Luke 13 - Introduction

Unless You Repent You Will Perish Luke Thirteen

Luke chapter 13 provides us with a somber message about repentance. Were those Jews whom Pilate killed and mingled their blood with their sacrifices worse sinners than other people? Not at all! You can be sure that if you do not repent you will also perish. The same was true of natural disasters. "Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?" Not at all! You can be sure that if you do not repent you will also perish. The book of Job makes us understand that calamity befalls both the righteous as well as the unrighteous. An unfruitful fig tree teaches us that we must be fruitful and faithful in God's service. God is patient but sooner or later our opportunities to turn away from sin run out. Luke also gives an account of a woman being freed from a spirit of infirmity which she had been dealing with for eighteen years. She was unable to stand upright. Jesus said, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God."

Jesus used mustard seeds and leaven to teach us about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are receptive to God's word. It is then able to grow to tremendous strength. Jesus taught that just because a person is a Jew does not automatically mean that they will go to heaven. He also showed that many Gentiles would enter His kingdom. Jesus opened the way into His kingdom for everyone through His death on the cross. But we must follow Jesus in the way of the cross by humble obedience to be in His kingdom. Jesus wanted it understood that the means to avoid spiritual disaster was to come to Him. He would have gathered them under His wings of protection but they refused.