Luke 13:29

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. THERE (IN THE PLACE OF SEPARATION FROM ME), SHALL BE WEEPING (FOR ANGUISH), AND GNASHING OF TEETH (FOR DESPAIR), WHEN YE SHALL SEE ABRAHAM ... AND THEY SHALL COME FROM THE EAST, AND FROM THE WEST ... See the note at . For Remarks on this section, see the notes at Matthew 7:13, Remarks 3, 4, 5, at the close of that section. But we may call attention to the two following points here standing out with special vividness: (1) No nearness of external communion with Christ will avail at the Great Day, in place of that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." (2) The style which Christ...

29._And they shall come from the east _He now draws a larger illustration from the fact, that the Jews, who reckoned themselves the only lawful heirs of God, were to be rejected, and that the Gentiles were to be substituted in their room, and obtain the life which was promised to Abraham and his posterity. He contrasts the Gentiles with them, in order to excite them to faith by a holy jealousy: as Paul writes, that “it will be a distinguished honor of his ministry, if he excite any of his nation and blood to such an emulations,” (Romans 11:13.) The Jews must have been stung by it: for they had an inordinate love of themselves, and proudly despised God and his gifts. But as we shall, ere long, meet with this sentence again in the Gospel by Matthew I now glance at it more slightly....

23-30 Our Saviour came to guide men's consciences, not to gratify their curiosity. Ask not, How many shall be saved? But, Shall I be one of them? Not, What shall become of such and such? But, What shall I do, and what will become of me? Strive to enter in at the strait gate. This is directed to each of us; it is, Strive ye. All that will be saved, must enter in at the strait gate, must undergo a change of the whole man. Those that would enter in, must strive to enter. Here are awakening considerations, to enforce this exhortation. Oh that we may be all awakened by them! They answer the question, Are there few that shall be saved? But let none despond either as to themselves or others, for there are last who shall be first, and first who shall be last. If we reach heaven, we shall meet many there whom we little thought to meet, and miss many whom we expected to find....

Verse 29. _THEY SHALL COME_] That is, the _Gentiles_, in every part of the world, shall receive the Gospel of the grace of God, when the _Jews_ shall have rejected it....

See the notes at Matthew 8:11....

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

AND THEY SHALL COME,.... From all parts the world, from every nation under the heavens; meaning the Gentiles, and which will be a greater aggravation of the punishment of the Jews, and cause still more rage and madness: these shall COME FROM THE EAST AND FROM THE WEST; from the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, Isaiah 45:6 AND FROM THE NORTH, AND FROM THE SOUTH; from the most distant parts of the world inhabited by men; see Isaiah 43:5. God has his chosen ones, and Christ has a people in all parts of the world; and therefore his Gospel must be preached to all nations, for the gathering of them in, which will be done in the latter day; and in the resurrection morn, as these will be raised in the several places where they will have been buried, they will come

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. ...

THE NARROW ENTRANCE INTO LIFE. Parallels are found in Matthew 7:13 f., Matthew 25:11 f., Matthew 7:21; Matthew 8:11 f; Matthew 19:30. The two preceding parables serve to lead up to a resumption of teaching concerning the Judgment. The villages are apparently in Peræ a. An inquirer wonders if there are few who are in the way of salvation, and is bidden with other hearers to make sure that he is in it himself. The Kingdom may be extensive (Luke 13:19;...