Luke 13
COMMENTARY:
: 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. (3340 “repent” [metanoeo] means to change one’s mind, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins, to have a change of self, to change one’s way, new behavior, or regret over former behavior and dispositions.)
DEVOTION: We like to judge people who we think are worse sinners than us. We look around and see what other people are doing and look at our life and think that we are not so bad.
Jesus was dealing with people who were looking around. The religious leaders taught that tax collectors and those who were not obeying their rules were so bad that they shouldn’t have any dealings with them. They didn’t want to eat any meals with them. They wouldn’t go to their parties if they were invited. They would only go to the homes of those who they thought were just as good as them or maybe a little better than them.
They thought that as long as they could look down on certain groups of people they were in good standing with God. Jesus came to tell them something different. HE stated that everyone has to repent of sin. HE made it clear that everyone sinned on a regular basis. HE made it clear that the giving of their money or sacrifices at the temple was not enough. There had to be a change of heart.
Repentance is changing direction in your life. It is turning from religious righteousness to Biblical righteousness. It was turning from sin and heading in a different direction.
HE used the illustration of fruit bearing as an example of what the Christian life is all about. If we produce fruit that is acceptable to the LORD we will be saved. We can only do this if the Holy Spirit helps us. Our good works are not the same a God’s good works. HE looks at our motive and attitude. We do many things for show. God isn’t interested in show. HE is interested in internal change.
CHALLENGE: If there is no internal change there is no eternity in heaven with HIM.
: 12 And when Jesus saw her, HE called her to HIM, and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. (630 “loosed” [apoluo] means release, put away, send away, let go, set at liberty, dismiss, to leave a certain state or condition, to be set free, or conceived of as becoming liberated from the constraint or oppression of a condition.)
DEVOTION: We can get to the point in our religious life where we pick and choose what we want to believe and what we don’t want to believe of the teaching of Jesus.
We have many people before us who have done just this same thing. The Old Testament children of Israel formed a code of beliefs based on the teachings of the Pharisees and the other religious groups of the Jewish people. They would take a verse of the Old Testament and write a commentary on it to teach what they thought it was teaching.
They came to believe that if an animal was in need of something on the Sabbath it was good to take care of an animal. Here we find Jesus telling them that humans are just as important as or even more important to God than animals.
The rulers of the synagogue were angry that Jesus healed a sick woman on the Sabbath than the fact that HE cared for her. They were called “hypocrite” by Jesus. They believed a false belief instead of believing the teachings of God the Father. Human religious doctrine or teaching was more important than what God the Son was teaching them.
Change is hard. We have to change our beliefs to fit the Word of God not our culture. If we are changing for the culture it will water down the truth of the Word of God. Society is changing and we have to examine what they want to change before we agree with them.
Sin is still sin today just like the Bible tells us. There is only one sexual relation that the Bible teaches regarding marriage. It is between one woman and one man for life. All other thinking is outside of the teachings of the Word of God.
Moses gave a bill of divorcement because of hardness of heart. Don’t harden your heart if you are married. If you are not married make sure you enter marriage with a person you want to spend the rest of your life. That was God’s original plan and HE has not changed.
CHALLENGE: Make sure the church you attend isn’t thinking of changing to fit the culture.
: 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 (75 “strive” [agonizomai] means to enter a contest, compete, make effort, contend in gymnastic games, labor fervently, to content with an adversary, fight, struggle, or to endeavor with strenuous zeal.
DEVOTION: The Christian life is not an easy life. It is work. Christ died on the cross for our salvation. HE is the only way that we can be saved.
Once we have established a relationship with the LORD, there is work involved. Are we earning our salvation by works? NO!!
Once we become a follower of Christ, HE expects us to produce fruit. HE gives an illustration of a fig tree that had not produced fruit for a land owner. He wanted to cut the tree down and not waste the ground on a tree that would not produce. The gardener asked him to wait another year. If the tree produced then keep it, and if it did not cut it down. God is looking at our life. HE expects the fruit of the Spirit to be manifested in us.
