Luke 13  Caring For God's Family

The Lord's Care and Shepherding towards Israel And His Church

Repentance - Death & Resurrection (Life) - Sabbath Rest (Jubilee) - The Kingdom in Appearance - The Kingdom in reality - The Lord's Household

All supporting Bible references are given below each respective section.

REPENTANCE - 13:1-5

The key to the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 4:17; Luke 10:9) - related to the gospel

We can choose God and His kingdom or we will perish (13:3) - God provides the salvation but our responsibility is to choose it by repenting and receiving what God has provided.

Now there were some present at the same time who reported to Him concerning the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  2 And He answered and said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered these things?  3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.  4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were debtors beyond all the men dwelling in Jerusalem?  5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you shall all similarly perish.  (Luke 13:1-5)

From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.  (Matthew 4:17)

And heal the sick who are in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has drawn near to you. (Luke 10:9)

DEATH & RESURRECTION (Life & fruit) - 13:6-9

The Father owns the vineyard which contains the fig tree (Israel - Jer. 24:2, 5, 8)

The Son has ministered on earth for three years and is about to go to Jerusalem to die (dig around the fig tree)

How long has the Lord cultivated us and yet we don't die and come into resurrection life?

The Father is looking for fruits of repentance based on the Son's death & resurrection

11:13 - the Holy Spirit as our life and life supply

11:28 - hearing the Word AND obeying it

11:33-36, 39-40 - being filled inwardly with light

12:42 - proper Serving to feed others

12:56-59 - realization of their rebellion & debt … should bring in repentance

And He told this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. And he came seeking fruit on it and did not find any.  7 And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I have not found any. Cut it down therefore. Why does it also make the ground useless?  8 But he answered and said to him, Master, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and throw on manure.  9 And if it produces fruit in the future, good; otherwise, cut it down. (Luke 13:6-9)

One basket [had] very good figs, [even] like the figs [that are] first ripe: and the other basket [had] very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.  3 Then said the LORD unto me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.  4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for [their] good…  8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus says the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt… (Jeremiah 24:2-5, 8)

If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:13)

But He said, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.  (Luke 11:28)

No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in the cellar or under the bushel, but on the lamp stand, in order that those who enter in may see the light.  34 The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is dark.  35 Watch out therefore that the light which is in you is not darkness.  36 If therefore your whole body is full of light and does not have any dark part, the whole will be full of light as when the lamp with its rays illuminates you.  (Luke 11:33-36)

But the Lord said to him, Again, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inside is full of extortion and wickedness.  40 Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  (Luke 11:39-40)

And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master will set over his service to give them their portion of food at the proper time? (Luke 12:42)

Hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the earth and of the sky. How is it then that you do not discern this time?  57 And why do you not judge also of yourselves what is right?  58 For as you are going with your opponent at law to a magistrate, endeavor to be released from him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge; and the judge will deliver you up to the officer, and the officer will throw you into prison.  59 I tell you, You shall by no means come out from there until you have paid the very last lepton. (Luke 12:56-59)

SABBATH REST (Jubilee) - 13:10-17

God created man to rest in Him (Gen. 1:26-2:3) and to take Him as their source of life and life supply for their living (Jer. 2:13)

In the old creation man worked according to his own effort, capacity and ability

This issued in failure, evil and forsaking God as seen throughout the Old testament

The old creation always gets usurped by Satan and ends in death and judgment (2 Peter 3:10-13)

The New Creation issues forth out of death and resurrection and ends in Jubilee

The Lord proclaimed the Jubilee as part of the New Testament Sabbath rest (Luke 4:14-19), bringing healing, casting out demons (Satan's authority) and teaching with the divine authority

The New Testament age, typified by the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8-17). The New Testament age would be the time when God would accept the returned captives of sin (Isa. 49:8; 2·Cor. 6:2) and when those oppressed under the bondage of sin would enjoy the release of God's salvation and keep the New Testament Jubilee.

Every case in the book of Luke mentions the Sabbath rest after the Lord's death and resurrection is announced

Luke 6:1 follows 5:34-35 where Christ is revealed as our Bridegroom.

We come to know Christ as the Lord of the Sabbath (6:5; Acts 2:36)

This issues in the feeding of the hungry and the doing of good works, releasing us from Satan's usurpation of food (4:2-4; Gen. 3:1-7) and false works (Rev. 2:2, 19)

Luke 13:10 follows 13:7-9 issuing in the release from Satan's oppression (13:16) which restricts our vision and obedience in Christ (Acts 26:19)

Luke 14:1 follows 13:32-33 showing that God is now outside of religion, religion's city (Jerusalem) and religion's system (Judaism).

This issues in the restoration of the proper function of the inner life which cares for men rather than kills men and values animals higher than men (14:5).  

