返回Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Lk. 13:1. At that time some came and told Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Judas the Galilean, whom the same evangelist mentions also in Acts (Acts 5:37), being himself learned in the Law, persuaded many other Galileans to adhere to his teaching. He taught that no one among men, not even the emperor himself, was permitted to be called lord, whether in the literal sense or in the sense of honor and goodwill. For this reason many of them, because they would not call Caesar lord, were cruelly punished. They also taught that no sacrifices should be offered except those commanded by Moses; therefore they forbade sacrifices on behalf of Caesar and the Roman people. Probably in indignation at this, Pilate ordered these Galileans to be slaughtered during those very sacrifices for the Roman people which they had been forbidding. Therefore their blood was mingled with the blood of the sacrifices. Some reported this to the Savior as something that had occurred on account of piety, wishing to learn His opinion on this matter. For some thought that they had suffered quite justly as sinners, since they were the instigators of sedition and had aroused in Pilate a hatred toward the Jews, for their refusal to call Caesar lord was extended to the entire Jewish nation.
Lk. 13:2. Jesus said to them in response: do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all other Galileans, that they suffered thus?
Lk. 13:3. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
The Savior does not deny that they were sinful, but neither does He say that they suffered so because they were more sinful than the rest, who did not suffer. But if you too do not repent, if you do not cease stirring up and kindling internal conflicts and do not hasten to propitiate God with deeds, you will undergo an even worse fate. For one must not, under the pretext of piety, seek glory for oneself, and in the meantime stir up internal seditions.
Lk. 13:4. Or do you think that those eighteen people, on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, were more guilty than all who lived in Jerusalem?
Lk. 13:5. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
The tower that fell in Siloam was a foreshadowing of what would later happen to that people. By the example of the few who perished then, it instructed many that they too would suffer great evil. For the tower served as a prefiguration of the entire city, and those eighteen people who perished — of the entire nation. Indeed, when the city fell to Titus, the whole people, obstinate in unbelief, perished along with it. This should be a lesson for us in all daily occurrences. If some fall while we remain without trials, this should not serve as grounds for complete carelessness, as though we remain without trials because we are righteous; on the contrary, we ought to be all the more instructed, for they are punished so that we might improve; and if we do not correct ourselves, our woe will be greater.
Lk. 13:6. And He spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none;
In accordance with the course of the discourse, He presents this parable. Before this He said: "unless you repent... you will perish." Now, He fittingly appends this parable. The fig tree is the Jewish people, producing only bitter leaves but bearing no fruit. It stood in the vineyard of God, that is, in the Jewish church. The master of the house—Christ—came and sought fruit of faith and good works (in the Jews), but did not find any.
Lk. 13:7. And he said to the vinedresser: Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none; cut it down: why does it even occupy the land?
He came at three appointed times: once through Moses, another time through the prophets, and the third time He came personally.
Lk. 13:8. Lord, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
Lk. 13:9. whether it bears fruit; but if not, then in the following year you will cut it down.
Finally, since, despite all this, the Jews did not repent, Christ cut them off from the love of God. For they are no longer called the people of the Lord and a holy nation, but in their place the Gentiles have been brought in, who are able to bring forth fruit (Matt. 21:43).
Under the fig tree one can also understand all of humanity: under the master of the house, God the Father; under the vinedresser, the Son of God, Who appeared in the flesh in order to bestow care and cleanse our vineyard. Christ does not allow this fig tree to be cut down as barren, saying to the Father: "Leave it this year also." If people did not improve through the Law and the prophets and did not bring forth the fruit of repentance, then I shall yet water them with My teaching and sufferings, and perhaps they will bring forth the fruit of obedience. But if the fig tree does not bear fruit, then afterwards You will cut it down, having rejected them from the lot of the righteous. Three times God sought fruit from our race (the human race), and three times it did not yield any: the first time, when we transgressed the commandment in paradise (Gen. 3:12–13); the second time, when during the giving of the Law they cast a calf (Exod. 32:2–4) and exchanged the glory of God "for the image of an ox that eats grass" (Ps. 106:20); the third time, when they demanded the crucifixion of the Savior and Lord, saying: "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15).
And each of us individually is a fig tree planted in the vineyard of God, that is, in the Church or, to put it simply, in this present world. God comes seeking fruit, and if He finds you fruitless, He commands that you be uprooted from this present life. But the vinedresser can spare you. And who is this vinedresser? Either the guardian Angel of each person, or the person himself. For each one is his own vinedresser. Often, having fallen into a mortal illness or other dangers, we say: Lord! Leave us this year too, and we will repent. For this is what it means to dig around and apply manure. The soul is dug around when it shakes off from itself the dust of worldly cares and becomes light. It is covered with manure, that is, with the warmth of an inglorious life despised by all. For when someone for the salvation of his soul abandons glory and resolves upon an inglorious life, then this is called covering the soul with manure, so that it might bear fruit. If we bear fruit, that is good; but if not, then the Lord will no longer leave us in His vineyard, but uproots us from this present world, so that we do not occupy the place in vain. And whoever sees a sinner living a long time is himself corrupted and becomes worse, and thus it turns out that the sinner himself bears no fruit, and also hinders another who could have borne fruit. But if he is uprooted from this present life, then those who witnessed his cutting down may perhaps come to their senses, change, and bear fruit.
