Hypocrite, Jesus’ Appointment, Salvation
Luke 13:10-35 – February 13, 2022
Luke 13:10-13. Last recorded time Jesus visits a synagogue on His way to Jerusalem. This woman has been suffering for 18 years and is still showing up for the synagogue services. What faith. How many of us would suffer for 18 years and still show up or would instead find some/any excuse not to be in fellowship on any given Sunday? Once healed she praised God, there was no doubt in her. BUT all was not well.
Luke 13:14. Notice he does not address Jesus, but the crowd. He does not rejoice. He is offended. And he condemns the healing or at least he does so indirectly. He has probably never seen an actual healing, but here is one right in front of him and all he can do is complain the standard practice has been violated.
Luke 13:15-17. Jesus stated well known practices of watering oxen and donkeys even on the Sabbath. This shut them up, but He was not yet done with them as the next four verses were His concluding remarks to them via a question.
Luke 13:18-21. There are three ways of looking at these verses which most bibles call parables.
The first is that they are symbolic of the church growth over time to encompass the entire world. I have taught this.
The second, both David Guzik and Skip Heitzig, take is that they represent evil or at least evil in the church. A mustard seed does not grow into a tree although a few varieties may grow as large as 15 feet tall, but really too flimsy to host birds. And yeast is never positive in scripture.
The third is that Jesus is still addressing the hypocrites in the synagogue. This is my view. People of His time knew mustard seeds did not grow into trees and that birds were symbolic of evil as a rule; thus, He was addressing them in the current kingdom of God in the house of God, the synagogue. Also, the yeast, many versions say the woman hid the yeast in the mix of the flour. Again, He is still addressing the hypocrites in the synagogues as any believing Jew would be offended at someone, anyone, hiding the placing of yeast in the flour. Look at your bibles, most separate these verses from His rebuke of the hypocrites, but some have them grouped with His rebuke. I believe those to be correct. Even in Matthew 13 where you will find both the mustard tree and the yeast parables, they follow an explanation of corruption (weeds) in the field of good seeds. And in Mark 4 there is only the parable of the mustard seed, following a harvest of good seed – once again a warning.
Luke 13:22. No longer in the synagogue but teaching on His was to Jerusalem.
Luke 13:23-25. This is very similar to Matthew 7:22-23, 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Luke 13:26-30. They know the language, the promise of eternal life, but they do not have a life reflecting the same. I don’t know you reveals they had no relationship with Him. Evildoers or in some bibles ‘workers of iniquities’ reveals a lifestyle that is not submitted to Jesus. East, west, north, and south reveals people will be saved from all the nations, Gentiles included.
Luke 13:31-35. V31 – Why would they care? They despised Him? They just wanted Him out of their hair. Go somewhere, anywhere, but get away from us. He calls Herod a fox, which meant then a sly, destructive, worthless person. V33 – Jesus is on a timetable to arrive in Jerusalem at a specific time predicted by Daniel who gave a timeline from March 14, 445 BC of 173,880 days … April 2, 32 AD from the direction of Artaxerxes to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the arrival of the Messiah. V34/35 – His love of Jerusalem and His knowledge of what would happen in 70 AD.
America/America. Will God judge America? He already has. Romans 1:21&24: “Because when they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him. So God gave them over.” The only way out is massive revival.
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