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22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make 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 owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” ~ Luke 13:22-30
No Bible spokesman places more stress on hell as the final consequence of God’s judgment than the Lord Jesus. In today's text, someone asked if only a few people would be saved. The question reveals the man's knowledge of the most popular topic of the Lord Jesus.
And as He passed through one city to another, He taught the people about the kingdom of God, the opposite of hell. The essence of ministry is disseminating the truth about the rule of God in our lives. The kingdom of God begins in us with understanding the truth. Not all of the truth. We begin with the truth about the identity of the Lord Jesus. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Due to His teaching and miracles, there were massive crowds who followed the Lord Jesus. But, at this point the numbers were changing due to the successful campaign of the religious leaders who were saying the Lord Jesus performed His miracles by the power of Satan.
In v.24 we read, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." The Lord Jesus draws attention to the real issue: whether or not we are saved! When we get that settled, then we can discuss others being saved.
The words "Make every effort" comes from a Greek word that describes an athlete giving his best to win the contest. Our English word agonize comes from this Greek word. It literally means "to fight."
The battle is largely within us, but it is not about what we do. It is a battle of trusting the Lord Jesus to do in us what we can't do. The narrow gate is the Lord Jesus who is enough for us to be saved from ourselves, sin and death.
These people were lost because they depended on their ancient religion to save them. It takes more than reverence for tradition to get into God’s kingdom!
In v.25 we read, "Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from."
This is a scary reality. The door is narrow because it is the Lord Jesus. And, what determines whether we are in or out is that we positively respond to the gospel before the owner of the house closes the door. Once closed, the door will never be opened again.
And v.25 says, “Lord, open up to us.” They didn't "make any effort." They didn't battle. They never entrusted themselves to the Lord to have His way. They kept their lives and so they lost their opportunity, eternally. And so, there they are standing outside banging on the door, pleading for it to be opened, but it is too late.
Part of the remorse of hell is going to be the shock of it. Hell is populated by people who are stunned to find themselves there. They feel like they've been cheated, like they've been overlooked, like they've been forgotten, like something's wrong, like they're innocent. But, they are not because they procrastinated.
According to v.25, when they cried, “Sir, open the door for us,” the owner responds, "I don't know you." Of course, God knows all things, yet He says, "I don't know you." These who are knocking never had a personal relationship with God. Salvation requires a shared life. There will be those who had the opportunity and they didn't take it, because they trusted in their own self-righteousness. This is part of their remorse and the agony of hell.
In v.26 we read, "Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." In Matthew 7 they said to the Lord, "Lord, Lord." They lacked what is essential, a personal relationship with the Lord. They came into contact with the Lord Jesus but were never connected with Him. They knew of Him, yet they did not know Him personally.
In v.27 we read, "But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!" We do not know in advance when our opportunity to trust the Lord Jesus will come to an end. We are wise to respond today.
In v.28 we read, "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out." The gospel is not about this life, it's about life in relation to eternity. Those who rejected the free gift of salvation are going to experience weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the grinding of remorse. It's not just the absence of blessing or the pain of punishment. It's the experience of remorse.
In v.29-30 we read, "People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
These sons of Abraham are going to be in hell realizing that the kingdom of God is partly full of Gentiles. The Jews disdained the Gentiles not realizing the Gentiles were included in the Promise to Abraham all along.
In October of 1981, when I came into the kingdom of God, it was the result coming to the end of me. My efforts were not going to get me anywhere good and I knew that. I came into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by faith alone through His grace alone.
In the kingdom, the first is last and the last is first. This means everybody's status is equal. We will be there because of His work on the cross done for us.