It is said that the householder came to the fig tree for three years, perhaps because three Laws have been given to us, through which the Lord comes to us, namely: the natural, the Mosaic, and the spiritual. We ought to have borne fruit even under the guidance of the natural law, for nature by itself teaches what is proper. But since the Lord found the natural law ineffective in us, He gave the Mosaic Law as an aid to the natural one. And when this too proved useless due to our negligence, He gave the spiritual Law. Therefore, whoever's soul is not improved by these three laws, whoever cannot be improved despite such longsuffering and love for mankind, is no longer left for any further time, since God cannot be deceived by delays.
Understand, perhaps, by the three years also three stages of life: adolescence, or youth, which is reckoned up to eighteen years, maturity, and the stage of those who are already beginning to turn gray. Therefore, if even in old age, in this third year, we do not bear fruit, and if we are still permitted to live so as to heap dung upon ourselves through the embrace of a dishonorable life for Christ's sake, and we again prove false, then the Lord will no longer spare us but will cut us down, so that we do not occupy the ground in vain and moreover to the harm of others. And this interpretation seems to me closer to the subject at hand.
Lk. 13:10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
Lk. 13:11. There was a woman there who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten herself up.
This illness befell the aforementioned woman through the violence of the devil, as the Lord Himself says: "whom Satan has bound for eighteen years" (Luke 13:16). Perhaps Satan tormented her because she had been forsaken by God for some transgressions, for he, when permitted from above by God, inflicts all manner of afflictions upon the bodies of people (Job 2:6–7). He was also the cause from the beginning of our losing the incorruption in which we were created (Wisdom 2:23), and of our being united now with a body subject to pain and susceptible to illness. For this is what we understand by the garments of skin (Genesis 3:21).
Lk. 13:12. Jesus, seeing her, called her over and said to her: Woman! You are freed from your infirmity.
Lk. 13:13. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
The Lord drives away this woman's illness with the most divinely fitting and sovereign command, and lays His hands upon her, so that we might know that this holy flesh bore the power and operation of the Word. For it was His own flesh, and not that of someone else existing separately from Him and as his own person, as it seems to the impious Nestorius. Such is the goodness of the Lord, and thus He had mercy on His creation!
Lk. 13:14. At this, the ruler of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people: There are six days in which one ought to work; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.
Lk. 13:15. Lord said to him in answer: Hypocrite! Does not each of you untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and lead it to water?
Satan, having first bound the woman, was vexed at her liberation, since he desired to inflict even more evil upon her, and so he binds the ruler of the synagogue with envy and through his mouth blasphemes the miracle. Thus he everywhere opposes what is good! This man is indignant that the healing was performed on the Sabbath, but the Lord reproves him with the excellent example of irrational animals.
Lk. 13:16. And ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
Lk. 13:17. And when He said these things, all who opposed Him were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious deeds done by Him.
Therefore not only he, but all the others also who "opposed Jesus were put to shame" by such words of His. For it was very foolish to forbid the healing of a person on the Sabbath on the grounds that inactivity was supposedly prescribed on the Sabbath. So those who opposed Jesus were ashamed of these words of His, while "the people rejoiced at... His deeds." Whereas they did not rejoice at His deeds but were consumed with envy at the miracles of Christ, the people, benefiting from the signs and receiving the healings, rejoiced.
Understand these miracles, perhaps, also in relation to the inner man. For the soul becomes bent over when it inclines toward cares only for worldly things and thinks of nothing heavenly or divine. This is also why it is said that she had been ill for eighteen years. For whoever transgresses in keeping the commandments of God's Law, which are "ten," and is weak in hope of the "eighth" age (Book 2, Chapter 1), is bent over for eighteen years. Is not the one who, being attached to the earth and constantly sinning, violates the commandments and does not accept the age to come, bent over? But the Lord heals such a soul on the Sabbath and in the synagogue. For when someone gathers within himself thoughts of confession (for Judah means confession) and keeps the Sabbath, that is, inactivity in evil, then Jesus heals him not by word alone, saying to him: you are freed from your infirmity, but also by the laying on of hands.
Lk. 13:18. And He said: "What is the Kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?"
Lk. 13:19. It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and planted in his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.
The Kingdom of God is likened to "a grain of mustard seed." And the Kingdom of God is the teaching and preaching, for through preaching it reigned in the souls of men. As mustard is small in appearance but has much power, so also many despise the evangelical teaching and consider it foolishness, but if a person receives it and plants it "in his garden," that is, in his soul, then it produces a great and spreading tree, and "the birds of the air," that is, people who desire to soar to the heights, "lodge in its branches." For those who rise above earthly things find rest in the branches of the preaching, that is, in expansive thoughts. For example, Paul received a seed, a brief instruction from Ananias, but having planted this seed in his well-cultivated garden, he produced branches, that is, abundant and good teaching (Acts 9:17–22) and epistles, in which those lofty in mind and wisdom found shelter not only in that time, such as the Corinthians, Dionysius, Hierotheus, and very many others, but also those who lived in all ages.
