Luke 13 · WEB
Repent or Perish; the Narrow Door
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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Now 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 lodged in its branches."
20Again he said, "To what shall I compare God's Kingdom?
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.'
34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that 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!'"
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Summary
Jesus warns that tragedy is not proof of greater sin and that all need to repent or perish. He heals a woman bent for eighteen years on the Sabbath, exposing the hypocrisy of his critics, and compares God's Kingdom to a mustard seed and yeast that quietly grow and spread. He calls his hearers to strive to enter the narrow door, warning that many who assume they belong will be excluded, and laments over Jerusalem's refusal to receive him.
Themes
- Universal need for repentance
- Fruitfulness and patience
- Sabbath mercy over legalism
- The hidden, growing Kingdom of God
- The narrow door and reversal of expectations
Key verses
- Luke 13:16 — “Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
- Luke 13:24 — “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.”
- Luke 13:3 — “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
- Luke 13:34 — “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her!”
Context & background
Luke 13 sits firmly in the travel narrative, with Jesus moving through the towns of Galilee (northern Israel) and across Samaria toward Jerusalem (modern Israel). Pilate's slaughter of Galileans and the falling tower in Siloam — a pool on the southeast side of Jerusalem — were recent local tragedies that shaped how listeners understood suffering. Synagogue worship was central to Jewish life under Roman rule, and Sabbath rules were a flashpoint of identity. Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee and Perea (modern northern Israel and northwestern Jordan), had already executed John the Baptist, making the Pharisees' warning credible.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 5:1-7 — God's vineyard expecting fruit, paralleling the fig tree parable.
- Matthew 13:31-33 — Parallel parables of mustard seed and leaven.
- Matthew 23:37-39 — Jesus' lament over Jerusalem in nearly identical words.
- Matthew 7:13-14 — The narrow gate and the way of life.
- Psalm 118:26 — "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," quoted by Jesus.