14. A Call to Repentance. Ch. 13:1-9
1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilæans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilæans were sinners above all the Galilæans, because they have suffered these things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
6 And he spake this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit thereon, and found none. 7 And he said unto the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why doth it also cumber the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 and if it bear fruit thenceforth, well; but if not, thou shalt cut it down.
At the very time when Jesus was urging upon his hearers their need of repentance, a report was made of a cruel slaughter of Galilæans at the hand of Pilate. It was expected that Jesus would declare the poor sufferers to have merited their fate, and that he would fall into the common fallacy of supposing that exceptional suffering is a proof of exceptional guilt on the part of men. Jesus, however, replied that temporary exemption from suffering is a mark of special grace on the part of God. All impenitent men are certain to suffer, and deserve to suffer; if judgment has not fallen the delay should be regarded as a merciful opportunity to repent.
Jesus enforced the same truth by referring to a recent calamity in which eighteen men had been crushed by the fall of a tower. Their fate was not to be regarded as a sign of their special sinfulness, but as a warning to others that they would likewise suffer unless they repented of their sins.
The Master had in mind the entire Jewish nation and he further enforced his call to repentance by the parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree. This was a true type of Israel, but also a symbol of every impenitent soul. God mercifully preserves and blesses and spares, but the day of mercy will end. The nation, as the individual, which produces no fruit of penitence and of righteousness is certain to be cut down. While the opportunity is given, repentance must be shown. “Now is the acceptable time; ... now is a day of salvation.”
15. A Cure on the Sabbath. Ch. 13:10-21
10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day. 11 And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years: and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, answered and said to the multitude, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore, come and be healed, and not on the day of the sabbath. 15 But the Lord answered him, and said, Ye hypocrites, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? 17 And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame: and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18 He said therefore, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I liken it? 19 It is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his own garden; and it grew, and became a tree; and the birds of the heaven lodged in the branches thereof.