Under the mustard seed one may also understand the Lord Himself. In appearance, as the son of a carpenter and exceedingly poor, He was not great. But when He fell into the heart of the earth, through death and burial in the tomb (John 12:24), then He put forth beautiful branches — the apostles, under whom all those find rest who formerly were tossed about by every wind of error, for example, the pagans, who are like birds on account of the easy inclination of their mind in any direction, their susceptibility to deception, and their great fickleness. For all such who go astray are like the birds of heaven, that is, of the air.
Lk. 13:20. And again He said: to what shall I liken the Kingdom of God?
Lk. 13:21. It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The divine teaching "is like leaven, which a woman," that is, human nature, "took and hid in three measures of meal," that is, in body, soul, and spirit, so that all was sanctified, as the blessed Paul says (1 Tim. 4:5), and became one lump of dough through communion with the Holy Spirit.
By the woman you may understand the soul, and by the three measures its three powers: the mind, the heart, and the will. Whoever hides the word of God in these powers will make them entirely spiritual, so that neither will the mind doubt the teaching, nor will the heart and will strive toward what is unreasonable, but they will be leavened and become like the Word of God.
Lk. 13:22. And He went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Jesus "went through the cities and villages, teaching." He did not go through the small villages alone, with neglect of the cities, as those who wish to deceive the simpler folk do; nor did He go through the cities alone, with neglect of the small villages, as those who wish to display themselves and attain glory do; but He went everywhere, as the common Master, or rather, as a Father caring for all. Did He not go only through the outlying cities, where there were fewer experts in the Law, while avoiding Jerusalem, as though fearing reproaches from the lawyers or dreading death at their hands? This cannot be said. "And directing His path," it says, "toward Jerusalem." For where there are more who are sick, there the physician must be found all the more (Matt. 9:12).
Lk. 13:23. Someone said to Him: Lord! Are there really few who are being saved? And He said to them:
Lk. 13:24. Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for, I tell you, many will seek to enter, and will not be able.
Few are those being saved, because the narrow gate cannot admit many.
Lk. 13:25. When the master of the house rises up and shuts the door, then you, standing outside, will begin to knock at the door and say: Lord! Lord! open to us; but He will say to you in answer: I do not know you, where you are from.
The "master of the house" is the Lord. He calls all people to be filled and to delight in inexhaustible blessings. Those who are diligent strive to enter before the hour of the meal itself. But for the lazy and those who arrive after the hour of the meal, the doors are shut. And what is the hour of the meal if not the present life? It is truly the most excellent time for preparation for spiritual nourishment. When the master of the house "rises," that is, rises for judgment, and "shuts the door," that is, the path of virtue, along which one cannot walk after departing from this life (for we can walk the path of virtue only in this life), then although those who lived here negligently will "knock at the door," for only then with useless repentance will they seek the path of virtue, calling upon it with bare words, without deeds, as if with blows and knocking; yet the master of the house, having rightly locked the doors, will act as though he does not even know where they are from. He will act justly in doing so, because they are of the devil, and the Lord knows His own (2 Tim. 2:19).
Lk. 13:26. Then you will begin to say: we ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.
This is spoken generally to the Israelites. For Christ is from them according to the flesh (Rom. 9:5), and with them He ate and drank.
However, the words "we ate and drank before You" can also be understood in a higher sense. In performing the lawful worship and offering bloody sacrifices to God, the Israelites ate and made merry; they also listened to the reading of the Divine books in the synagogues. And through the prophets, without doubt, it was the Lord Himself who taught. For the prophets did not offer their own teaching, but proclaimed the word of God, which is why they said: "Thus says the Lord" (Isa. 56:1; Jer. 2:1, 5; Ezek. 3:27). Therefore, for the Jews, if they did not accept the faith that justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5), bloody worship was not sufficient for justification. And in my opinion, this can also apply to Christians in name only, who are negligent in their way of life. Do we not also eat the Divine Body? And do we not drink the Blood of God before Him, approaching the Divine Table daily? And does not the Lord teach in the streets — that is, in our souls? But there will be no benefit to us if we are only hearers of the Divine Law and not doers of it (Rom. 2:13). On the contrary, hearing will serve as the cause of greater torments for us, just as partaking of the Divine Mysteries will be counted as condemnation. Take note, then, that those in the streets whom the Lord teaches are rejected. But if we have Him as Teacher not in broad hearts, but in narrow, contrite, and grief-stricken hearts, then we shall not be rejected.
Lk. 13:27. But He will say: I tell you, I do not know you or where you are from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.
Lk. 13:28. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
These words are fitting both for the Jews, to whom the Lord spoke them, and for the unbelievers of the last times.
Lk. 13:28. And all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out.
Lk. 13:29. And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall recline in the Kingdom of God.
For it was especially unpleasant for the Jews to hear that others, from among the Gentiles, would recline with Abraham and (other) forefathers (of theirs), while they themselves would be cast out.
Lk. 13:30. And behold, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.
These words are directed at us when we act in a manner inconsistent with the faith. For we too boast in the Law of Christ, but then trample upon it when we transgress it, and therefore, although we seem to be "first," as having received Christ and His teaching from our very swaddling clothes, we shall be "last," because the pagans who believed at the end of their lives and lived in a God-pleasing manner for the remaining time will be placed above us.
Lk. 13:31. On that day some of the Pharisees came and said to Him: Go out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.