Men can function in, by, with and through Christ as their life and life supply to accomplish God's will rather than captive to the old creation with its failure full, weak and fallen nature

Luke 23:54 follows Christ's actual death awaiting His resurrection to change the age from being "according to the law" (23:56) to Jubilee!

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent double and could not stand erect at all.  12 And Jesus, seeing her, called her to Him and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity.  13 And He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was made erect and began to glorify God.  14 But the ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered and said to the crowd, There are six days in which man should work; therefore, come on them and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.   15 But the Lord answered him and said, Hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away and water it?  16 And this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound, behold, for eighteen years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?  17 And when He said these things, all those opposing Him were put to shame, and all the crowd rejoiced over all the glorious things that were being done by Him. (Luke 13:10-17)

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.  29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.  31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good.  And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.  2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.  (Genesis 1:26 - 2:3)

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, burning with intense heat, will be dissolved, and the earth and the works in it will be burned up.  11 Since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what kind of persons ought you to be in holy manner of life and godliness, 12 Expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements, burning with intense heat, are to be melted away?  13 But according to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.  (2 Peter 3:10-13)

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And reports about Him went out through all the surrounding region.  15 And He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by all.  16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and according to His custom He entered on the Sabbath day into the synagogue and stood up to read.  17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18  ``The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee.'' (Luke 4:14-19)

And thou shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.  9 Then shall thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.  10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a Jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.  11 A Jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.  12 For it [is] the Jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.  13 In the year of this Jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.  14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbor, or buy anything of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:  15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee thou shall buy of thy neighbor, [and] according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:  16 According to the multitude of years thou shall increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shall diminish the price of it: for [according] to the number [of the years] of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.  17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shall fear thy God: for I [am] the LORD your God. (Leviticus 25:8-17)

And Jesus said to them, You cannot make the sons of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?  35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days. (Luke 5:34-35)

And He said to them, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (Luke 6:5)

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified. (Acts 2:36)

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, while being tempted for forty days by the devil.  2 And He did not eat anything in those days, and when they were concluded, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, speak to this stone that it become bread.  4 And Jesus answered him, It is written, ``Man shall not live on bread alone.''  (Matthew 4:1-4)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:1-7)  

I know your works and your labor and your endurance and that you cannot bear evil men; and you have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false;… 19 I know your works and love and faith and service and your endurance and that your last works are more than the first.  (Revelation 2:2, 19)

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26:19)

And as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely.  …  5 And He said to them, Which of you having a donkey or an ox that falls into a well will not immediately pull it out on the Sabbath day? (Luke 14:1, 5)

And it was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was coming on.  55 And the women who had come together with Him out of Galilee followed after and beheld the tomb and how His body was laid.  56 And they returned and prepared spices and ointment. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. (Luke 23:54-56)

THE KINGDOM'S APPEARANCE based on Satan's usurpation - 13:18-21

The mustard seed (an herb) becoming a tree

Changing the nature of the plant by Satan's influence ? mustard is an annual herb whereas trees are permanent, perennial in nature

Very fast growth but not long lasting ? mustard lives one year whereas trees live centuries ? The Lord intends us to put new wine in fresh wineskins regularly, but religion likes to keep the old (5:39) ways, practices, forms of living and worship

But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  39 And no one who has drunk the old desires the new, for he says, The old is better.  (Luke 5:38-39)

The birds of heaven roosting in its branches

Leaven in the meal offering (Zume in Greek)

Represents fermentation, symbolized by corruption, resulting in the divine curse.

Rabbinical teachings always view leaven as evil

All-pervading and all-transforming in a hidden, silent, mysterious way (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9) - always in a negative context in the Bible

No meal offering to the Lord or blood sacrifice was to contain leaven - the penalty was to be cut off from the people

Meal offering (Lev. 2:11; 6:17)

Passover (Exo. 12:15; 13:3, 7; Deut. 16:3)

Blood sacrifices (34:25)

Leviticus 7:13 - Thank offering by a sinner (leaven)

Leviticus 23:17 - Two wave cakes with leaven

The wave cakes signify the church produced by Christ in His resurrection

Two wave cakes - one signifying the Jews and the other signifying the Gentiles, both of whom are sinners (leaven), yet are made into the one new man in Christ (Eph. 2:15)

Christ Himself has no leaven, but in this age, we believers who comprise the church still contain leaven in our being due to our fallen, sinful nature

Amos 4:4-5 - false worship mocked and rejected by God

Matthew 16:6, 12 - leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Pharisees represent the religious fundamentalists - legalism, deadness, hypocrisy

Sadducees represent the religious modernists - unbelievers, false teachers concerning Christ

Mark 8:15 - leaven of Herod

Herod represents politics and the world mixing in with Christ

1 Corinthians 5:6-7 purge the leaven of malice and evil from the loaf

Represents a change in nature from the pure loaf

Galatians 5:9 leaven influences the whole lump - All-pervading and all-transforming in a hidden, silent, mysterious way

