A Wide Tree and a Narrow Gate

Big Idea: God’s Kingdom defies our expectations.

FCF: As fallen human beings, we place too much stock in appearances and not in reality.

Action: Examine your heart.

Kids’ Time

Luke 13:18–19 KJV

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

A mustard seed is tiny, but grows into a tree that can as tall as 10 feet.

Introduction

In 1943, the heat of World War 2, MI5 obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a homeless man who had died from eating rat poison. They invented a whole identity for him, dressed him as an officer, some fake letters in his coat suggesting that the invasion of Sicily was a decoy, and dropped his corpse off the coast of Spain. The Spanish retrieved the body and sent the letters to the Germans, who lowered their defense at Sicily to reinforce their defenses in Greece.

Operation Mincemeat, as it was known, was a roaring success. It took just over a month to liberate the island, with Hitler constantly behind, struggling to reallocate forces for the real assault. One of the reasons that it was so successful is that Hitler was deeply paranoid about an assault on the Balkans, even though an assault on Sicily made dramatically more sense. He heard what he expected to hear, so he believed it. So there were 65,000 German troops on the island against the wave of 400,000 allies. In a matter of months, Mussolini surrendered, and fascist Italy fell.

Appearances can be deceiving, especially when they match our expectations. We look at something small and think it will always be so. We look at something big and impressive, and think that it must be solid. In today’s text, Jesus tells His audience about the Kingdom of God. You can’t find it on a map – it is the place where God rules. In one sense, God rules everywhere – He is the King! In a deeper sense, He rules in the hearts of His people. We have become citizens of His Kingdom and submit to His Lordship. His churches are embassies of Heaven, where His Kingdom is lived out. Of course, the greatest expression of the Kingdom is yet to come – when Jesus returns and crushes evil under His feet forever. In Christ’s day, the Kingdom was small and unimpressive. But even then, there were those might have claimed to be in when they were really out.

So our perceptions fool us in both directions. We see the big and think it is small and see the small and think it is big. This paradox is where I get the title for today’s message: A Wide Tree and a Narrow Gate. Let’s jump straight into the text of Luke 13:18.

Luke 13:18–30 KJV

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

The Small Can Get Big

Luke 13:18–21 KJV

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Explain These two parables are really a pair, illustrating the same idea in two different ways. The Bible uses that approach all the time. Think of Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.” Those are not two ideas; a haughty spirit is pride and a fall is destruction. It is just a way of emphasizing and clarifying. So in this case, the mustard seed and the leaven are two different ways of expressing the same reality.

We looked at the mustard seed already in our time with the kids. A tiny beginning doesn’t define the end. Imagine looking at the tiny group of truly devoted followers Jesus had gathered for this first church. Fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot - unlearned, unwashed men. But today, the movement that began with them has expanded out - you and I are nesting in the branches.

The leaven is the same idea. We normally think of leaven as a symbol of something bad in the Bible. Back in 12:1, Jesus told them to beware the leaven of the Pharisees - hypocrisy. But that is really just a special case. Leaven shows something that spreads slowly and steadily. When you take a little yeast and work it into a big batch of dough, the yeast disappears (it is hidden) in the greater mass. But wait! The whole thing will bubble and grow, leaven invisibly permeating and working beneath the surface.

“Three measures of meal” is about 50 pounds of flour. That is a lot of bread, by my math, you would combine that with over 4 gallons of water to make about 500 slices of bread. This is for a party! The tree showed the shelter for the birds, the bread shows provision for a multitude. The Kingdom of God looks modest, grows gradually, but ultimately provides for many.

[No illustration here, since the parable itself is pretty vivid]

Apply:

Christian - If you are a believer, some of this goes back to what we talked about last week. You might expect God to give you some sort of an incomprehensible breakthrough today, but find out that He is slowly and invisibly working in your heart instead. The beginning foreshadows the end, it does not determine it. Equally, the person who is the most visible may not be the most spiritual. Sometimes someone has a lot of flash and little substance.