The accursed Pharisees, consumed by envy, attempt to frighten the Lord and threaten Him with Herod. They did not wish to see Him working miracles, lest by the multitude of signs He draw the people to Himself and by the power of His teaching convert them to Himself (John 11:47–48). They put forward Herod as a pretext and assume an appearance of concern for the Savior.
Lk. 13:32. And He said to them: Go, tell that fox:
But He, knowing their hearts, according to His custom, answers them meekly, in a veiled manner, and says: "tell that fox." It appears that He is calling Herod a fox, but if one examines more carefully, it seems rather that He is calling the Pharisees this. For He did not say: "that" fox, but "this" fox, using a somewhat ambiguous expression with a particular intent. By saying "fox" in the singular, He gave them to understand Herod, but by saying the demonstrative "this," He hinted at their own craftiness. For the Pharisees truly displayed in their conduct the cunning and carelessness of a fox.
Lk. 13:32. Behold, I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish;
Look, if you will, how He responds to their malice. Since they were trying to frighten Him with Herod out of envy at the healings He performed, He, knowing what brought them grief, says the following: behold, I "perform healings" and "cast out demons." For, as was said before, they persecuted Him so that He might not, by the display of miracles, draw many into faith in Himself. The words "today and tomorrow" signify a large number of days. Just as we in ordinary conversation usually say: today and tomorrow such-and-such will happen, yet we do not at all limit this matter to such a span, but only express that it will be soon, so also Christ by the words "today and tomorrow... I perform healings,... and on the third day I finish" did not at all mean that on the third day He would necessarily die, but rather expresses that His death would be soon.
Lk. 13:33. but nevertheless, I must walk today, tomorrow, and the following day,
"Nevertheless, I must... today and tomorrow," that is, for some time, remain here and perform miracles, and "the following day" go to Jerusalem, for I have appointed for Myself to suffer there. Since they (the Pharisees) said to Him: "Get out..., for Herod wants to kill You," — and they said this in Galilee, which Herod governed, He declares to them that even with Herod's strong desire, he cannot kill Him, for He is appointed to suffer not in Galilee, but in Jerusalem. So that I may present the saying of the Gospel more clearly to you, I will say: do not understand it as meaning that today and tomorrow I must go, but pause at the words "today" and "tomorrow," and then read: "and the following day" go. When reckoning time, we often have the habit of saying: on Sunday, the next day, and on the third day I will go out — not because I intend to go out on Sunday and the next day, but in order, by counting off only those two days, to point to the third. Likewise the Lord here, as if counting off, says: I must today and tomorrow, then on the third day go to Jerusalem, for there My end is appointed. Since we said above that the Lord says this not because He confines His life to three days, but indicates a large number of days, if not a certain not very lengthy period of time, He says to those who envy Him something like this: why do you concern yourselves with My death? Behold, in a little while, it will come.
Lk. 13:33. It cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.
When you hear that it is impossible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem, do not conclude from these words that the Jews were somehow subjected to violence and compulsion to commit this, but rather it is said in accordance with their murderous intent. Just as if someone, seeing a murderer-robber lying in ambush by the road, were to say that it is impossible for this road to be free from blood, since the robber lies in wait for travelers along it, he would speak in complete accord with the robber's deeds — so too, when the robbers, the Pharisees and scribes, were seated in Jerusalem, it was impossible for the Master of the prophets to perish in any other place than in the place of these robbers. For they, having grown accustomed to shedding the blood of the servants, would kill the Lord as well.
Lk. 13:34. Jerusalem! Jerusalem! who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you!
By the repetition of the name, the Lord shows what strong love He has for them. For He also calls out to the adulterous synagogue, as if He were some lover despised by his beloved.
Lk. 13:34. How many times I wanted to gather your children, as a bird gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!
The Lord also declares His love for mankind, saying that He many times "wanted to gather" them; and He indicates their madness as well, having said: "and you were not willing."
Lk. 13:35. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Finally, I am leaving you. For I have so hated your wickedness that I do not even call the temple My house, but your house. For as long as virtue dwelt among you, the temple was Mine. But when you defiled it as well, made it a place of trade and a den of robbers, engaging in manifold commerce in it and killing one another out of covetousness (for this is the work of robbery — to lie in wait for a brother and seize his property; this is what robbers do! they attack a traveler and then take what he has) — so then, when you made the temple a den of robbers through the various commercial transactions you conducted in it — the house of prayer — it is no longer My house, but yours.
By "house" you can understand not only the temple, but also the entire Jewish race. For Scripture sometimes calls a race a house as well, for example: "O house of Levi, bless the Lord" (Ps. 134:20). Since here too it can be understood thus: "house," that is, your race, is being left by Me. Just as in another place He says through the prophet: I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My heritage. Here the Israelites are called a house. The Lord shows that even before this it was He who preserved them and delivered them from enemies.
Lk. 13:35. I tell you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you will say: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
The words point to the second coming. For then, even against their will, they will confess Him as Savior and Lord. Only it will be of no benefit to them. What then? Did they really not see Him from the time He said this? Exactly so. When He says "you will not see Me" from now on, He does not indicate immediately, but the time after the cross. He spoke as if to say: from the time you crucify Me, you will no longer see Me, until I come a second time.
