Luke #33: A Place In the Kingdom (13:22-35)
Notes
Transcript
Bookmarks & Needs:
Bookmarks & Needs:
B: Luke 13:22-35
N:
Welcome
Welcome
Bye, kids!
Good morning, and welcome to Family Worship with the church body of Eastern Hills. Whether you are here in the room, or online, thanks for being part of our celebration of Jesus today.
If you are visiting with us for the first time today, thanks for choosing to worship the Lord with Eastern Hills! We would like to be able to thank you for your visit and to pray for you, so if you wouldn’t mind, please take a moment during the sermon to fill out a visitor card, which you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you. If you’re online, you can let us know about your visit by filling out the communication form at the bottom of our “I’m new“ page. If you’re here in the room today, you can get that card back to us in one of two ways: you can put it in the boxes by the doors at the close of service, or I would love the opportunity to meet you personally, so after service, you can bring that card to me directly, and I have a gift to give you to thank you for your visit today.
I want to recognize and thank our Welcome Ministry this week.
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Opening
Opening
Thanks to Joe for preaching last week. I actually had taken that day as a vacation day because I went as a chaperone with Abbie’s school for their annual back-to-school retreat, and knew that I wouldn’t have sufficient time to prepare for Sunday. Joe did a great job with the first half of chapter 13, taking us right into the “danger zone:” warning us of the dangers of comparison, complacency, and spiritual pride.
Today, our focal passage in Luke’s Gospel asks us to consider our place in the Kingdom of God, and how that place is obtained. The example is truly King Jesus as evangelist, as He travels throughout Galilee and perhaps Judea, always keeping His sights set on Jerusalem and what would take place there. In fact, in this morning’s passage Jesus anticipates not only His crucifixion, but His second coming as well, while challenging those who listen to seriously consider whether we have a place in the Kingdom of God.
So let’s stand as we are able to do so in honor of the declaration of the Word of God, and open our Bibles or Bible apps to Luke 13, where I will begin reading in verse 22 reading through the end of the chapter:
22 He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem. 23 “Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able 25 once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us!’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out. 29 They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God. 30 Note this: Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.” 31 At that time some Pharisees came and told him, “Go, get out of here. Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.’ 33 Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem. 34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See, your house is abandoned to you. 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’!”
PRAYER (Annunciation Catholic Church & School in Minneapolis)
When I was a kid, we’d all gather up for a game—doesn’t matter what sport: basketball, football, baseball, whatever—a couple of people would be “captains,” and they would start choosing who was going to be on which team. Anyone else go through this potential powder keg of playground perplexity when they were young? As long as you weren’t last, right? Where the team didn’t pick you, they were forced to take you.
I’ve even done this as an adult, playing basketball with Nathan and the Salido family (I’m usually picked last, because I’m really not good at basketball).
But just this week, there was an even larger-scale version of this that happened here in the U.S.: The preseason reduction of NFL rosters from 90 to 53. Every NFL team had to cut 37 guys from their rosters by 4 pm Eastern time on Tuesday. Well this season, someone that I’ve actually met when he was in college was one of the 90 this year for the Seattle Seahawks. His name is Connor O’Toole. I’ve only met him online one time when I guest-led a Bible study that he’s a regular part of. But the others I know who are still a part of that study know him very well.
Anyway, Connor worked hard all training camp, had a good preseason, and he was given a place on the team. He was selected on Tuesday to remain on the Seahawks roster for this year, wearing number 57. He’s a humble, godly young man, so root for him and pray for him this season (even though he plays for Seattle). I’m really happy for him and excited to see how God uses him in this role.
Now, I know that any illustration like this is going to fall short when we compare it to spiritual truths. My point is that having a place in something bigger than ourselves is something special. And what we find in today’s passage is that our King, Jesus, invites us to a place in His Kingdom, but warns us that His invitation is for a limited time and according to His designs, not ours. So not everyone is going to enter that Kingdom—not everyone will have a place. We also see that Jesus’s bearing is to the cross in order to bring the promise of His Kingdom to fruition, and nothing will dissuade Him from it.
