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Luke Chapter 13

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Luke 13 Outline:
13:01-05 People who perished.
13:06-09 The man seeking fruit.
13:10-17 Jesus heals a bent woman.
13:18-21 The kingdom of God.
13:22-30 Who exactly are in the kingdom?
13:31-33 That fox Herod.
13:34-35 Jesus laments over Jerusalem.

Fun Facts:
— Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.

— Luke mentions Jerusalem ninety times, while it occurs only forty-nine times in the all the rest of the new testament. It was considered the heart of the nation of Israel.

Study Notes:
Luke 13:1-5 It was commonly believed that disaster was a punishment for sin, so Jesus makes it a point that these Galileans had not been singled out for punishment but that everyone listening to Him could suffer the same fate, and likewise have no time to repent. Repenting of sins is both a once-for-all event in life and a day-to-day affair that keeps putting new sins behind you.

Luke 13:6-9: Jesus tells a parable of a man who owned a vineyard with a fig tree in it. For three years he looked for fruit on this tree but found none and he decided to cut it down. The vinedresser asked him to wait one more year while he fertilized it. God is merciful and patient, but He does expect to see good fruit growing in our lives. There will come an end to His patience one day and the tree that will not bear fruit will be cut down and burned.

Luke 13:10-17: The right use of the sabbath continued to be a point of dispute between Jesus and the religious leaders. Jesus put the real needs of people first where the pharisees put the law they had developed first. God has said “do no work on the sabbath” and man had turned it into “do nothing on the sabbath, at least in public…” Just like God told Adam “Do not eat the fruit of that tree” and Eve told the serpent “We cannot eat, nor touch it.” They went above and beyond the actual word of God.

Jesus saw a woman that had been “bound by satan” for eighteen years and He laid hands on her and healed her. The woman whose backbone had fused in a bent over position, stood up straight for the first time in almost two decades. It was a glorious miracle. Instead of the synagogue ruler being happy, it reads: “The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” (Luke 13:14 WEB)

The rabbis believed that on the sabbath, animals could be led out by a chain or rope, as long as nothing was carried. You could draw water for them and pour it into a trough, though you could not hold the bucket while they drank from it. This fulfilled the letter of the law while still caring for the animals. Jesus asked them that if they worked around the law to take care of the animals, how much more so to heal a daughter of Abraham? It was the power of God that healed the woman, and God chose to do it on the sabbath day. Who are we to tell God when and what to do like He is our pet? It seems ridiculous, but I have seen this attitude in church myself.

Luke 13:18-21: Jesus tells two parables, one about the mustard seed and the other about the leaven (yeast). This is directly after healing the woman in the synagogue. Though the rulers were opposed, the people rejoiced at the glorious things done by Him (13:17). The seed of the kingdom of God was planted and would continue to grow until the birds of the air made nests in its branches. The birds could refer to the nations of the earth (Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6; Daniel 4:12, 21). The kingdom of God will be universal and people from all nations will be a part of it.

The leaven or yeast would spread through all of the flour. The kingdom of God will encompass the entire earth. In the same way, man is made of earth and like a city (Prov. 25:28). When the seed of the kingdom is planted in someone, it is only the beginning. It will grow driving out the darkness before it one bad attitude at a time until the whole body is full of light. Compare someone who got saved last week to someone that has walked with God for twenty years and you will see a difference. Don’t get all holy and religious on me: The spirit within you may be a new creation in Christ, but you are still in that same old body, and you still have those same old desires until you overcome them.

Luke 13:22-30: Jesus was slowly making His way to Jerusalem and taking time to teach along the way. The Jews believed that all Israel would certainly be saved, except for a few blatant sinners who excluded themselves. Jesus made it clear that there will be many surprises in the membership of the kingdom. He urges His listeners to strive to make sure that they are in that number. The word “strive” means whole-hearted action. It was a technical term for competition and where we get the English word “agonize.” It means no half-hearted effort; give it everything that you have got.

We should be genuinely seeking God now. It is not human achievement that will get you into the gate, but more of the attitude of putting God first in your life. Make Him and His work important in your life now. The first group strove to get in through the narrow door. The second group claimed to know Jesus, they heard Him preaching in the streets, they ate and drank in His presence, but He did not know them and they were turned away. They did not act on His words, though they heard them. James said: “But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” (James 1:22–24 WEB)

Timing: There are two groups of people mentioned here and timing seems to be one difference: “Strive to enter” is now; “Will seek to enter” is in the future. All genuine seekers are freely welcome to come to God, but there is a time limit on the offer of salvation. When the door is finally shut, those standing outside of it will be lost. The return of Jesus will come like a bolt of lightning, catching everyone off guard (Matt 24:27). When the door on the ark of Noah closed, everyone outside of it perished. Only eight people were saved (1 Peter 3:20). That was certainly a narrow door. Today is the day of salvation (2Cor. 6:2). Live your life ready to die and begin to put God first now.

Luke 13:31-33 The pharisees gave Jesus a death threat from Herod who had put John the baptizer to death. Jesus called Herod a “fox” which probably meant that he was neither a great man, nor a straight man. Foxes were small, but considered sly and sometimes represented destructiveness (Song 2:15). Later when Jesus appeared before Herod, He did not say a word (Luke 23:9). When Jesus has nothing to say to someone, that person is hopelessly lost.

Luke 13:34-35 Jerusalem was the heart of the nation of Israel and though Jesus knew what was coming, He followed the path that God had set before Him. Luke mentions Jerusalem ninety times, while it occurs only forty-nine times in the all the rest of the new testament. It was important to Luke and being the heart of the nation, Jerusalem was where the prophets appeared before the Sanhedrin (essentially, a jury for religious matters), were tried and then put to death. It was there that the nation’s attitude towards Jesus would reach its final stages and God’s Messiah would fulfill His purpose on the earth.

When a nation or individual persists in rejecting God, the end is inevitable. God no longer lives there or in them. To me, Luke 13:35 points to the future second advent of Christ when Jesus will return and Israel will recognize Him as the true Messiah and say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”


Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The temple mount is in the foreground.

Study Questions: (if your answers are very long, you may want to type them first in something like Word or Notepad, which doesn't require an Internet connection, then copy and paste (Ctrl-A to select, Ctrl-V to copy, Ctrl-V to paste), to prevent mishaps. Also, there is a 3K character limit, so if they are super long, feel free to post more than once, and just answer a couple of questions at a time. Also, you are welcome to post any questions you may have. We look forward to your thoughts!)

1. Jesus talks about the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:8-9. What does this story mean to you? Who is the owner? Who is the vinedresser?

2. In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus rebuked the “ruler of the synagogue” and those who agreed with him, as hypocrites for freeing a woman from a disabling spirit on the sabbath. Note that the woman did not even have to ask for help, nor did she express that she believed in Jesus. What does this section tell you about Jesus’s love and compassion?

3. Jesus said in Luke 13:18-2 1that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which starts small and grows great over time, and like the leaven used to make bread, which works from within. What does this section tell you about Jesus’ patience?

4. In Luke 13:22-30, Jesus suggested that there would be fewer than we may think in HIs kingdom (“For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and not be able to”), and that we may be surprised at who they are (“And behold, some are last who will be the first, and some are first who will be the last”). What are your thoughts on what this means for us?

5. As Jesus laments over the state of Jerusalem in Luke 13:31-35, He expresses His love for its people and says “And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’”. What are your thoughts on how this section may apply to our modern nations and about how we should pray for them?