A Bible Study

16 - Luke 13

vv 1-5 Cause of Disasters. Some people came to Jesus and asked about the Galileans who had been offering sacrifices when Pilate's soldiers killed them. It was a common belief from ancient times that disasters were punishment for sin. Eliphaz insisted that this was so when talking with Job (4.7). Pilate, procurator of Judea, had been ruthlessly cruel. There had been many massacres during the time of his administration. Galileans were notoriously turbulent and may even have provoked this problem by holding a demonstration against Rome. His cruelty may even have been the cause of enmity between himself and Herod (Luke 23.12). Jesus, however, made it very clear that such disasters were not retribution. He emphasised His point by reference to eighteen people who died when the tower by the Pool of Siloam toppled over. Siloam was close to the wall of the city at the angle where the south and eastern wall joined. There are no historical records of these events not even by Josephus ⁽¹⁾. Historians tend to ignore accidents of this sort. It is known that there were demonstrations against Pilate's use of Temple money to augment the Jerusalem water supply. Jesus had made it clear that the man born blind (John 9.7) was not to blame, nor were his parents. He also told those before Him that they were just as much sinners as those who had died. He directly challenged that first century generation to repent of their evil ways or they too would be destroyed. A nation that rebels against God is on the way to disaster

vv 6-9 The Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree follows logically with the previous exhortation to repentance. This tree was probably six years old. Fig trees take three years to reach a fruiting stage, and appears to have borne nothing for three more year when it might have been expected to have fruit on it. This tree was more than just useless, it was taking up space where fruitful trees or plants could have been for so is the meaning of the Greek word which in the AV is translated by the quaint expression "cumbereth the ground" ⁽²⁾. The vinedresser pleads with the owner to be given another opportunity to produce fruit from the tree.

Some commentators have seen in it the parabolic idea of the Saviour interceding with the Father, for sinners. The fig tree, like the vine, is used as a symbol of Israel (Hos.9.10; Joel 1.7). John the Baptist had warned "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." The story speaks of God's patience with unbelief and wrongdoing. Like Israel in the first century, it could be said today, never had a generation been entrusted with so much and was so answerable to God for uselessness that invites disaster ⁽³⁾. Jesus in speaking of the ending age referred to the fig tree and all the trees putting forth foliage (21.29). Whatever the national and prophetical symbolism of this parable it must stand together with the earlier verses as a warning to every generation, and that is to us, that God cannot tolerate fruitlessness for ever. Are we repentant and fruitful?

vv 10-17 The woman with the bowed back. This is the last occasion recorded of Jesus entering a synagogue. Some commentators assume that this healing is connected with an evil spirit and quote Rendle Short ⁽⁴⁾ for explanation yet that physician wrote "Jesus once healed a woman who was suffering from spondylitis deformans; the bones of her spine were fused into rigid mass. There is no hint that the Jews or the disciples looked on this as a case of demon possession". He goes on to discuss these points and recognises the root cause as the principle of evil, against which in every case Jesus claimed victory. "The woman had been bound by Satan" to use Jesus' own words and He alone had the power to release her and would not wait till the next day to do so. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, which he described as a 'messenger of Satan' and although he was not healed, he was able to bear it by the grace of God (2 Cor.12.7). Luke again shows his sympathy with women and his special interest in medicine. The 'ruler' of the synagogue held a similar position to Jarius and he did not address Jesus personally but rather spoke to the people about coming to synagogue on Sabbath and postponing work like healing till next day. The woman had not specifically expressed faith to be healed but she had come to worship and she later 'praised God." The Jewish leaders worshipped systems more than they loved God or people.

vv 18-21 Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven. Mustard is a herb as Dr.Thomson ⁽⁵⁾ rightly points out but he also goes on to say that it may have been perennial and there are traditions which suggest that it was large enough for birds to perch in it. He had seen tall shrubs like the red pepper that grew on year after year and made it possible to believe that mustard could grow tall. In rabbinical and apocalyptic literature birds of the air stand for Gentile nations ⁽¹⁾. Generally commentators think of this parable depicting the Kingdom of Heaven, growing from a tiny beginning into the triumphant Church at the end of the age. In this it is usually accepted that the Kingdom receives all peoples whoever they are. As one writer puts it, God's work grows to fulfilment no matter how small the beginnings. But Campbell Morgan ⁽⁶⁾ takes a different view of these parables. "The idea that the Gospel is to be preached until all the world is converted, is a mistaken one, if we believe Jesus and in what He said." He was writing in the 1940s and denied that Christian nations understood what vital Christianity is. He showed too that the darkest day in the history of the Church was when Constantine annexed it and grafted paganism into it. Thus the Church has become a great spreading tree into which the nations of the world find roost. Kings of Egypt and Babylon were likened to trees. The Lord was not dealing with the true nature of the ultimate Kingdom but said the "Kingdom of heaven is like…". Similar parables should be examined to see that the 'Kingdom' is more than converted believers. The land that was sown had 25% success and in another parable 50% of the field was tares.

Similar differences of interpretation occur in the story of the woman's cooking. This was no small baking and half hundredweight of flour or in modern language about 50 kilos was used. She did not use yeast from little packets as we know it today but used a piece of soured dough from the last baking. Geldenhuys sees as the final fulfilment at the Second Advent when the Kingdom will be revealed in its perfection. Barclay interestingly recognises that leaven is about fermentation and putrefaction and the whole as a seething mass of bubbles. The general interpretation is in the contrast between small beginnings and large results. But Campbell Morgan ⁽⁷⁾ questions whether leaven can be used as something 'good'. It is worth looking closely at the way 'leaven' is used in Old and New Testaments. Jesus warned the disciples of the Pharisees' hypocrisy pictured as leaven (Mark 8.15, Luke 12.1). Paul strongly urges the Corinthians and the Galatians to cleanse out the leaven that was like the hypocrisy of immorality and formalism (1 Cor.5.6 and Gal.5.9).

⁽¹⁾ N. Geldenhuy : Commentary: The Gospel of Luke.(M.M.& S 1950)

⁽²⁾ E.H. Plumptre The Gospel of Luke (Marshall)

⁽³⁾ W Barclay The Gospel of Luke (Daily Bible Study, St Andrews 1967)

⁽⁴⁾ Rendle Short 'Modern Discovery and the Bible IVF (1949)

⁽⁵⁾ Thomson 'The Land and the Book' (Nelson 1882)

^(6) (7) G. Campbell Morgan 'Parables and Metaphors of our Lord' (Marshall Morgan & Scott 1956) pp 46-56.