Luke 13 KJV
Repent or Perish
Luke Chapter 13: Repent or Perish
The healing of the crippled woman employs the same language of 'loosing' used for untying animals to water them, framing her eighteen-year bondage as a direct satanic affliction that Jesus treats as more urgent than livestock needs, exposing the ruler's distorted application of Torah.
1here were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or 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?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Words in red are the direct words of Jesus Christ.
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Did You Know?
The healing of the crippled woman employs the same language of 'loosing' used for untying animals to water them, framing her eighteen-year bondage as a direct satanic affliction that Jesus treats as more urgent than livestock needs, exposing the ruler's distorted application of Torah.
The fig tree parable's three-year wait plus one more year subtly aligns with the timeline of Jesus' public ministry up to that point, portraying Israel's fruitlessness as already measured yet still granted a final, owner-initiated chance before the vinedresser's intervention ends.
Jesus' warning that some will stand outside the shut door claiming table fellowship with him ('we have eaten and drunk in thy presence') directly undercuts any presumption based on proximity to his ministry, redefining true belonging by the ethical 'strait gate' rather than shared meals or miracles.
The maternal hen-and-chicks image for gathering Jerusalem's children is the sole instance in the Gospels where Jesus applies such explicitly feminine, protective imagery to his own mission, echoing but intensifying Old Testament divine-bird metaphors while highlighting the city's repeated refusal of shelter.
The mustard seed and leaven parables sit immediately after the synagogue healing controversy and before the narrow-door teaching, creating a literary sandwich that positions the kingdom's hidden, unstoppable expansion as the surprising answer to both Sabbath legalism and fears of exclusion.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Galileans โ possibly the followers of Judas of Galilee, who, some twenty years before this, taught that Jews should not pay tribute to the Romans, and of whom we learn, from Ac 5:3โฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Luke 13 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: The lesson, "repent or perish," suggested by two recent incidents, and illustrated by the parable of the barren fig tree; Woman of eighteen year's infirmity healed on the sabbath; Miscellaneous teachings; Message to herod.
- 1-3
- Galileans โ possibly the followers of Judas of Galilee, who, some twenty years before this, taught that Jews should not pay tribute to the Romans, and of whom we learn, from Ac 5:37, that he drew after him a multitude of followers, who on his being slain were all dispersed. About this time that party would be at its height, and if Pilate caused this detachment of them to be waylaid and put to death as they were offering their sacrifices at one of the festivals, that would be "mingling their blood with their sacrifices" [GROTIUS, WEBSTER and WILKINSON, but doubted by DE WETTE, MEYER, ALFORD, &c.]. News of this being brought to our Lord, to draw out His views of such, and whether it was not a judgment of Heaven, He simply points them to the practical view of the matter: "These men are not signal examples of divine vengeance, as ye suppose; but every impenitent sinner โ ye yourselves, except ye repent โ shall be like monuments of the judgment of Heaven, and in a more awful sense." The reference here to the impending destruction of Jerusalem is far from exhausting our Lord's weighty words; they manifestly point to a "perdition" of a more awful kind โ future, personal, remediless.
- 4,5
- tower in Siloam โ probably one of the towers of the city wall, near the pool of Siloam. Of its fall nothing is known.
Read all 22 notes on Luke 13 โ