Marriage/Family - With Valentine’s Day last week, another good illustration might be the nature of marriage and romance. We know from Ephesians 5 that our marriages are to represent Christ’s relationship with His church. When you first get married, it is probably a pretty blurry picture! But it is there all the same. As we grow and mature, learning to love one another and to reflect the love of God better, we become a better picture. The whole oak is in the acorn, and a man and woman are truly one flesh from “I do” on. But it works out in fits and starts. Sometimes it might even seem like the picture is going backwards. But if two people are pursuing Jesus together, that tiny seed will grow and grow and provide shelter for the birds and lift to the bread.

That’s really just a specific example of the way that all Christian growth works. The life and power are there from the beginning and they grow. Sometimes explosively, but more often slowly and organically, like a tree stretching up to the heavens or a loaf of bread swelling to its potential.

Argue: Of course, this doesn’t mean that every person will become a believer. Revelation 20 tells us that even after Jesus rules on the earth for a thousand years, there will still be people who reject Him. The idea is of growth, spread, and influence. Every person will not personally come to Christ, but there will be some from every kindred, tongue, tribe and notion who will (Revelation 5:9). But this picture of expansion lays the groundwork for the question of the disciples: are there few that be saved?

The Big Must Get Small

Luke 13:22–24 KJV

And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

2A The Wrong Question

Explain: This section begins with a reminder that Jesus is going toward Jerusalem, where He will die. This isn’t a surprise, since He set His face toward Jerusalem back in 9:51, but it is a reminder that each step since then has taken Him closer and closer to His bloody goal. It is one of the Holy Spirit’s ways of telling us, through Luke, that it is no coincidence that Jesus is butting heads with the religious elite more and more. Everything is preceding according to plan.

Maybe that is where the confusion of this disciple comes in. On one hand, Jesus has described the Kingdom as like yeast and a mustard tree. On the other hand, the masses are not following Jesus, or at least not seriously, and opposition is intensifying not fading. So will few be saved, or not?

Jesus , as usual, sidesteps a theoretical, theological question and answers a personal one. Forget about traffic numbers to Heaven for a minute - you strive to enter in at the strait gate. “Will a lot of people go to Heaven” is not a bad question, but “Will I go to Heaven” is a much more urgent one. There are some people we know who could really benefit from learning to engage their brains before they act. But there is another kind of person who can think their way out of any action. They can spend an hour talking about different theories of evangelism but have not actually shared their faith with anyone in a year.

Illustrate: It is like someone who decides they want to lose weight, so they dive deep comparing intermittent fasting, calorie restriction, paleo, and Weight Watchers. They’ve always got a book on weight loss in one hand and a donut in the other.

Apply: Dealing with questions like this requires a lot of wisdom. Sometimes when you answer an intellectual question, you are removing real barriers to faith. Other times, you are helping them distract themselves from what really must be done. Unfortunately, my pride can lead me in both directions. I can shut down legitimate questions because of my own conceit, or I can proudly rest in my ability to answer questions instead of in God’s power to change hearts. We must answer honest questions honestly, while begging people to enter the strait gate.

2B The Narrow Gate

Explain: I think when many people hear “strait and narrow” they think it is s-t-r-a-i-g-h-t. But it is s-t-r-a-i-t. Not like “straight as an arrow” but “straitjacket.” It means “tight.” So, like we discussed about the parables earlier, the expression “strait and narrow” is not two ideas, but one expressed two ways. The way into the Kingdom is not a broad archway you accidentally wander through. It is a tight door that requires hunching down and squeezing through.

Illustrate: We have a little door that goes under the baptistry. You have to bend down to get in - or I have to bend down, I can’t speak for some of you. You can only go in that door on purpose - doors that are not supposed to be open to the public are required to be like that, so no one wanders in where they do not belong. The narrow door gets less traffic, not because it is barred but because it is hard.