He said therefore, What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it?  19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of heaven roosted in its branches.  20 And again He said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?  21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.  (Luke 13:18-21)

No meal offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. (Lev. 2:11)

It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it [unto them for] their portion of my offerings made by fire; it [is] most holy, as [is] the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. (Lev. 6:17)

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:15)

Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left unto the morning.  (Exodus 34:25)

Besides the cakes, he shall offer [for] his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.  (Lev. 7:13)

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.  (Lev. 23:17)

Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace  (Ephesians 2:15)

Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, [and] your tithes after three years:  5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim [and] publish the free offerings: for this pleases you, O ye children of Israel, says the Lord GOD.  (Amos 4:4-5)

And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  (Matthew 16:6)

And He charged them, saying, Watch! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. (Mark 8:15)

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  7 Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened; for our Passover, Christ, also has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)

This persuasion is not of Him who calls you.  9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.  (Galatians 5:8-9)

THE KINGDOM IN REALITY - 13:22-30

The Lord's whole being was focused, single (11:34) on the will of God ? to go to Jerusalem to die

The Lord was not referring to the physical or psychological realm (13:26) but a divine and mystical realm in the Spirit

The center of the Kingdom life is feasting and enjoyment with righteousness (Romans 14:17) - versus the legality, deadness and unrighteousness in outward religion

We eat and drink to enjoy the Lord but the issue of this eating and drinking shows whether we are in the kingdom life or not

If we eat and drink to satisfy ourselves, then we miss the mark

If we feast for the sake of others to gather together God's household, then we are in the reality of the kingdom

All believers from all over the earth are invited - no longer just in Israel, but including the Gentiles

And He journeyed throughout the cities and villages, teaching and making His way toward Jerusalem.  23 And someone said to Him, Lord, are there only a few who are being saved?  24 And He said to them, Struggle to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter, yet will not be able.  25 Once the Master of the house has risen and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, Lord, open to us, then He will answer and say to you, I do not know you, nor where you are from.  26 Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and drank, and You taught in our streets.  27 And He will say, I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Go away from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness.  28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you being cast outside.  29 And they will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.  30 And behold, there are some last who will be first, and there are some first who will be last. (Luke 13:22-30)

No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in the cellar or under the bushel, but on the lamp stand, in order that those who enter in may see the light.  34 The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is dark.  35 Watch out therefore that the light which is in you is not darkness.  36 If therefore your whole body is full of light and does not have any dark part, the whole will be full of light as when the lamp with its rays illuminates you. (Luke 11:33-36)

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

THE LORD'S HOUSEHOLD - 13:31-35 as a picture of God's full salvation

The Lord was set to go to Jerusalem to die (9:51, 53) to finish the course the Father had laid out for Him on earth

No one could prevent the Lord from accomplishing His purpose on the earth

The Lord had to perish in order that we repentant sinners would not have to (cf. 13:1-5)

The Lord brooded over Israel in order to GATHER TOGETHER His people to God

The religious ones rejected His shepherding and Him as their Shepherd

The Lord would reject them as the house of God

The Lord would establish His household in this age as the church, the House of God (1 Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19; John 14:2)

Believers are scattered throughout many divisions (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and independent free groups) and the Lord is brooding to gather them together as one for His purpose

In the same hour some Pharisees came up, saying to Him, Get out and go from here, for Herod wants to kill you.  32 And He said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I am perfected.  33 However, I must journey today and tomorrow and on the following day because it is not acceptable for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.  34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I desired to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you would not!  35 Behold, your house is left to you. And I say to you, You shall by no means see Me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  (Luke 13:31-35)

And as the days were being fulfilled for Him to be taken up, He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.  52 And He sent messengers before His face. And they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to prepare for Him.  53 And they did not receive Him, because His face was set to go to Jerusalem  (Luke 9:51-53)

OUR DAILY LIFE IN CHRIST (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Repent

Die to self and be brought into the resurrection life of Christ

Experience and enjoy God's New Testament Sabbath:  the Jubilee

Recognize and live in the reality of the kingdom

All the previous items are for God's Household, God's family

OUR RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CHRIST

See others as lost and deserving of God's judgment

Never realize that the Lord has been trying to cultivate us daily yet we hold to our forms, teachings, practices and ways of worship and living

Tell people the principles of laboring for God and have them work by their effort, not recognizing the Lord's work in a person

Think that a "tree" is good because it is large, stable and enduring, not realizing that God desires new wine in a fresh wineskin after each growing season

Keep propagating principles (touch the Lord, read the Bible, pray) but never touch the inward reality which brings us into feasting with Christ in righteousness

Reject the Lord en route to killing Him … "all in Jesus' name"