The religious leaders of the day were not producing fruit that was pleasing to HIM. They thought that their good works were going to get them into heaven. They were wrong!!
This chapter informs us that repentance is necessary. Once there is repentance we are headed in the right direction. However, in going in the right direction there is work. It is not an easy road. Jesus likes it to the Olympic Games. Someone who wanted to compete in the games had to prepare himself by working hard. There was always someone who was better in the game. Only the one who worked hard was going to be the winner.
The LORD wanted the people around HIM to know that just saying that they were followers, didn’t make them followers. They could do religious acts and still not be part of the kingdom.
Remember we have been saying that people can be baptized, a member of a church, give money to the church, preach, visit, and do many other things and still not be a child of the King. The problem is that some churches teach that if you just obey the external rules you will be going to heaven. The Bible teaches that there must be an internal change in order to go to heaven.
There are many churches and religions that are teaching different ways to get into heaven. There are many churches that are teaching that there is no hell after death. There are many who believe that God is such a loving God, no one will go to hell but all will go to heaven. The Bible makes it plain that many are going to go to a place that is called the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity.
The Bible makes it plain that there are few that will go to heaven. Here we find that the Christian life is a struggle. It is not easy. It is not a bed of roses. It is not problem free. Some teach that it is. They are wrong. We are to work out our salvation. We can’t work for our salvation – Christ did it all. Praise the LORD.
This work carries the idea of entering into a sporting event as a participant and not a spectator. Many people think that the Christ life is a spectator sport. It is not. We have to be involved. It is a daily taking up of a cross and following Jesus. The cross is not light but the LORD is there to help us carry it. Do we realize that we are in a worldview that requires strenuous zeal???? Do we realize that we can’t sit, soak and sour in the pews of churches until Christ returns? We are to be busy serving HIM!!!
CHALLENGE: Don’t fake a relationship with Christ. Examine what you are doing to grow in your faith toward HIM. There is no status quo with the LORD. You are either growing or not!
: 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets, and stones them that are sent unto you; how often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen does gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! (3555 “brood” [nossia] means nest of birds, young birds, or chicks.)
DEVOTION: Jesus is concerned with those who reject HIM. HE came to die on the cross for the sins of the world. HE came to reach the children of Israel with the message of truth.
They had been living with false teachings for many years. The religious leaders were more concerned with keeping their status with the Roman Empire than in finding out the truth of the teachings of Jesus. They didn’t want to rock the boat. It was easier to kill Jesus and all the prophets than listen to the truth of God.
We sometimes think that it is easier to just go along with the false teachers or let them teach and believe the lies of Satan rather than deal with them and teach them the truth.
There are many false beliefs that have entered the church of Jesus Christ. There is the false belief that it is good to not confront people in love with things they are doing wrong or believing wrong. Even from the pulpit there are times that pastors avoid hard teachings because the people might want to tell him that he has it all wrong.
One of the beliefs that is being challenged today is the belief that the Bible is inerrant. There are no errors in the original writing of the Bible. Jesus taught the truth and helped us understand what was being taught from Genesis to Malachi. HE wanted them to know that the prophets were confronting sin in the nation of Israel when they came as a voice of God. The people would rather kill than change.
The same was true when Jesus confronted them with their false beliefs. HE wanted to gather them together under HIS teaching to help them live their lives in a way that was pleasing to the Father.
The final words of the verse should hit us in the heart, “you would not.” Many people are fighting against the teachings of the Bible. We would like to gather them in but they just don’t want to have anything to do with God and HIS Son Jesus Christ. They would rather be blind to the truth.
CHALLENGE: Even with the truth that most of the people we talk to want to remain blind we have to try to give them sight. The Holy Spirit can cause it to happen. HE uses us to spread the message.
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