Lk. 13:1. At that time some came and told Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Judas the Galilean, whom the same evangelist mentions also in Acts (Acts 5:37), being himself learned in the Law, persuaded many other Galileans to adhere to his teaching. He taught that no one among men, not even the emperor himself, was permitted to be called lord, whether in the literal sense or in the sense of honor and goodwill. For this reason many of them, because they would not call Caesar lord, were cruelly punished. They also taught that no sacrifices should be offered except those commanded by Moses; therefore they forbade sacrifices on behalf of Caesar and the Roman people. Probably in indignation at this, Pilate ordered these Galileans to be slaughtered during those very sacrifices for the Roman people which they had been forbidding. Therefore their blood was mingled with the blood of the sacrifices. Some reported this to the Savior as something that had occurred on account of piety, wishing to learn His opinion on this matter. For some thought that they had suffered quite justly as sinners, since they were the instigators of sedition and had aroused in Pilate a hatred toward the Jews, for their refusal to call Caesar lord was extended to the entire Jewish nation.
Lk. 13:2. Jesus said to them in response: do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all other Galileans, that they suffered thus?
Lk. 13:3. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
The Savior does not deny that they were sinful, but neither does He say that they suffered so because they were more sinful than the rest, who did not suffer. But if you too do not repent, if you do not cease stirring up and kindling internal conflicts and do not hasten to propitiate God with deeds, you will undergo an even worse fate. For one must not, under the pretext of piety, seek glory for oneself, and in the meantime stir up internal seditions.
Lk. 13:4. Or do you think that those eighteen people, on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, were more guilty than all who lived in Jerusalem?
Lk. 13:5. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
The tower that fell in Siloam was a foreshadowing of what would later happen to that people. By the example of the few who perished then, it instructed many that they too would suffer great evil. For the tower served as a prefiguration of the entire city, and those eighteen people who perished — of the entire nation. Indeed, when the city fell to Titus, the whole people, obstinate in unbelief, perished along with it. This should be a lesson for us in all daily occurrences. If some fall while we remain without trials, this should not serve as grounds for complete carelessness, as though we remain without trials because we are righteous; on the contrary, we ought to be all the more instructed, for they are punished so that we might improve; and if we do not correct ourselves, our woe will be greater.
Lk. 13:6. And He spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none;
In accordance with the course of the discourse, He presents this parable. Before this He said: "unless you repent... you will perish." Now, He fittingly appends this parable. The fig tree is the Jewish people, producing only bitter leaves but bearing no fruit. It stood in the vineyard of God, that is, in the Jewish church. The master of the house—Christ—came and sought fruit of faith and good works (in the Jews), but did not find any.
Lk. 13:7. And he said to the vinedresser: Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none; cut it down: why does it even occupy the land?
He came at three appointed times: once through Moses, another time through the prophets, and the third time He came personally.
Lk. 13:8. Lord, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
Lk. 13:9. whether it bears fruit; but if not, then in the following year you will cut it down.
Finally, since, despite all this, the Jews did not repent, Christ cut them off from the love of God. For they are no longer called the people of the Lord and a holy nation, but in their place the Gentiles have been brought in, who are able to bring forth fruit (Matt. 21:43).
Under the fig tree one can also understand all of humanity: under the master of the house, God the Father; under the vinedresser, the Son of God, Who appeared in the flesh in order to bestow care and cleanse our vineyard. Christ does not allow this fig tree to be cut down as barren, saying to the Father: "Leave it this year also." If people did not improve through the Law and the prophets and did not bring forth the fruit of repentance, then I shall yet water them with My teaching and sufferings, and perhaps they will bring forth the fruit of obedience. But if the fig tree does not bear fruit, then afterwards You will cut it down, having rejected them from the lot of the righteous. Three times God sought fruit from our race (the human race), and three times it did not yield any: the first time, when we transgressed the commandment in paradise (Gen. 3:12–13); the second time, when during the giving of the Law they cast a calf (Exod. 32:2–4) and exchanged the glory of God "for the image of an ox that eats grass" (Ps. 106:20); the third time, when they demanded the crucifixion of the Savior and Lord, saying: "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15).
And each of us individually is a fig tree planted in the vineyard of God, that is, in the Church or, to put it simply, in this present world. God comes seeking fruit, and if He finds you fruitless, He commands that you be uprooted from this present life. But the vinedresser can spare you. And who is this vinedresser? Either the guardian Angel of each person, or the person himself. For each one is his own vinedresser. Often, having fallen into a mortal illness or other dangers, we say: Lord! Leave us this year too, and we will repent. For this is what it means to dig around and apply manure. The soul is dug around when it shakes off from itself the dust of worldly cares and becomes light. It is covered with manure, that is, with the warmth of an inglorious life despised by all. For when someone for the salvation of his soul abandons glory and resolves upon an inglorious life, then this is called covering the soul with manure, so that it might bear fruit. If we bear fruit, that is good; but if not, then the Lord will no longer leave us in His vineyard, but uproots us from this present world, so that we do not occupy the place in vain. And whoever sees a sinner living a long time is himself corrupted and becomes worse, and thus it turns out that the sinner himself bears no fruit, and also hinders another who could have borne fruit. But if he is uprooted from this present life, then those who witnessed his cutting down may perhaps come to their senses, change, and bear fruit.
