Luke 13:22-25

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-Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles...

...and follow along this morning...

We’ve come to Luke 13:22-30...

And, you may have already noticed...

…but, we’re going to be...

…breaking it up into two sermons...

…today, I hope to make it down to Verse 25...

...And then, Lord Willing...

…finish the rest next week.

-Now, the language of this text...

(at least part of it)

…is going to be familiar to most of us...

…and that’s probably because...

…it echoes a couple of different things...

…that Jesus said...

…when He was preaching the Sermon on the Mount.

But here, Luke seems to be...

…nestling it in between...

…warnings being given to the Nation...

…about their continued rejection of Christ...

...in order to highlight...

…the great danger that they were...

…putting themselves in...

…by so doing.

But, while the warning...

…is primarily being given to them...

…I believe it’s one that...

...we need to take seriously, ourselves.

-Alright, let’s read it together...

…and then will ask for grace...

…to be able to do that.

Luke 13:22–30 (ESV)

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them,

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

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Pray

-A number of commentators...

..place the events of John 9-10...

…as occuring between Verses 21-22...

…of our text.

If that is the case...

…then this would be taking place...

…during the winter or early spring...

…leading up to our Lord’s Crucifixion.

You be good Bereans with that information...

I couldn’t figure out why it mattered very much...

…to a proper understanding of our text...

So, I’m not going to...

...say any more about it.

-However, there is a bit of contextual information...

…that I think matters a great deal...

…to a proper understanding of our text...

It’s something we looked at...

…a few chapters back.

In fact, we spent a whole sermon...

…on the one verse:

Luke 9:51 (ESV)

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

-Now, why does that matter?

Well, it reminds us of his overarching...

Resolve

Purpose.

And, in Verse 22...

...Luke appears to be giving us...

…something of a travel note...

…to remind us of that bigger picture.

Luke 13:22 (ESV)

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

And, the things we’ve been reading about...

…have all been examples...

…of what that looked like.

And, it’s important that we keep in mind, that...

...he had that ultimate destination in mind.

He was ultimately...

Making his way to his heavenly throne

Desiring to establish that “Inexorable Kingdom” . . .

…that we looked at last week.

But, in order to do that...

…he would first have to go to Jerusalem.

Why?

Because, as he’ll say a few verses later:

Luke 13:33 (ESV)

33 …it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’

You see, in Jerusalem:

He would be rejected

And just outside of Jerusalem:

He would suffer

He would be Crucified

He would be Resurrected!

And that would be the victory...

…that secured for him the Kingdom of God...

…and would result in...

...his Exaltation as the Son of Man!

-Alright, look at Verse 23.

This is typical of the kind of thing...

…that often happened...

...on the way to his Exaltation:

Luke 13:23 (ESV)

23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” . . .

-Now, there’s more packed into that question...

…than initially meets the eye:

1.) The word “saved” is a passive participle:

That means that he/she...

…is seeing this salvation...

As a work of God!

Perhaps even, an ongoing work!

And I would argue that...

…these were fine presuppositions...

…for him to make.

This is probably not exactly...

...what he had in mind...

(He probably saw it as...

…entrance into a physical kingdom)

…but consider the reality of:

Acts 2:47 (ESV)

47 ...the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

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2.) Think about what it means...

…that the man (presumably)...

…simply assumes, that:

A. All who will be saved can be foreknown!

B. Jesus was able to foreknow it!

He’s presupposing (to some degree):

Some form of divine election

Some divine connection in the person of Christ.

And again, those are some fine presuppositions:

John 6:64–66 (ESV)

64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Election

Jesus’ awareness of it

3.) Think about what it tells us...

…that Luke placed it...

…right after the previous parables?

Again, what was the man’s question?

Luke 13:23 (ESV)

23 … “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” . . .

Why would Luke put that...

…right after those two parables about the Kingdom?

Well, while what tends to...

...catch our attention about it...

…is that amazing promise of...

…that that tiny seed...

…will eventually become...

…the greatest of all the trees...

For the first century Jew...

…it would probably have been...

…the fact that it was...

…going to start so small.

Sproul explains:

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Chapter 13)

The Jews in Jesus’ day generally agree that all Israel (except for a few especially sinful people) would be in the number of the saved.

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So then, what would the previous parable imply?

That not many would

(At least not at the beginning)

This would have given them...

...great cause for concern.

-Now, watch how Jesus...

…responds to the man’s question:

(He actually doesn’t answer it directly)

Look at the end of Verse 23:

Luke 13:23–24 (ESV)

23 ...And he said to them,

Notice the pronoun is plural!

He isn’t just addressing the man...

…in his response:

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door...

So, first of all, notice how...

He removes it from the realm of abstract theory

And makes it personal.

So, it’s not simply...

What does this mean hypothetically?

For the Jews at large?

For mankind in general?

But rather:

Here’s what it means for YOU!

-Secondly, notice that...

...though he doesn’t answer it directly...

…he sort of implies an affirmative answer...

…in what he does say.

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door...

The fact that the door is narrow...

…is probably meant to indicate...

…that large volumes of people...

…wouldn’t be coming through it.

Philip Ryken says:

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (The Way Is Narrow)

If he had answered it directly, Jesus probably would have said what he said in his Sermon on the Mount:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:13–14).

How many people enter the wide gate that leads to death? Many people. How many find the narrow way to life? Only a few.

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Now, let’s dispense with the metaphors.

What is this Door...

…that takes you into God’s house?

What is this Gate...

…that lets you into God’s City?

What is this Way...

…that leads you into the heavenly kingdom?

Jesus!

Jesus!

Jesus!

