Fathers

Luke 13

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Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” 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. He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’ He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’ ” He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water? Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.” Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

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What the Fathers say

Luke 13:35

Eastern Fathers

Cyril of Alexandria

For our Lord had departed from Jerusalem, as it were abandoning those who were unworthy of His presence, and afterwards returned to Jerusalem, having performed many miracles, when that crowd meets Him, saying, Osanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Catena Aurea by Aquinas ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

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! …

Commentary on Luke ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

There seems nothing opposed to St. Luke's narrative, in what the multitudes said when our Lord came to Jerusalem, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord, (Mat. 21:9.) for He had not as yet come thither, nor had this yet been spoken. (de Cons. Ev. …

Catena Aurea by Aquinas ↗

Bede

Behold, your house is left to you desolate. The same city which he had called his nest, he now calls the house of the Jews. Which, not undeservedly, is left to its own dominion, stripped of the Lord's help, because it not only despised being protected by that almighty bird—which Matthew names a hen under its wings—but also handed over that same bird, who wished to protect it, to be devoured by foxes, that is, to be crucified by Herod and Pilate. …

On the Gospel of Luke ↗

Bonaventure

Third, as regards the abandonment of that nation, he adds: Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate: Isaiah 1: "Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire." "And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a shelter in a vineyard and as a hut in a cucumber garden and as a city that is laid waste." And since, just as abandonment is joined to hardness of heart, so visitation is joined to devotion, therefore he adds: But I say to you: You shall not see me until it comes to pass that you say: Blessed is he who comes in the …

Commentary on Luke, Chapter 13 ↗