Lucas 13

VBL · Chapter 13/24

1Fue aproximadamente en esos días que algunas personas le contaron a Jesús que Pilato había asesinado a unos galileos mientras estos ofrecían sacrificios en el Templo.

2“¿Ustedes creen que estos galileos eran peores que cualquier otro galileo por el hecho de haber sufrido así?” preguntó Jesús.

3“No, les aseguro que no. Pero a menos que se arrepientan, ustedes perecerán también.

4¿Qué hay de las dieciocho personas que murieron cuando la torre de Siloé les cayó encima? ¿Creen que ellos eran las peores personas de toda Jerusalén?

5Les aseguro que no. Pero a menos que se arrepientan, ustedes perecerán también”.

6Entonces les contó este relato a manera de ilustración. “Había un hombre que tenía una higuera plantada en su viña. El hombre fue buscar frutos en el árbol, pero no encontró ninguno.

7Entonces le dijo al jardinero: ‘Mira, por tres años he venido a buscar fruto y no encuentro nada. ¡Córtalo! ¿Por qué tenerlo aquí ocupando espacio?’

8“‘Mi señor,’ respondió el hombre, ‘por favor, déjalo por un año más. Yo haré un hueco a su alrededor y le pondré fertilizante.

9Y si produce fruto, estará bien. Si no, entonces córtalo’”.

10Aconteció que Jesús estaba enseñando un sábado en la sinagoga,

11y estaba allí una mujer que había estado lisiada durante dieciocho años por culpa de un espíritu maligno. Ella estaba encorvada y no podía pararse erguida.

12Cuando Jesús la miró, la llamó y le dijo: “Has sido liberada de tu enfermedad”.

13Entonces puso sus manos sobre ella e inmediatamente ella se paró erguida, y alababa a Dios.

14Sin embargo, el líder de la sinagoga estaba molesto porque Jesús había sanado en sábado. Entonces dijo a la multitud: “Hay seis días para trabajar. Vengan para ser sanados en esos días, no el sábado”.

15Pero el Señor le respondió: “¡Hipócrita! ¿Acaso todos ustedes no atan y desatan su buey o asno del establo y lo llevan a beber agua?

16¿Por qué esta mujer, esta hija de Abraham, a quien Satanás ha tenido atada por dieciocho años, no podría ser desatada y liberada hoy sábado?”

17Y lo que dijo avergonzó a sus opositores, pero todos en la multitud estaban deleitados por todas las cosas asombrosas que hacía.

18Entonces Jesús preguntó: “¿A qué es semejante el reino de Dios? ¿Con qué podría compararlo?

19Es como una semilla de mostaza que plantó un hombre en su jardín. Esta semilla creció y se convirtió en un árbol, y las aves vinieron e hicieron nidos en sus ramas”.

20Entonces volvió a preguntar: “¿Con qué compararé el reino de Dios?

21Es como la levadura que tomó una mujer y la mezcló con tres medidas de harina, la cual hizo crecer toda la masa”.

22Y Jesús iba por todas las ciudades y aldeas, enseñando mientras iba de camino hacia Jerusalén.

23Alguien le preguntó: “Señor, ¿se salvarán solamente unos cuantos?”

24“Esfuérzate por entrar por la puerta estrecha, porque te aseguro que muchos tratarán de entrar, y no lo lograrán.

25Cuando el dueño de la casa se levante y cierre la puerta, ustedes estarán afuera tocando, y diciendo: ‘Señor, por favor, ábrenos la puerta’. Pero él les responderá: ‘No los conozco, ni sé de dónde vienen’.

26Entonces ustedes dirán: ‘¡Pero nosotros comimos y bebimos contigo, y tu enseñabas en nuestras calles!’

27Y él responderá: ‘Les aseguro que no los conozco ni sé de dónde vienen. ¡Váyanse de aquí, hacedores del mal!’

28Habrá llanto y crujir de dientes cuando vean a Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, y a todos los profetas en el reino de Dios, pero ustedes serán echados fuera.