Jesus said plainly:

John 10:7 (ESV)

7 . . . “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

John 10:9 (ESV)

9 . . . If anyone enters by me, he will be saved...

John 14:6 (ESV)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way . . . No one comes to the Father except through me.

The Way is Narrow

The Gate is Narrow

The Door is Narrow

Mike McKinley says:

Contrary to the common religious pluralism of our day, which likes to imagine that the many religions of the world represent different paths to the same salvation,

Jesus teaches that the only way into salvation is through a proper response to him and his teaching.

It is a narrow door, not one that a person would go through casually or accidentally. — Mike McKinley

In that vein...

…consider the language of our text:

Luke 13:24 (ESV)

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door...

“Strive” is an athletic term.

It connotes an agonizing struggle

There’s effort and intentionality...

…that’s being connoted in that.

You’re not going to just...

…stumble your way into it...

…by accident.

It isn’t just going to...

…happen to you...

via osmosis, or...

hereditary right!

It’s going to be a path that you...

Knowingly

Willfully

…walk down and pursue!

-Now, does this imply that...

…we earn our salvation by our own effort?

Guys, the door is Christ!

Remember what Paul said:

Titus 3:2–7 (ESV)

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures...

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

He causes the striving!

That’s Grace!

6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

-So, what does our text mean?

Well, I think it’s...

…something similar to this:

Luke 16:16 (ESV)

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.

In other words:

You’re not going to...

…get into the Kingdom of God...

...Simply because of...

Who your parents were

What your ethnicity is

The circumstances of your natural birth.

The blood that flows through your veins

No one was going to...

…get into the Kingdom of God...

By Default!

Only those who come to the Door...

…via repentance and faith...

…will be allowed into that City!

-And, look at what Jesus...

…goes on to tell us about that:

Luke 13:24 (ESV)

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

So, this seems like a paradox, doesn’t it?

At least at first glance.

It sounds like he’s...

...Commanding them to do something...

...But then saying that many...

…won’t be allowed to do it...

…even though they try!

But, I don’t think that’s the case.

There’s a change in the verbs...

…that he uses in the original.

That word “Strive” is really intense.

The word “seek” is a different word altogether.

It’s a much more common word.

And it seems to me to be intended...

...to convey a lessening in the intensity...

…of their desire and pursuit.

And that is an important distinction.

Why?

Because it has to reconciled...

…with passages like:

John 6:37 (ESV)

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Joel Beeke explains it well:

The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (The Narrow Gate (13:22–30))

He was not saying that many people will sincerely desire salvation in this life but be somehow excluded,

but that many will presume upon Christ’s mercy, while refusing to repent (vv. 26–27), and find themselves shut out of life at the coming of Christ.

Guys, Remember that stern warning...

…that Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount:

(We’ll revisit it in more detail next week)

Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

What is that will?

Well, there’s a complicated question...

But, this is the sum and substance of it:

John 6:40 (ESV)

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Now, you may say:

“But, what about the Moral Law?”

“Doesn’t that show us the will of the Father?”

Absolutely, it does!

It shows us the way of perfect Righteousness.

But it’s only through...

Our union with Christ...

In His perfect obedience...

…that we satisfy its demands!

It all works together!

Remember what Paul said in...

Romans 9:30–10:4 (ESV)

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone...

2 ...I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

And he goes on to write:

Romans 10:9–10 (ESV)

9 ...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

I believe that that’s the striving...

…that Jesus is requiring in our text.

And, that he’s saying that...

…without it...

…you’re not going to be allowed...

…in the door!

-And verse 25 adds to that warning:

Luke 13:25 (ESV)

25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

What’s he getting at?

That, even the narrow door...

…won’t stay open forever.

Eventually, the one who...

…was gracious enough...

…to open it in the first place...

…will slam it shut!

And just like the door of the ark...

Once it’s shut...

…It’s shut forever!

It won’t be re-opened...

No matter how much...

…you beg and plead!

At that point...

…which for them, collectively...

...would come very soon...

...But even for us, personally...

…could be, either...

Crossing the line of reprobation

Our physical death

Christ’s Second Coming...

…At those points (whichever comes first)...

…the door of gracious invitation will be shut...

…and his response will be:

Luke 13:25 (ESV)

25 . . . ‘I do not know where you come from.’

In other words:

I don’t know you

This isn’t your home

You’re not from here

You don’t belong here.

You’re a foreigner to this Kingdom

You have to leave!

Philip Ryken says this:

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (Shut Out)

This warning is not just for the Jews who saw Jesus, but for every person who has ever worshiped in a Christian church.

Even if we have never seen Jesus in the flesh, we have enjoyed even greater privileges.

We have read the miracles of Jesus in the pages of the New Testament. We have heard his preaching of the gospel. We have seen his saving work through the eyewitnesses of his crucifixion and resurrection...

But do we know Jesus? Do we have a real, personal relationship with him? Have we gone to him in repentance, confessing our sins? Have we received him in faith, trusting in his cross? Or do we know him only socially and superficially?

Jesus invites us to enter God’s house and receive eternal life. He welcomes us to go in by the narrow door of his salvation...

Understand that if you refuse to enter, the day will come when you will be the one doing the pleading, begging Jesus to let you in or else to destroy you altogether (see Rev. 6:15–17).

But by then it will be too late! The door will be shut on the day of judgment, and when it shuts, you will be shut out.

This is only fair. The master of the house has opened the door and invited you to come in. If you refuse to enter, does he not have every right to bar the door?

A refusal to enter the narrow door is an outright denial of the blood of the Son of God.

More importantly, the Bible says this:

2 Corinthians 5:18–6:2 (ESV)

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

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