Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: LUKE #25 - 13:1-21)
K. 13:1-9 JUDGMENT FOR FAILURE TO REPENT AND BEAR FRUIT
1. 13:1-5 ANY JUDGMENT UPON SIN: INCENTIVE TO REPENTANCE
a. 13:1 THE UNJUST JUDGMENT OF PILATE
paREsan DE ti-nes en auTOto kaiROa-pagGELlon-tes[518] auTOpeRI ton Ga-liLAIon,
Now some were present at that very :season reporting to him about the Galileans,
hon to HAIma PeiLAtos Emi-xen [3396]meTA ton thu-siON [2378]auTON.
whose :blood Pilate had mingled with their :sacrifices.
b. 13:2 SPECIFIC JUDGMENT DOES NOT PROVE SPECIAL SIN
kai a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen auTOIS, DoKEIte HOti hoi Ga-liLAIoi HOUtoi ha-mar-toLOI paRA PANtas
And he answered and said to them, Do you think that these :Galileans were sinners
tous Ga-liLAIous eGEnon-to, HOti TAUta pePONtha-sin [3958]?
above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things?
c. 13:3 I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all in like manner perish.
ouCHI, LEgohuMIN: all', eAN meme-ta-noEte [3340], PANtes hoMOIos a-poLEISthe.
d. 13:4 SPECIFIC JUDGMENT DOES NOT PROVE SPECIAL SIN
eeKEInoi hoi DEka okTO, eph' hous Epe-sen ho PURgos [4444]en to Si-loAM,
Or those :eighteen, upon whom the tower in :Siloam fell,
kai aPEKtei-nen [615] auTOUS, doKEIte HOti auTOI o-pheiLEtai [3781] eGEnon-to
and killed them, do you think that they were debtors
paRA PANtas tous anTHROpous tous ka-toiKOUNtas Ie-rou-saLEM?
above all the men that inhabit Jerusalem?
e. 13:5 I tell you, No: but, except you should repent, you shall all likewise perish.
ouCHI, LEgohuMIN: all', eAN meme-ta-noEse-te, PANtes hoSAUtos a-poLEISthe.
2. 13:6-9 LACK OF FRUITFULNESS: REASON FOR JUDGMENT
a. 13:6 A FARMER WITH NO FRUIT FROM FIG TREE
Ele-gen de TAUten ten pa-ra-boLEN [3850];
And he spoke this :parable;
SuKEN EI-CHEN tis pe-phu-teuMEnen [5452]en to am-peLOni [290]auTOU;
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his :vineyard;
kai ELthen zeTON karPON en auTE, kai ouch HEUren.
and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
b. 13:7 HIS JUDGMENT: DESTROY IT!
EIpen de pros ton am-pe-lourGON [189], I-DOU,
And he said unto the vinedresser, Lo,
TRIa Eteaph' hou ERcho-mai zeTON karPON en te suKETAUte,
thesethree years since I come seeking fruit on this :fig tree,
kai ouch heuRIsko: EKko-pson [1581]auTEN; HIna ti kai ten gen ka-tarGEI [2673]?
and find none: cut it down; why does it also cumber the ground?
c. 13:8-9 THE REPRIEVE SUGGESTED BY THE SERVANT
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS LEgei auTO, KUri-e, Aphes auTEN kai TOUto to Etos,
And he answering says to him, Lord, leave it this :year also,
HEos HOtou SKApso [4626]peRI auTEN, kai BAlo KOpri-a [2874]: ka' 'n men poiEsekarPON
till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9and if it bear fruit
eis to MELlon, - ; ei de MEge, ekKOpseis auTEN.
thenceforth, well; but if not, you shall cut it down.
L. 13:10-21 KINGDOM CONSISTENCY AND GROWTH
1. 13:10-17 JESUS JUSTIFIES SABBATH HEALING
a. 13:10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath[s].
En de diDAskon en miA ton su-na-goGON en tois SABba-sin.
b. 13:11 A WOMAN WITH SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY
kai iDOU, guNE PNEUma Echou-sa as-theNEIas [769] Ete DEka okTO;
And lo, a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years;
kai en sunKUPtou-sa [4794], kai me du-naMEne a-naKUpsai [352] eis to pan-teLES.
and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up.
c. 13:12 JESUS SPEAKS LOOSING
iDON de auTEN ho IeSOUS pro-sePHOne-sen, kai EIpen auTE,
And seeing her :Jesus called her, and said to her,
GUnai, a-poLElu-sai [630] tes as-theNEIas sou.