It is said that the householder came to the fig tree for three years, perhaps because three Laws have been given to us, through which the Lord comes to us, namely: the natural, the Mosaic, and the spiritual. We ought to have borne fruit even under the guidance of the natural law, for nature by itself teaches what is proper. But since the Lord found the natural law ineffective in us, He gave the Mosaic Law as an aid to the natural one. And when this too proved useless due to our negligence, He gave the spiritual Law. Therefore, whoever's soul is not improved by these three laws, whoever cannot be improved despite such longsuffering and love for mankind, is no longer left for any further time, since God cannot be deceived by delays.
Understand, perhaps, by the three years also three stages of life: adolescence, or youth, which is reckoned up to eighteen years, maturity, and the stage of those who are already beginning to turn gray. Therefore, if even in old age, in this third year, we do not bear fruit, and if we are still permitted to live so as to heap dung upon ourselves through the embrace of a dishonorable life for Christ's sake, and we again prove false, then the Lord will no longer spare us but will cut us down, so that we do not occupy the ground in vain and moreover to the harm of others. And this interpretation seems to me closer to the subject at hand.
Lk. 13:10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
Lk. 13:11. There was a woman there who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten herself up.
This illness befell the aforementioned woman through the violence of the devil, as the Lord Himself says: "whom Satan has bound for eighteen years" (Luke 13:16). Perhaps Satan tormented her because she had been forsaken by God for some transgressions, for he, when permitted from above by God, inflicts all manner of afflictions upon the bodies of people (Job 2:6–7). He was also the cause from the beginning of our losing the incorruption in which we were created (Wisdom 2:23), and of our being united now with a body subject to pain and susceptible to illness. For this is what we understand by the garments of skin (Genesis 3:21).
Lk. 13:12. Jesus, seeing her, called her over and said to her: Woman! You are freed from your infirmity.
Lk. 13:13. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
The Lord drives away this woman's illness with the most divinely fitting and sovereign command, and lays His hands upon her, so that we might know that this holy flesh bore the power and operation of the Word. For it was His own flesh, and not that of someone else existing separately from Him and as his own person, as it seems to the impious Nestorius. Such is the goodness of the Lord, and thus He had mercy on His creation!
Lk. 13:14. At this, the ruler of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people: There are six days in which one ought to work; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.
Lk. 13:15. Lord said to him in answer: Hypocrite! Does not each of you untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and lead it to water?
Satan, having first bound the woman, was vexed at her liberation, since he desired to inflict even more evil upon her, and so he binds the ruler of the synagogue with envy and through his mouth blasphemes the miracle. Thus he everywhere opposes what is good! This man is indignant that the healing was performed on the Sabbath, but the Lord reproves him with the excellent example of irrational animals.
Lk. 13:16. And ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
Lk. 13:17. And when He said these things, all who opposed Him were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious deeds done by Him.
Therefore not only he, but all the others also who "opposed Jesus were put to shame" by such words of His. For it was very foolish to forbid the healing of a person on the Sabbath on the grounds that inactivity was supposedly prescribed on the Sabbath. So those who opposed Jesus were ashamed of these words of His, while "the people rejoiced at... His deeds." Whereas they did not rejoice at His deeds but were consumed with envy at the miracles of Christ, the people, benefiting from the signs and receiving the healings, rejoiced.
Understand these miracles, perhaps, also in relation to the inner man. For the soul becomes bent over when it inclines toward cares only for worldly things and thinks of nothing heavenly or divine. This is also why it is said that she had been ill for eighteen years. For whoever transgresses in keeping the commandments of God's Law, which are "ten," and is weak in hope of the "eighth" age (Book 2, Chapter 1), is bent over for eighteen years. Is not the one who, being attached to the earth and constantly sinning, violates the commandments and does not accept the age to come, bent over? But the Lord heals such a soul on the Sabbath and in the synagogue. For when someone gathers within himself thoughts of confession (for Judah means confession) and keeps the Sabbath, that is, inactivity in evil, then Jesus heals him not by word alone, saying to him: you are freed from your infirmity, but also by the laying on of hands.
Lk. 13:18. And He said: "What is the Kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?"
Lk. 13:19. It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and planted in his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.
The Kingdom of God is likened to "a grain of mustard seed." And the Kingdom of God is the teaching and preaching, for through preaching it reigned in the souls of men. As mustard is small in appearance but has much power, so also many despise the evangelical teaching and consider it foolishness, but if a person receives it and plants it "in his garden," that is, in his soul, then it produces a great and spreading tree, and "the birds of the air," that is, people who desire to soar to the heights, "lodge in its branches." For those who rise above earthly things find rest in the branches of the preaching, that is, in expansive thoughts. For example, Paul received a seed, a brief instruction from Ananias, but having planted this seed in his well-cultivated garden, he produced branches, that is, abundant and good teaching (Acts 9:17–22) and epistles, in which those lofty in mind and wisdom found shelter not only in that time, such as the Corinthians, Dionysius, Hierotheus, and very many others, but also those who lived in all ages.
