READING IN LUKE 13
READING IN LUKE [p. 68] 13
The end of chapter 12 indicates that Israel shall not come out of God’s judicial dealings with them until they have paid the last farthing. This shall be seen in the last days. The beginning of chapter 13 speaks of immediate judgment; “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. Wickedness was not exceptional; it was general, and hence judgment of the most terrible and summary character was coming upon all. As Paul says later, “wrath is come upon them to the uttermost”, 1 Thessalonians 2: 16. But the wonderful thing was that a door of repentance was open to them; the presence of Christ involved that a door of repentance was open for them. The accumulated guilt of ages had come down to them, and they were responsible for this as well as their own sin, but a door of repentance was wide open. John the Baptist had preached the baptism of repentance, and many availed themselves of it and were baptised of him. They “justified God”. Repentance means that we justify God and condemn ourselves. The issue was between God and Israel, and the presence of Christ carrying on a ministry of grace in the midst of the people was a wonderful overture on God’s part. But they were wholly disregarding this, and now God was acting with a view to judgment. He was “in the way”, Luke 12: 58, with them, as it were, to the magistrate, but there was still a door of escape through repentance, and it was for them to take advantage of it.
Israel had been the fig tree of God’s planting verse 6, and He gave it ample time to bear fruit, but it bore none. “Three years” signify that full time had been allowed, but there was no fruit. The additional year, no doubt, refers to Christ’s sympathy for the nation. He prayed for their forgiveness on [p. 69] the cross, and there was an extension granted, as we learn from the Acts. “Repent ye therefore ... and he shall send Jesus Christ”, Acts 3: 19, 20. This clearly shows that there was an extension of time granted for repentance. But this was also rejected by the Jews, as witnessed in the murder of Stephen, so that they should “fill up their sins alway”, as Paul says. They “killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us”. Wrath has now come upon them, but there will be an awakening in the latter days; the “blowing of trumpets”, Leviticus 23: 24, coming a long period after Pentecost, precedes the day of atonement. The blowing of trumpets refers to the testimony by which Israel shall be awakened, and on the day of atonement they afflict their souls. They will acknowledge their guilt and God’s righteous dealings with them; then they shall come into the benefit of the atoning work of Christ.
Luke 13 is transitional, showing the state of the people and the consequences of their guilt, immediate wrath coming on, and their house left desolate. Room is thus made for a house of another order, which is referred to in the two following chapters.
The woman who was “bowed together” for eighteen years represented the nation as having ceased to look heavenward. Satan had done this. Man is made to look up. God had formed him that way. God intended man to look up to Him, and He loves to look into man’s countenance. How infinitely this was so when the Son became Man! Inasmuch as the Lord specially attributes the woman’s state to Satan, we are enabled to judge of the enemy’s inveterate opposition to God. He would rob God of the creature He specially designed for His pleasure. But the Son of God was there to undo the works of the devil, and so He said to the woman, “thou art loosed from thine infirmity”, and immediately she [p. 70] was made straight and glorified God. Eighteen appears in two connections in the chapter, in verses 4 and 11 - 16. The first would be the judgment of God on the mass of the nation, covering the whole period of its guilt; the second is the power of grace acting for the remnant, but referring to the whole period during which they had been under Satan’s power. The woman evidently had faith, for she was a daughter of Abraham. Israel shall be made Straight in the future, and they will look up to God and praise Him.
In verses 18 to 21 the Lord outlines the public history of Christianity. A great tree is a conspicuous thing. The grain of mustard seed became a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in its branches, The kingdom of God was not intended to become a conspicuous institution. The mustard seed was sown in the man’s own garden; it was not, therefore, intended to become public property. Besides this, it would be corrupted. The woman hiding the leaven in the three measures of meal refers to the secret principles of corruption that have been at work, so that the whole is now leavened. Thus, that which was intended for God, as planted in His garden, and which was established here for man’s blessing, has become a huge corrupt system.
The question, “Are there few that be saved?” leads to solemn words from the Lord as to personal responsibility, and the futility of outward privilege where, inward reality is wanting. It was a question of one getting saved oneself. The gate was strait; there was no room for the flesh. One has to be small to enter there. Many would seek to enter and would not be able. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets shall be seen in the kingdom, and those who took a place in it outwardly, but were unreal, thrust out. Moreover, there shall come those from [p. 71] the east, west, north and south and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
Finally, the Lord gives vent to His affection for the beloved city. How often would He have gathered her children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but they “would not”!