29Vendrán personas del este y del oeste, del norte y del sur, y se sentarán a comer en el reino de Dios.

30Porque los últimos serán los primeros, y los primeros serán los últimos”.

31En ese momento, unos fariseos vinieron donde estaba Jesús y le dijeron: “Deberías irte de aquí. ¡Herodes quiere matarte!”

32Entonces Jesús respondió: “Vayan y díganle a ese zorro que yo seguiré expulsando demonios y sanando gente hoy y mañana, y el tercer día lograré lo que vine a hacer.

33Pues de alguna manera debo seguir mi camino hoy y mañana, y pasado mañana. ¡Porque no sería correcto que un profeta muera fuera de Jerusalén!

34“¡Oh Jerusalén, Jerusalén, tú matas a los profetas y apedreas a los que se te envían! ¡Cuántas veces he querido reunir a todos tus hijos como la gallina reúne a sus polluelos bajo sus alas, pero tú no quisiste!

35Mira, tu casa ha quedado desolada, y te aseguro que no me verás de nuevo hasta que digas: ‘Bendito es el que viene en el nombre del Señor’”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus calls people to repentance using recent tragedies as an example and tells the parable of the barren fig tree. He heals a woman bent over on the Sabbath, teaches about the Kingdom of God through the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, and laments over Jerusalem.

Explanation

The tragedies mentioned (Galileans killed by Pilate and victims of the tower of Siloam) were current news of the time, and Jesus corrects the common idea that suffering is always direct punishment for a specific sin, calling everyone to repentance. The parable of the barren fig tree illustrates God's patience, but also a limit: there is a season of grace, not an indefinite one. The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show that the Kingdom of God begins small but grows in a far-reaching way. The lament over Jerusalem reveals Jesus' compassionate heart even in the face of rejection. The application for today is not to indefinitely postpone our response to God's call.