Argue: You might struggle with the idea that there is only one way into the Kingdom of God. Isn’t that unfair? Let me flip the question back on you. Would God have been unfair if He never provided a way for salvation? Is He somehow required to offer up His Son for people who spit in His face and shake their fist at Him with their lives? Absolutely not. No, it is pure love that made God offer one way of salvation - how can we ask for another?

Transition

What is the urgency? Is the door limited in space, like it is too narrow to hold everyone? No! It is limited in time. And it is closing.

2C The Wrong Side of the Door

Luke 13:25 KJV

When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

Explain

What a frightening passage! Jesus will shut the door. When He does - you can knock and knock, but it will not get you in. The language here is a little different than the better known parallel in Matthew, which has Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The idea is similar. I don’t know where you came from. I don’t know where your home is. But it isn’t here. If it were here, you would have come in while the door were open.

They try and defend themselves

Luke 13:26 KJV

Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

“Of course you know us, Lord! We have eaten together. You’ve taught in our neighborhood. Why can’t we come to this great wedding banquet? We have eaten together before. We’ve heard Your Word.”

Luke 13:27 KJV

But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

Jesus doesn’t deny that He had eaten with them on a friendly level. He doesn’t deny that He had taught when they were present. But they didn’t learn. They weren’t part of His family. If they were, they would have come in.

Illustrate

It is like if I went to the Rangers’ clubhouse and told them that they should let me in because I went to Alvin High School at the same time as their ace pitcher. Okay, but so did three thousand other people. That doesn’t give us a relationship.

Have you ever gone to bed, laid your phone on the nightstand and failed to plug it in? Being next to the power source doesn’t do you any good. You must be personally connected.

Apply

There are lots of people who have been to church socials, eaten and drunk with the saints, and still don’t have Heaven as their home. There are people who have heard God’s Word taught, but don’t know Him. They have passed Him in the hallways of good churches and have heard His name, but that doesn’t get you in. When that door shuts for you, it stays shut. And there is no five minute warning, like the lights flashing in a theater before the play begins. No, the only way to be certain you will be on the right side when the door shuts is to enter now.

Is there a sadder word in English than “almost”? Were you reconciled to that family member? Almost - I just wasn’t quite ready. Did you tell your spouse you loved them? Almost - I was about to. Did you share Jesus with your coworker? Almost - I just never quite had the time. Did she make it through the surgery? Almost - they did everything they could, but she slipped through their fingers. The one who procrastinated until the door was shut is shoulder to shoulder with the one who outright refused.

Philip Bliss wrote the famous hymn, “Almost Persuaded”:

Almost cannot avail,

Almost is but to fail,

Sad, sad that bitter wail -

‘Almost - but lost!’

He preached in your streets. You ate at His table. But He never knew you. So He says, “Go away, go workers of iniquity.”

Transition

But these people would not call themselves “workers of iniquity.” They think they are close enough. They have the right appearances. They are in Jesus’s orbit. They have almost entered into life. Almost! But you cannot go by appearances.

The Big Will Be Small and the Small Will Be Big

Luke 13:28 KJV

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Explain

Who is in? Not the ones who thought they could saunter into the Kingdom. on the family Bible and Grandma’s faith. No, the rabbis and the lawyers are weeping and grinding their teeth in anger and grief. Through the windows of the locked house they see Elijah and Samuel and John the Baptist feasting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all of the joy that they thought was their birthright is just out of reach.

In fact, Jesus mixes his metaphors a little here. They are not just barred at the door - they are thrust out. This is the same word used when Jesus casts out demons (Matthew 8:16) or when Paul and Barnabas were cast out of town in a riot (Acts 13:50). This is a violent, active action. God drives them away from the feast into the darkness of judgment.