Woman, you are loosed from your :infirmity.
d. 13:13 And he laid :hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified :God.
kai ePEthe-ken auTE tas CHEIras: kai pa-raCHREma [3916] a-norTHOthe [461], kai eDOxa-zen ton TheON.
e. 13:14 SABBATH AND THE SYNAGOGUE RULER
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho ar-chi-suNAgo-gos, a-ga-nakTON [23] HOti to sabBAto
And the synagogue-ruler, being indignant because :Jesus had healed
e-theRApeu-sen ho IeSOUS, Ele-gen to OCHlo [HOti],
on the sabbath, answered and said to the crowd [that],
Hex heMErai eiSIN en hais dei erGAzes-thai: en auTAIS oun
Six day are in which menought to work: in them therefore
erCHOme-noi the-raPEUes-the, kai me te heMEra tou sabBAtou.
come andbe healed, and not on the day of the sabbath.
f. 13:15 JESUS EXPOSES THIS HYPOCRISY
a-peKRIthe de auTO ho KUri-os, kai EIpen, Hu-po-kriTAI [5273],
But the Lord answered him, andsaid, Hypocrites,
HEka-stos huMON to sabBAto ou LUei [3089] ton boun [1016] auTOU e ton Onon [3688]
does not each of you on the sabbath loose his :ox or his :ass
aPO tes PHATnes [5336], kai a-paGON poTIzei?
from the manger, and lead him away to watering?
g. 13:16 JESUS APPLIES HIS REASONING
TAUten de, thu-gaTEra A-braAM OUsan, hen Ede-sen [1210] ho Sa-taNAS, iDOU, DEka kai okTO Ete,
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom :Satan had bound, lo, eighteen years,
ouk Edei luTHEnai aPO tou desMOU [1199] TOUtou te heMEra tou sabBAtou?
to have been loosed from this :bond on the day of the sabbath?
h. 13:17 THE EFFECT OF JESUS' REASONING
kai TAUta LEgonTOS auTOU, ka-teSCHUnon-to [2617] PANtes hoi an-tiKEIme-noi [480] auTO:
And as he said these things, all his :adversaries were put to shame:
kai pas ho OCHlos Echai-ren ePI PAsin tois enDOxois tois gi-noMEnois [1096] hup' auTOU.
and the whole crowd rejoiced for all the glorious things:done by him.
2. 13:18-21 JESUS FORETELLS GROWTH OF KINGDOM
a. 13:18 He said therefore, Unto what is the kingdom of :God like? and unto what shall I compare it?
Ele-gen oun, TIni hoMOIa esTIN he ba-siLEIa tou theOU? kai TIni ho-moiOso [3666] auTEN?
b. 13:19 THE MUSTARD SEED AND GREAT GROWTH
hoMOIa esTIN KOKko [2848] siNApe-os [4615], hon laBON ANthropos,
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took,
Eba-len eis KEpon [2779] he-auTOU; kai EUxe-sen, kai eGEne-to eis DENdron [1186];
andcast into his own garden; and it grew, and became a tree;
kai ta pe-teiNA [4071] tou ou-raNOU ka-teSKEno-sen [2681] en tois KLAdois [2798] auTOU.
and the birds of the heaven lodged in the branches.
c. 13:20 And again he said, Unto what shall I compare the kingdom of :God?
kai PAlin EIpen, TIni ho-moiOsoten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU?
d. 13:21 THE KINGDOM AND LEAVEN
hoMOIa esTIN ZUme [2279], hen laBOUsa guNE
It is like unto leaven, which a woman took
Ekru-psen [1470] eis aLEUrou [224] SAta TRIa, HEos hou e-zuMOthe HOlon.
andhid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
NOTE: (2010-12-07) - 13:1-5 - Nature of Judgment - Sometimes God sends judgment - not because those judged are worse sinners than others - but to alert allmankind of God's thinking upon unrepentant sin - and - in mercy to get their attention that theymay repent and avoid judgment!
13:6-9 - Does God expect fruit from the lives of His people? Absolutely! The vineyard attendant was able to stave off his lord's judgment for a time - but unless fruit eventually comes - then there willbe a cutting off! Do we take such applications and warnings seriously? Not usually. Should we? Absolutely! God gives these warnings through His Son and His apostles for our good! Neglect or negligence will thenbe our fault and responsibility. Thiswas God's word to Ezekiel - Wharn them! Tell them! So that should they fail to repent and reform - then they will be without excusewhen they stand finally before My Great White Throne! But thenit will be too late. We should learn to take God and His Word seriously in this life, so that we can then take part finally in eternal life, not judgment. He that endures to the endshall be saved.
13:10-17 - How clearly and aptly could Jesus show the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders of His day! He brought them to shame. The Sabbath is for the blessing of men, notas a club for religious leaders to hold over the people, while they themselves fail to practice what they preach. What hypocrisy! And are there religious leaders in the church today who act similarly? Unfortunately, Yes!
13:18-21 - Jesus here portrays growth in the Kingdom - one for good- one for evil! Bothshow tremendous growth. The good in the mustard seed is especially noteworthy. But we need to apply Middle East and Bible understanding in its interpretation. It requires on our part “Block Thinking” - not lineal or Hellenistic. Parables have onecentral truth. We are not to interpret them as an allegory, looking for a meaning in every detail. It is notthe branches of the tree, nor the many birds on the branches that should attract our attention. Jesus intends that we fasten on the tremendouspotential growth of His Kingdom in our lives and areas! The wholeof the Roman Empire was evangelized in the days of the early church, and some have thought that perhaps 10% of that empire received the Good News of the Kingdom of God! Thatis amazing growth! That is a fitting picture of this parable! J.A.W.