Luke 13:18

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? For the exposition of this portion, see the notes at Matthew 13:31, with Remarks....

18-22 Here is the progress of the gospel foretold in two parables, as in Luke 13:13. The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God. May grace grow in our hearts; may our faith and love grow exceedingly, so as to give undoubted evidence of their reality. May the example of God's saints be blessed to those among whom they live; and may his grace flow from heart to heart, until the little one becomes a thousand....

Verse 18. - 19. _THE KINGDOM - IS LIKE A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED_] Matthew 13:31....

See these parables explained in the notes at Matthew 13:31....

EXPOSITION LUKE 13:1 _Signs of the times. The Lord continues his solemn warnings. Israel pictured in the parable of the barren fig tree._ LUKE 13:1 THERE WERE PRESENT AT THAT SEASON SOME THAT TOLD HIM OF THE GALILAEANS, WHOSE BLOOD PILATE HAD MINGLED WITH THEIR SACRIFICES; better rendered, _now there were present at that particular time; _namely, when the Master was discoursing of the threatening signs of the times, and urging men to repent and to turn and make their peace with God while there was yet time, for a terrible crisis was impending on that doomed land. Some of those then present, probably Jerusalem Jews, specially told off to watch the great Teacher, struck with his grave foreboding tone, when he spoke of the

THEN SAID HE, UNTO WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE?.... The same with the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew 13:31 and so the Ethiopic version reads it here, "and whereunto shall I resemble it?" of this way of speaking, Mark 4:30....

Luke 13:6. _He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none._ It was a fig tree, a fruit-bearing tree by profession, so it ought to have borne fruit. It was planted; it was not a wild tree, it was planted in a vineyard, in the proper place for fig trees to grow, in good soil; and therefore the owner of it had a right to come and look for fruit on it; but he found none. Have we not here, tonight, some who are planted in the Church of God who ought, by their profession, to be bearing fruit, but they are not? Christ has come, and he has looked for fruit; but he has found none. Luke 13:7. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none:

CHAPTER 13 __ 1. The Necessity of Repentance. (Luke 13:1 .) 2. The Barren Fig Tree. (Luke 13:6) 3. The Healing of a Daughter of Abraham. (Luke 13:10) 4. Parable of the Mustard Seed. (Luke 13:18) 5. Parable of the Leaven. (Luke 13:20) 6. Solemn Teachings. (Luke 13:22) 7. The Answer to Herod. (Luke 13:31) 8. Lament over Jerusalem. ...

A WOMAN HEALED ON THE SABBATH. (Lk. only; _cf. Luke 6:1_). Loisy is too fanciful in connecting this section with what precedes by suggesting that as the barren tree stands for unrepentant Israel so the healed woman, and those who rejoice with her, represent those Jews who accepted Jesus as Messiah. The phrase spirit of infirmity shows that the case was regarded as one of demoniacal possession, perhaps Lk.'s misconception of Jesus-' reference to Satan in Luke 13:16. There is no hint of exorcism in the story; the woman has a curved spine and Jesus heals her by imposition of hands. With daughter of Abraham, _cf. Luke 19:9_. The official in charge somewhat meanly attacks Jesus through the people, and especially the patient, though the

SUFFERING AND SIN (Luke 13:1-5)...