‘You shall not see me, until you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' ” And the result of her rejection of Him could only result in the desolation of her house, either of the Temple or of the city (linguistic con... [ Continue Reading ]