Under the mustard seed one may also understand the Lord Himself. In appearance, as the son of a carpenter and exceedingly poor, He was not great. But when He fell into the heart of the earth, through death and burial in the tomb (John 12:24), then He put forth beautiful branches — the apostles, under whom all those find rest who formerly were tossed about by every wind of error, for example, the pagans, who are like birds on account of the easy inclination of their mind in any direction, their susceptibility to deception, and their great fickleness. For all such who go astray are like the birds of heaven, that is, of the air.
Lk. 13:20. And again He said: to what shall I liken the Kingdom of God?
Lk. 13:21. It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The divine teaching "is like leaven, which a woman," that is, human nature, "took and hid in three measures of meal," that is, in body, soul, and spirit, so that all was sanctified, as the blessed Paul says (1 Tim. 4:5), and became one lump of dough through communion with the Holy Spirit.
By the woman you may understand the soul, and by the three measures its three powers: the mind, the heart, and the will. Whoever hides the word of God in these powers will make them entirely spiritual, so that neither will the mind doubt the teaching, nor will the heart and will strive toward what is unreasonable, but they will be leavened and become like the Word of God.
Lk. 13:22. And He went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Jesus "went through the cities and villages, teaching." He did not go through the small villages alone, with neglect of the cities, as those who wish to deceive the simpler folk do; nor did He go through the cities alone, with neglect of the small villages, as those who wish to display themselves and attain glory do; but He went everywhere, as the common Master, or rather, as a Father caring for all. Did He not go only through the outlying cities, where there were fewer experts in the Law, while avoiding Jerusalem, as though fearing reproaches from the lawyers or dreading death at their hands? This cannot be said. "And directing His path," it says, "toward Jerusalem." For where there are more who are sick, there the physician must be found all the more (Matt. 9:12).
Lk. 13:23. Someone said to Him: Lord! Are there really few who are being saved? And He said to them:
Lk. 13:24. Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for, I tell you, many will seek to enter, and will not be able.
Few are those being saved, because the narrow gate cannot admit many.
Lk. 13:25. When the master of the house rises up and shuts the door, then you, standing outside, will begin to knock at the door and say: Lord! Lord! open to us; but He will say to you in answer: I do not know you, where you are from.
The "master of the house" is the Lord. He calls all people to be filled and to delight in inexhaustible blessings. Those who are diligent strive to enter before the hour of the meal itself. But for the lazy and those who arrive after the hour of the meal, the doors are shut. And what is the hour of the meal if not the present life? It is truly the most excellent time for preparation for spiritual nourishment. When the master of the house "rises," that is, rises for judgment, and "shuts the door," that is, the path of virtue, along which one cannot walk after departing from this life (for we can walk the path of virtue only in this life), then although those who lived here negligently will "knock at the door," for only then with useless repentance will they seek the path of virtue, calling upon it with bare words, without deeds, as if with blows and knocking; yet the master of the house, having rightly locked the doors, will act as though he does not even know where they are from. He will act justly in doing so, because they are of the devil, and the Lord knows His own (2 Tim. 2:19).
Lk. 13:26. Then you will begin to say: we ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.
This is spoken generally to the Israelites. For Christ is from them according to the flesh (Rom. 9:5), and with them He ate and drank.
However, the words "we ate and drank before You" can also be understood in a higher sense. In performing the lawful worship and offering bloody sacrifices to God, the Israelites ate and made merry; they also listened to the reading of the Divine books in the synagogues. And through the prophets, without doubt, it was the Lord Himself who taught. For the prophets did not offer their own teaching, but proclaimed the word of God, which is why they said: "Thus says the Lord" (Isa. 56:1; Jer. 2:1, 5; Ezek. 3:27). Therefore, for the Jews, if they did not accept the faith that justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5), bloody worship was not sufficient for justification. And in my opinion, this can also apply to Christians in name only, who are negligent in their way of life. Do we not also eat the Divine Body? And do we not drink the Blood of God before Him, approaching the Divine Table daily? And does not the Lord teach in the streets — that is, in our souls? But there will be no benefit to us if we are only hearers of the Divine Law and not doers of it (Rom. 2:13). On the contrary, hearing will serve as the cause of greater torments for us, just as partaking of the Divine Mysteries will be counted as condemnation. Take note, then, that those in the streets whom the Lord teaches are rejected. But if we have Him as Teacher not in broad hearts, but in narrow, contrite, and grief-stricken hearts, then we shall not be rejected.
Lk. 13:27. But He will say: I tell you, I do not know you or where you are from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.
Lk. 13:28. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
These words are fitting both for the Jews, to whom the Lord spoke them, and for the unbelievers of the last times.
Lk. 13:28. And all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out.
Lk. 13:29. And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall recline in the Kingdom of God.
For it was especially unpleasant for the Jews to hear that others, from among the Gentiles, would recline with Abraham and (other) forefathers (of theirs), while they themselves would be cast out.
Lk. 13:30. And behold, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.
These words are directed at us when we act in a manner inconsistent with the faith. For we too boast in the Law of Christ, but then trample upon it when we transgress it, and therefore, although we seem to be "first," as having received Christ and His teaching from our very swaddling clothes, we shall be "last," because the pagans who believed at the end of their lives and lived in a God-pleasing manner for the remaining time will be placed above us.
Lk. 13:31. On that day some of the Pharisees came and said to Him: Go out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.