Fun facts

  • The Tower of Siloam, mentioned in v.4, stood near Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam, an eighth-century B.C. Israelite hydraulic engineering structure confirmed by archaeology in Jerusalem.
  • The image of the hen gathering her chicks under her wings (v.34) was a common figure in Jewish literature for describing God's protection over his people, making Jesus' lament even more touching.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Lucas 13:1The episode the text mentions — Galileans killed by Pilate at the very moment they were offering their sacrifices, mixing their blood with that of the animals — does not appear in any other surviving historical record, but it fits Pilate’s reputation for violence even outside the Bible. Killing someone within the sacred space of the temple would have been seen as a shocking desecration.
  2. Lucas 13:2Jesus directly challenges a common assumption of the time: suffering a violent death does not prove that these Galileans were worse sinners than the others.
  3. Lucas 13:3Instead of explaining why the tragedy happened, Jesus uses the episode for a direct call: without repentance, everyone will perish in the same way — no one’s fate is guaranteed.
  4. Lucas 13:4Siloam was an area within the walls of Jerusalem, and this tower appears to have collapsed by accident, killing eighteen people — a disaster with no human intent behind it, unlike Pilate’s massacre mentioned before. Jesus uses both cases, one violent and one accidental, to make the same point: suffering a tragedy does not prove that someone sinned more than others.
  5. Lucas 13:5Jesus repeats the same warning after citing a second case, this time an accident rather than violence — the lesson applies both to tragedies caused by people and to disasters with no human blame.
  6. Lucas 13:6The parable begins with a fig tree that should have been bearing fruit for some time — fig trees typically took about three years to produce, and that exact period had already run out.
  7. Lucas 13:7The owner has already waited three years with no result and considers the tree a waste of ground — from a practical standpoint, cutting it down seems the obvious decision.
  8. Lucas 13:8The vinedresser asks for one more year, offering extra care — digging around it and fertilizing it — instead of accepting immediate removal.
  9. Lucas 13:9The final answer is left open: if it bears fruit after that extra care, well and good; if not, then it will be cut down — one last real chance before final judgment.
  10. Lucas 13:10Jesus is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath — the setting that sets up the coming confrontation over healing on the day of rest.
  11. Lucas 13:11The woman had been bent over for eighteen years, unable to straighten up — a chronic, severe case, attributed here to a spirit of infirmity.
  12. Lucas 13:12Jesus calls her over and declares her freed from her infirmity before He even makes any physical gesture.
  13. Lucas 13:13As He lays His hands on her, the healing is immediate: she straightens up at once and responds by glorifying God.
  14. Lucas 13:14The synagogue ruler, indignant, does not speak directly to Jesus but to the crowd, reminding them that there are six days available for healing — just not the Sabbath.
  15. Lucas 13:15Untying the ox or the donkey from the stall to lead it to water on the Sabbath was already an accepted practice, one the Pharisees themselves carried out, because leaving an animal to suffer from thirst was considered unacceptable even on the day of rest. Jesus’ argument works precisely because it is not a hypothetical exception — it is something they themselves already did without hesitation.
  16. Lucas 13:16Jesus uses the same logic as the ox-and-donkey argument: if animals can be untied on the Sabbath to drink water, why not free, on that same day, a ‘daughter of Abraham’ bound for eighteen years?
  17. Lucas 13:17The result is a public victory: the opponents are put to shame, while the people rejoice at the glorious things Jesus was doing.
  18. Lucas 13:18Jesus opens a new rhetorical question to introduce two short parables in a row about how to describe the kingdom of God.
  19. Lucas 13:19The parable of the mustard seed describes a small, insignificant beginning that grows into a tree large enough for birds to nest in.
  20. Lucas 13:20Jesus repeats the same question to introduce a second image, this time about leaven.
  21. Lucas 13:21The leaven hidden in the flour until it all rises follows the same logic as the mustard seed: a small, quiet influence that ends up completely transforming something much larger.
  22. Lucas 13:22This travel summary, teaching through towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem, reinforces the long journey that structures much of the Gospel from chapter 9 onward.
  23. Lucas 13:23Someone asks whether only a few will be saved — a common theological question of the time about the final number of the saved.
  24. Lucas 13:24Instead of answering with a number, Jesus shifts the focus to urgency: strive to enter through the narrow door, because many will try and will not be able to.
  25. Lucas 13:25The scene describes a moment when the door has already been shut: whoever keeps knocking from outside, even calling ‘Lord, Lord,’ hears that the owner of the house does not know where they are from.
  26. Lucas 13:26Those shut out protest by claiming closeness: they ate and drank in his presence, they heard his teaching in the streets — but that alone is not enough.
  27. Lucas 13:27The answer is firm: physical proximity or familiarity with the teaching does not replace real life change — hence the rejection.
  28. Lucas 13:28The scene is shocking for a Jewish audience: seeing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets inside the kingdom, while they themselves are left outside, contradicts the assumption that descent guarantees automatic inclusion.
  29. Lucas 13:29People will come from every direction — east, west, north, and south — to take part in the banquet in the kingdom of God, an inclusion with no geographic limits, reaching those who were not expected.
  30. Lucas 13:30This saying about the last who will be first and the first who will be last repeats a recurring theme in Luke: the reversal of status already seen in Mary’s song.
  31. Lucas 13:31It is unusual to see Pharisees, usually portrayed as adversaries, warning Jesus about a threat from Herod — scholars debate whether it was genuine concern or simply a way to drive him out of the region.
  32. Lucas 13:32Calling someone a ‘fox’ was a specific insult in the culture of the time, suggesting petty cunning and lack of real stature — the opposite of a lion, a symbol of true power. It is a sharp reply to Herod’s political maneuvering, not a compliment in disguise.
  33. Lucas 13:33Jesus insists on continuing His journey despite the warning, with an ironic remark: it would not be fitting for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem, the city that had historically rejected its prophets.
  34. Lucas 13:34The image of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them from cold or a predator was a common, recognizable scene for anyone who lived in the countryside. It is this repeatedly refused desire for protection that the saying carries toward Jerusalem.
  35. Lucas 13:35The lament over the house left desolate ends with a quotation from Psalm 118 — the same acclamation, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ that will be repeated at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem in chapter 19.

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