Does this go back to the original question? Are there few that be saved? Look in verse 29

Luke 13:29 KJV

And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

No, there is quite a crowd! But it isn’t those who you would expect. It is made up of people from all over the world! The tree that began as such a tiny seed provides shelter for the birds of the nations. Isaiah described this in powerful language

Isaiah 25:6–9 KJV

And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain The face of the covering cast over all people, And the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; And the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: For the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; We have waited for him, and he will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for him, We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

The veil of sin that blinds the nations will be removed and the people will feast together in joyful triumph when death has been swallowed up in victory, a passage famously quoted in 1 Corinthians 15. Tears will be wiped away and shame will be removed. But only for those who were freed from death, guilt, and shame in this life by trusting Christ. Enter the gate! But it doesn’t matter who you are. There is one entrance for everyone, and God is not impressed or discouraged by status.

Luke 13:30 KJV

And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

Those who seemed to be “first” in this life - the rich, the powerful, the elites - are excluded. The last in this life - the tired, the weary, the poor huddled masses, yearning to breathe free - are given the greatest honor.

Illustrate

Maybe one of the most memorable pictures of this in the Bible is from the book of Esther. If you grew up in church or Sunday School, you may remember the story. If not, it is not too late to go to Sunday School now - we have adult classes too! But I’ll let you in on this one.

Haman, a top advisor to the king, was scheming to kill Mordecai, Esther’s uncle. In fact, his anger burned so hot that he wanted to kill every Jew in the kingdom, and so he convinced the king to sign a mass slaughter day into law. He built a gallows for Mordecai personally, five stories tall. Haman prepared to go the next day and ask permission to use it. But that night, the king could not sleep. He called for the royal records to be read to him, and they “just so happened” to tell him the story of when Mordecai had saved his life. He asked “What honor was done to Mordecai for this?” and found out nothing had been done. So he called for Haman and asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”

Haman thought his lucky numbers had just come up, and thought “Who could the king possibly want to honor more than me?”

So he said that the kings robe, and horse, and crown should be placed on the man, and an important official should hold the reins and walk him down the street, announcing how much the king loves him.

Of course, the king responded: “Great! Get Mordecai, and walk him down the street, just like you said.” By the time it was all over, Haman was the one on the gallows.

Apply

The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The movement that begins like a mustard seed may overtake the things that seemed great. There is no one so big that they can skip the narrow gate.

On the opposite side, do not forget the lesson of the mustard seed! You may look at your heart and say, “I am not what I should be.” And you are right! While your heart still beats in your chest, God is still working on changing you to Christ’s likeness. The point of a text like this is self-examination, not self-doubt. The sin in your past that makes you the least means that God gets all of the glory when He makes you first.

But look and see! Do not trust in appearances. Do you really know Jesus, or are you just lingering on the edges? Do you recognize His power in the least of those around you, and know better than to judge by appearances?

Conclusion

It is easy to float along on appearances. But Jesus calls us to the strait gate. It’s the path of rejecting the easy, rejecting the convenient, and rejecting the excuses. A tiny act of obedience today can grow into something great. What is a small, practical commitment you can make in your faith today? I have challenged you before on giving, and I will again: what if you commit to $10 a week, and increase it until you are tithing? If you are tithing, but not giving until it really costs, why not add $10 more? On evangelism, what if you write down one person’s name before you leave here today, and pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with them every day? For Bible reading, what if you commit to reading one chapter of Proverbs a day? The 18th today, the 19th tomorrow. Or go to DailyChapter.org and read one chapter of the New Testament a day with the short devotionals I have added to guide you. Choosing one of those might seem like a small thing, but God doesn’t see the way we see. God looks at the heart. He sees the tree within the mustard seed. He sees the leaven spreading invisibly to lift the dough. But He also sees the heart of the one who was at the table but not in the family.

If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not? You do not need much. He has provided the life and the power. You just need to recognize your sin and cry out to Him in faith. When He knows you personally, you will dwell in His house forever. In that sense, it doesn’t matter how much you have grown. It only matters which side of the door you are standing on when it closes for the night. Your door may close today - won’t you step through?