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Luke 13

Jesus joins urgent warnings about repentance and judgment with acts of mercy and grief over Jerusalem’s refusal.

People report to Jesus that Pilate has killed Galileans during their sacrifices. Jesus rejects the claim that such suffering proves greater guilt and calls his hearers to repent, then tells of a fruitless fig tree granted more time. In a synagogue, he heals a woman bent over for eighteen years and defends her Sabbath release. As he travels toward Jerusalem, he describes God’s Kingdom, warns about its narrow entrance, and laments the city’s refusal to receive him.

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1Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
5I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
6He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’
8He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”
10He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
11Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over and could in no way straighten herself up.
12When Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.”
13He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God.
14The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”
15Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water?
16Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
17As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it?
19It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.”
21It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
22He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.
23One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them,
24“Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
25When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
27He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’
28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.
29They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom.
30Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”
31On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”
32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.
33Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’
34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
35Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Luke 13:24Jesus turns a question about how many are saved into an urgent command to enter God’s Kingdom.
Luke 13:25The shut door establishes a limit to the opportunity for entry, exposing the danger of delay.
Luke 13:34Jesus’ lament reveals his desire to gather Jerusalem’s children and their refusal, placing grief alongside his warning.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew shares the lament over Jerusalem and the image of a narrow entrance, while Matthew and Mark share the mustard seed comparison for God’s Kingdom. The closing blessing comes from Psalm, linking Jesus’ words about Jerusalem’s future recognition of him with praise for the one who comes in God’s name.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Jesus’ response to the two tragedies challenge the way you understand suffering and guilt?

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What do the fruitless tree and the shut door lead you to consider about repentance and delay?

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Questions people ask about Luke 13

What does the narrow door mean in Luke 13?

The narrow door pictures entry into God’s Kingdom. Jesus answers a question about the number saved by urging his hearers to enter before the door closes. Those outside appeal to their past contact with him, yet he rejects their claim. The warning makes clear that familiarity with Jesus does not establish belonging.

Does Luke 13 say tragedies happen because people are worse sinners?

Jesus rejects that conclusion in both examples: the Galileans killed by Pilate and the eighteen killed by the falling tower. He does not explain why those particular people died. Instead, he directs his hearers toward their own need for repentance and warns that they too face judgment.

Why does Jesus compare himself to a hen in Luke 13?

The hen gathering her brood pictures Jesus’ desire to gather Jerusalem’s children under his protection. The image appears within a lament over the city’s killing of prophets and rejection of those sent to it. Jesus names their refusal, then announces desolation. His tenderness and his warning stand together.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).