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* [13:22–30] These sayings of Jesus follow in Luke upon the parables of the kingdom (Lk 13:18– 21) and stress that great e ort is required for entrance into the kingdom (Lk 13:24) and that there is an urgency to accept the present opportunity to enter because the narrow door will not remain open inde nitely (Lk 13:25). Lying behind the sayings is the rejection of Jesus and his message by his Jewish contemporaries (Lk 13:26) whose places at table in the kingdom will be taken by Gentiles from the four corners of the world (Lk 13:29). Those called last (the Gentiles) will precede those to whom the invitation to enter was rst extended (the Jews). See also Lk 14:15–24.
* [13:32] Nothing, not even Herod’s desire to kill Jesus, stands in the way of Jesus’ role in ful lling God’s will and in establishing the kingdom through his exorcisms and healings.
* [13:33] It is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem: Jerusalem is the city of destiny and the goal of the journey of the prophet Jesus. Only when he reaches the holy city will his work be accomplished.
CHAPTER 13
a. [13:2] Jn 9:2.
b. [13:3–5] Jn 8:24.
c. [13:6–9] Jer 8:13; Heb 3:17; Mt 21:19; Mk 11:13.
d. [13:14] 6:7; 14:3; Ex 20:8–11; Dt 5:12–15; Mt 12:10; Mk 3:2–4; Jn 5:16; 7:23; 9:14, 16.
e. [13:15] 14:5; Dt 22:4; Mt 12:11.
f. [13:16] 19:9.
g. [13:18–19] Mt 13:31–32; Mk 4:30–32.
h. [13:19] Ez 17:23–24; 31:6.
i. [13:20–21] Mt 13:33.
j. [13:24–30] Mt 7:13–14, 21–23. k. [13:24] Mk 10:25.
l. [13:25] Mt 25:10–12.
m. [13:27] Ps 6:9; Mt 7:23; 25:41. n. [13:28–29] Mt 8:11–12.
o. [13:29] Ps 107:2–3.
p. [13:30] Mt 19:20; 20:16; Mk 10:31.
q. [13:33] 2:38; Jn 6:30; 8:20.
r. [13:34–35] 19:41–44; Mt 23:37–39.
s. [13:35] 19:38; 1 Kgs 9:7–8; Ps 118:26; Jer 7:4–7, 13–15; 12:7; 22:5.
LUKE 
seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully
grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its h
branches.’”
The Parable of the Yeast.i 20Again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed [in] with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
The Narrow Door; Salvation and Rejection.* 22He passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, 24j “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.k 25After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’l 26And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ 27m Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where [you] are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ 28n And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. 29And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.o 30For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”p
Herod’s Desire to Kill Jesus. 31At that time some Pharisees came to him and said, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.” 32He replied, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.* 33* Yet I must continue on my way today,q tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.’
The Lament over Jerusalem.r 34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! 35Behold, your house will be abandoned. [But] I tell you, you will not see me until [the time comes when] you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”s
13:18
Both parables of the kingdom of God speak of very small things that make a tremendous di erence: a tiny seed grows into a large plant; a small amount of yeast leavens a whole batch of dough. Vatican II describes the Church as “the kingdom of God now present in mystery.”1
13:26
It is not enough to eat and drink in Jesus’ company—
to share in the Eucharist—or to listen to his teaching—
to re ect on his word. Only those who “enter through the narrow gate” (13:24), who express his teaching in their lives, will be recognized by him at the judgment. Jesus’ answer to the question is clear but unnerving: many people will be saved, but they may not be the people we expect.
13:34
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, fully aware of
what awaits him there: the fate of a prophet. He laments for the city, and his love for Jerusalem and its people come through in the comparison he uses: Jesus wants to gather Jerusalem in as a mother hen gathers her chicks under the protection
of her wings.
1 Lumen Gentium, 3.
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