Catholic Commentary on Luke 13

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Luke 13:34)

Repent or Perish

People bring Jesus news of Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices, presumably because they were executed while offering worship. The implicit question is the ancient one: did they suffer because they were worse sinners than others? Jesus answers directly and twice: No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. He adds the example of the eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them. The point is not that suffering is a punishment for specific sin. The point is that every human being is mortal and faces the possibility of sudden death, and the question of repentance cannot be deferred indefinitely.

He follows immediately with the parable of the barren fig tree. A man has a fig tree in his vineyard that has produced no fruit for three years. He tells the gardener to cut it down. The gardener pleads for one more year: let me dig around it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down. The Catechism sees in this parable the pattern of God's patience with human sinfulness: he always gives one more opportunity, always digs around the roots of our resistance, always fertilises with his grace. But patience is not permanence. There is a last chance, and only God knows when it comes.

The Bent Woman

In a synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus sees a woman who has been bent over and unable to straighten up for eighteen years. He calls her forward and says: Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. He puts his hands on her and immediately she straightens and praises God. The synagogue ruler is indignant: there are six days for work, why heal on the Sabbath? Jesus replies: You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day? He calls her a daughter of Abraham. She belongs to the covenant people. Her healing is not a violation of the Sabbath. It is its fulfilment.

The Lament over Jerusalem

Warned by some Pharisees that Herod wants to kill him, Jesus calls Herod a fox and announces that he must press on to Jerusalem: no prophet can die outside Jerusalem. Then he breaks into lament: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. The image of God as a mother hen is one of the tenderest in all Scripture. Jesus weeps, not for himself but for the city that is about to kill him. Divine love grieves over the rejection it cannot force.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Luke 13 returns again and again to urgency: repent now, not later. The fig tree has one more year. The bent woman has been waiting eighteen years and today is her day. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and the hour is coming. The invitation of this chapter is simply: do not wait. Whatever repentance you have been deferring, whatever healing you need to ask for, today is the day. The gardener is still digging around the roots.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you long to gather us under your wings as a hen gathers her chicks. We come to you now, not when we are ready, not when we have sorted ourselves out, but now, in our brokenness and our delay. Gather us. Straighten what is bent in us. And grant us the grace of timely repentance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

13
A Call to Repentance
(Joel 1:13–20; Amos 5:4–15; Zephaniah 2:1–3)
1 At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? 3 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
(Isaiah 5:1–7)
 
6 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down!* 13:7 SBL, NE, WH Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
 
8 ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Jesus Heals a Disabled Woman
 
10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” 13 Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God.
 
14 But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”
 
15 “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water? 16 Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”
 
17 When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–34)
 
18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
The Parable of the Leaven
(Matthew 13:33)
 
20 Again He asked, “To what can I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”
The Narrow Door
(Matthew 7:13–14)
 
22 Then Jesus traveled throughout the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way toward Jerusalem. 23 “Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?”
 
Jesus answered, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’
 
But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
 
26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
 
27 And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
 
28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”
Lament over Jerusalem
(Matthew 23:37–39)
 
31 At that very hour, some Pharisees came to Jesus and told Him, “Leave this place and get away, because Herod wants to kill You.”
 
32 But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’ 33 Nevertheless, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not admissible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.
 
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’† 13:35 Psalms 118:26”

*13:7 13:7 SBL, NE, WH Cut it down!

†13:35 13:35 Psalms 118:26

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