April 28 – Reading Luke 13:1-21

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath Day?”  Luke 13:16

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The Gospel according to Luke 

Review – Jesus told the crowd that they knew the signs of upcoming weather: a cloud in the west means rain, wind from the south means heat …. but they didn’t know the signs of Jesus’ coming.  Get prepared!

Vss. 13:1-9.

Do political persecution and natural disasters indicate judgment by God?  Does this mean people who suffer in this way are MORE sinful and deserve to experience violent deaths?

Yes and no.  It could.  God sometimes brought destruction on wicked sinners.

But Jesus told His questioners that these victims (of Pilate’s anger, and a faulty tower) were NOT more sinful.  And THESE “pious” tattlers were not morally superior to have escaped such fates.  And, in fact, if THEY did not repent, they would also perish.

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Jesus then told them a parable about a barren fig tree (picturing Israel, which lacked all fruit of righteousness). After three years with no fruit, the “owner” wanted to cut it down, saying, “Why should it use up the ground?”

(This could have pictured the years Jesus had been ministering among them. There were some who honestly believed, but the majority of Israel were rejecting Him.)

The gardener pleaded for the tree. “Let me dig around it and put on manure this year. Then, if it should bear fruit next year, well and good! But if not, then cut it down.”

(Jesus’ life and death, and glorious resurrection, plus the apostles’ preaching at Pentecost and beyond, represented the “digging and fertilizing” year. But for the most part, Israel still rejected their Messiah.  And, in less than 40 years, Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed, and the Jews taken captive into Roman slavery.  The “barren fig tree” would be cut down. But…a stump would remain, guarding living roots.)

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Vss. 13:19-21.

Skip the incident of the women in the synagogue for now, and go to two more of Jesus’s parables, which seem to connect with the fig tree (representing Israel) parable.

Jesus here compares the Kingdom of God to a grain of mustard seed, which a farmer plants. It grows tall enough that birds can safely build nests (and raise their young) in it.

The second parable is similar. A woman (perhaps, the farmer’s wife) takes some leaven (yeast) and works it into “measures” of flour in order to bake some nice, soft bread.

The small mustard seed and the leaven (in this case, NOT representing sin, but a good baking ingredient) both grow and influence for good.

These parables illustrate 1) the inclusion of Gentiles in the Kingdom of God (the birds) and 2) the unstoppable pervasiveness of the Kingdom of God (or the Gospel) in the world (like leaven in the dough).

Yes, Israel would reject their Messiah, but this would open the doors for the Gospel to spread to ALL peoples of the world.  PRAISE GOD!

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Vss. 13:10-17.

Jesus is back in a synagogue on Sabbath Day, teaching as He normally does.

There was a crippled woman also in attendance. She had been “bent over from the waist” for EIGHTEEN YEARS!   A “disabling spirit from Satan” had caused this.

The woman was quiet, probably resigned to her permanently bowed state.  She did not come forward to ask Jesus to heal her. She did not try to touch the “hem of His garment.”

But Jesus saw her.

He called her to Him.

He said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”

And He laid his hands on her.

Immediately, she was made to stand straight, AND SHE GLORIFIED GOD.

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BUT, the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on THOSE DAYS and be healed, and NOT on the Sabbath Day.”

It had probably NOT been the woman’s intention to come for healing. She was probably worshiping and listening to the teaching as the others were.  JESUS had called HER over.

This hypocrisy infuriated Jesus, and He lashed out at them, perhaps pointing an accusing finger.

“You hypocrites!  Does not each of YOU on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?  Ought not THIS WOMAN, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

(In other words, was she (a Jew, like them) not better than their animals?)

Of course, when He said this, all those accusing “adversaries” were put to shame (and angered all the more).

However, all the people REJOICED at all the glorious things that were done by Jesus.