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Luke 13 — Except Ye Repent, Ye Shall All Likewise Perish
Pilate's slaughter and the tower in Siloam. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. The parable of the fig tree — let it alone this year also. He heals on the Sabbath the woman bowed eighteen years. The mustard seed and the leaven. Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Many shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together... and ye would not!
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
— Luke 13:24
- v.1-9 Repent or perish; the fig tree
- v.10-17 Healing on the Sabbath
- v.18-21 Mustard seed and leaven
- v.22-30 The narrow door
- v.31-35 Lament over Jerusalem
Strive. The verb is athletic — agonize, struggle. The kingdom is not entered by a casual interest.
Many will seek... and shall not be able. The unsettling line. Seeking is not the same as striving. The door is narrow; the half-committed bounce off.
A universal gathering. The kingdom's table will seat people from every direction; some Israelites will be outside while many Gentiles are inside.
The verse is meant to shake the assumption of birth-right access. Some who expected to be inside will not be; some who looked least likely will dine with Abraham.
The Lord weeps over the city even as He pronounces judgment. The anger is the form of His love.
Ye would not. Two words that explain Jerusalem's fall. The willingness was missing on their side; the willingness to gather was never missing on His.
Verse 24 makes Christianity strenuous in the right place. Strive. The strait gate does not yield to a casual push. Examine where you have been seeking without striving — Bible reading without application, prayer without persistence, repentance without change. Strive at the gate.
Christ in Luke 13 calls to repentance, opens the narrow door, lays the table for the nations, weeps over the unwilling city. The chapter's warnings and welcomes are both His. The same Christ who pronounces the woes is the One who would have gathered the children under His wings; the gathering was His will, the refusal was theirs.
Christ refuses to read disasters as referenda on the worse-than-others. The deeper question is not why they died but whether you have repented.
Likewise perish. Without repentance, the same end awaits all. The kindness of the verse is that it gives the warning before the end.