Right at that time, some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.[1] 2 He answered them, “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because this happened to them? 3 No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts, all of you will die just the same. 4 Or what about those eighteen people the tower in Siloam fell on and killed — do you think they were more guilty than everyone else living in Jerusalem?[2] 5 No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts, all of you will die just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 He said to the gardener, ‘Look, for three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and I find nothing. Cut it down. Why should it waste the soil?’ 8 But the gardener answered, ‘Sir, leave it alone one more year, until I dig around it and put down manure. 9 If it bears fruit next year, good. But if not, then you can cut it down.’”
10 Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” 13 Then he laid his hands on her, and at once she stood up straight and began praising God.
14 But the synagogue leader was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He spoke up and said to the crowd, “There are six days for work. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie your ox or your donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead it out to water?[3] 16 And this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years — shouldn’t she be set free from what has bound her on the Sabbath day?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame. And the whole crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.
18 So Jesus said, “What is the kingdom of God like? What can I compare it to? 19 It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
20 Again he said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It’s like yeast that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
22 Jesus went on through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Struggle hard to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to get in and won’t be able to. 25 Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you’ll be standing outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open up for us.’ But he’ll answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ 26 Then you’ll start saying, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he’ll tell you, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Get away from me, all you evildoers.’
28 “There will be sobbing and grinding of teeth there, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. 29 And people will come from east and west, from north and south, and sit down at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And look — some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Leave here and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I am driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’[4] 33 But I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, because it’s unthinkable for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem — you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How many times I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not let me. 35 Look, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”[5]
Notes
Note 1. Sacrifices were offered only in the temple courts in Jerusalem. ↩
Note 2. Siloam was an area at the southern end of Jerusalem, near the well-known pool of the same name. The tower’s exact spot is unknown — some place it on the Ophel ridge, part of the city’s fortifications. ↩
Note 3. Leading an animal to water on the Sabbath was allowed out of basic compassion, even though ordinary labor was forbidden. ↩
Note 4. In Greek usage the fox stood for cunning and slyness, and could also cast someone as crafty rather than truly formidable. ↩
Note 5. The line is drawn from Psalm 118, one of the Hallel psalms sung at Passover and the great festivals. The same words are shouted at 19:38. ↩