The accursed Pharisees, consumed by envy, attempt to frighten the Lord and threaten Him with Herod. They did not wish to see Him working miracles, lest by the multitude of signs He draw the people to Himself and by the power of His teaching convert them to Himself (John 11:47–48). They put forward Herod as a pretext and assume an appearance of concern for the Savior.
Lk. 13:32. And He said to them: Go, tell that fox:
But He, knowing their hearts, according to His custom, answers them meekly, in a veiled manner, and says: "tell that fox." It appears that He is calling Herod a fox, but if one examines more carefully, it seems rather that He is calling the Pharisees this. For He did not say: "that" fox, but "this" fox, using a somewhat ambiguous expression with a particular intent. By saying "fox" in the singular, He gave them to understand Herod, but by saying the demonstrative "this," He hinted at their own craftiness. For the Pharisees truly displayed in their conduct the cunning and carelessness of a fox.
Lk. 13:32. Behold, I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish;
Look, if you will, how He responds to their malice. Since they were trying to frighten Him with Herod out of envy at the healings He performed, He, knowing what brought them grief, says the following: behold, I "perform healings" and "cast out demons." For, as was said before, they persecuted Him so that He might not, by the display of miracles, draw many into faith in Himself. The words "today and tomorrow" signify a large number of days. Just as we in ordinary conversation usually say: today and tomorrow such-and-such will happen, yet we do not at all limit this matter to such a span, but only express that it will be soon, so also Christ by the words "today and tomorrow... I perform healings,... and on the third day I finish" did not at all mean that on the third day He would necessarily die, but rather expresses that His death would be soon.
Lk. 13:33. but nevertheless, I must walk today, tomorrow, and the following day,
"Nevertheless, I must... today and tomorrow," that is, for some time, remain here and perform miracles, and "the following day" go to Jerusalem, for I have appointed for Myself to suffer there. Since they (the Pharisees) said to Him: "Get out..., for Herod wants to kill You," — and they said this in Galilee, which Herod governed, He declares to them that even with Herod's strong desire, he cannot kill Him, for He is appointed to suffer not in Galilee, but in Jerusalem. So that I may present the saying of the Gospel more clearly to you, I will say: do not understand it as meaning that today and tomorrow I must go, but pause at the words "today" and "tomorrow," and then read: "and the following day" go. When reckoning time, we often have the habit of saying: on Sunday, the next day, and on the third day I will go out — not because I intend to go out on Sunday and the next day, but in order, by counting off only those two days, to point to the third. Likewise the Lord here, as if counting off, says: I must today and tomorrow, then on the third day go to Jerusalem, for there My end is appointed. Since we said above that the Lord says this not because He confines His life to three days, but indicates a large number of days, if not a certain not very lengthy period of time, He says to those who envy Him something like this: why do you concern yourselves with My death? Behold, in a little while, it will come.
Lk. 13:33. It cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.
When you hear that it is impossible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem, do not conclude from these words that the Jews were somehow subjected to violence and compulsion to commit this, but rather it is said in accordance with their murderous intent. Just as if someone, seeing a murderer-robber lying in ambush by the road, were to say that it is impossible for this road to be free from blood, since the robber lies in wait for travelers along it, he would speak in complete accord with the robber's deeds — so too, when the robbers, the Pharisees and scribes, were seated in Jerusalem, it was impossible for the Master of the prophets to perish in any other place than in the place of these robbers. For they, having grown accustomed to shedding the blood of the servants, would kill the Lord as well.
Lk. 13:34. Jerusalem! Jerusalem! who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you!
By the repetition of the name, the Lord shows what strong love He has for them. For He also calls out to the adulterous synagogue, as if He were some lover despised by his beloved.
Lk. 13:34. How many times I wanted to gather your children, as a bird gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!
The Lord also declares His love for mankind, saying that He many times "wanted to gather" them; and He indicates their madness as well, having said: "and you were not willing."
Lk. 13:35. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Finally, I am leaving you. For I have so hated your wickedness that I do not even call the temple My house, but your house. For as long as virtue dwelt among you, the temple was Mine. But when you defiled it as well, made it a place of trade and a den of robbers, engaging in manifold commerce in it and killing one another out of covetousness (for this is the work of robbery — to lie in wait for a brother and seize his property; this is what robbers do! they attack a traveler and then take what he has) — so then, when you made the temple a den of robbers through the various commercial transactions you conducted in it — the house of prayer — it is no longer My house, but yours.
By "house" you can understand not only the temple, but also the entire Jewish race. For Scripture sometimes calls a race a house as well, for example: "O house of Levi, bless the Lord" (Ps. 134:20). Since here too it can be understood thus: "house," that is, your race, is being left by Me. Just as in another place He says through the prophet: I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My heritage. Here the Israelites are called a house. The Lord shows that even before this it was He who preserved them and delivered them from enemies.
Lk. 13:35. I tell you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you will say: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
The words point to the second coming. For then, even against their will, they will confess Him as Savior and Lord. Only it will be of no benefit to them. What then? Did they really not see Him from the time He said this? Exactly so. When He says "you will not see Me" from now on, He does not indicate immediately, but the time after the cross. He spoke as if to say: from the time you crucify Me, you will no longer see Me, until I come a second time.