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Luke

About this book
Chapter 13

1 Now there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish as well! 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish as well!” 6 Then Jesus 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 So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’ 8 But the worker answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it.⁠ 9 Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’” 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall and lead it to water? 16 Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing. 18 Thus Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what should I compare it?⁠ 19 It is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the wild birds nested in its branches.” 20 Again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour⁠ until all the dough had risen.” 22 Then Jesus traveled throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” So he said to them, 24 “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’⁠ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out. 29 Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God.⁠ 30 But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” 31 At that time, some Pharisees came up and said to Jesus, “Get away from here because Herod wants to kill you.” 32 But he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!⁠ 35 Look, your house is forsaken! And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Baruch 4:37 and Luke 13:29

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Baruch describes Jerusalem's children returning from east and west, describing the exiled tribes. Luke echoes this hope and extends it to all four directions, following Jewish tradition imagining restoration as gathering from every corner of the earth.

Passages

Baruch 4:37

Deuterocanon
35 For fire will come upon her from the Everlasting for many days; and she will be inhabited by demons for a long time. 36 O Jerusalem, look around you toward the east, and behold the joy that comes to you from God. 37 Behold, your sons come, whom you sent away. They come gathered together from the east to the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.
200–50 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Baruch

Luke 13:29

New Testament
27 But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out. 29 Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God. 30 But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” 31 At that time, some Pharisees came up and said to Jesus, “Get away from here because Herod wants to kill you.”
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... In Jewish mental maps Jerusalem was both at the centre of the world and at the centre of the diaspora, and the diaspora was often said to be in the east and the west (since these two directions were the most obvious ones in this case: Zechariah 8:7; Baruch 4:37; 5:5) or in all four directions from Jerusalem (Zechariah 2:12; Isaiah 11:12; 43:5-6; 49:12; Psalm 107:3; Psalms of Solomon 1:2-3). Such a list, together with the phrase Luke uses in Acts 2:5, could well bring to mind the hope of the return of all the exiles. 2 Maccabees 2:18 expresses the hope that God 'will gather us from everywhere under heaven into his holy place,' probably echoing the classic treatment of exile and restoration in the Torah: Deuteronomy 30:4-5 (compare Deuteronomy 2:25; 4:19). Most of the passages just cited as locating the diaspora in two or four directions from Jerusalem are in fact descriptions of the exiles' return from these directions to Jerusalem. Luke himself includes just such a description in a saying of Jesus: 'people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God' (Luke 13:29). Both Luke's version with four points of the compass and Matthew's with only two (Matthew 8:11) have precedents in Jewish literature, but Luke's four directions accord with his own geographical outline of the diaspora in Acts 2:9-11 ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Jewish World around the New Testament: Collected Essays I (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 357.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Baruch 4:37 and Luke 13:29

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