But we open with the King’s invitation:
1: The King’s invitation
1: The King’s invitation
Our focal passage actually begins by reminding of us of something that we first saw and talked about back in chapter 9: that we are in the midst of Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem. It hasn’t been directly mentioned since 9:53. Remember then that I said that this didn’t mean that Jesus was making a direct trip to Jerusalem, but that He was looking toward the culmination of His earthly ministry, which would take place there. As He went, He visited many other locations on the way:
22 He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem. 23 “Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24a “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, ...
As Jesus was going through these various villages, He’s asked a really important question: “Are only a few people going to be saved?” Given that Jesus is among the Jews, this question is even more significant than it appears to be on its face. Since the person asking is almost certainly Jewish, the question shows that Jesus’s message is making progress.
See, Jesus’s teaching about the Kingdom of God went against prevailing Jewish thinking of the day. The Jews believed that just because you were of Hebrew lineage, then you were automatically included in those who would inherit the Kingdom, basically. You didn’t need to really worry about it. Follow the letter of the Law, and all was well. Some Jewish teachers actually held to the idea that “hell is the Gentile’s problem.”
But Jesus had directly challenged the notion of the Jewish assurance of heaven several times. We saw it last week in the parable of the barren fig tree in verses 6-9 of this chapter, for example. So it seems as if this person is starting to get the message.
We might be a little confused by Jesus’s answer to the question. We read this, and we’re like, “What kind of answer is that? He didn’t answer the question.” You’re right, because the answer to the question this man asked is unimportant, so Jesus is actually answering a different question altogether. The person asked how many would be saved. That question doesn’t matter. Instead, Jesus challenges him to be certain that HE is saved. He opens this challenge by telling us to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” Is Jesus saying by this that we can somehow earn our place in heaven by putting in enough effort? No. So what is He saying?
When Jesus says, “Make every effort,” (a single word in Greek which is a command to strive, fight, or struggle for something), He doesn’t mean that we have to earn it. He means that in order to enter the Kingdom, we have to do so by the Kingdom’s rules, not ours. You can’t go through a window or sneak in some other way. There’s just one way. That’s why the door is narrow.
The reality according to Scripture is that not everyone will be saved. The door of salvation is narrow. Jesus said something similar in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
Some might object to this “narrow” picture as being restrictive or exclusive. Shouldn’t God just open wide the door, and let everyone in? No, He shouldn’t. If He were to do that, then justice would have no meaning. Sin would have no meaning. God is God, and He is entitled to determine the means of salvation. The fact that is so incredible about God’s offer of salvation is that the invitation is offered at all. None of us deserve to be invited into the Kingdom, and we never could deserve it.
Allow me to stretch the football illustration just a little further. When we play football on the playground, everyone is going to get to be on the team, because even the last person has to be taken by the team whose turn it is to pick. But making an NFL team is exceedingly rare. Do you know how many people have played in the NFL? As of 2021 (the last count I could find), a little more than 26,600 men had ever played in NFL football games. That’s an exclusive club. If you think about it, everything that’s worthwhile or meaningful is restrictive in some way.
Now, do you know how many people have ever deserved heaven? ONE. You don’t get any more exclusive than that. But that One took what everyone else (you and I) actually deserve—death—so that we can have what He deserves if we believe in what He has done to save us. And He overcame death so that if we belong to Him through faith, we overcome death as well:
10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
Jesus is the only way to be saved. Only through Him can we be in a right relationship with God.
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The King’s invitation goes out to you this morning: Make every effort to enter through the narrow door—Jesus. He is the way to life, and there is no other way. You cannot create it, you cannot deserve it, you cannot buy it, steal it, or earn it. Trust Christ for your salvation today. This brings us to our second point: The King’s warning.
2: The King’s warning
2: The King’s warning
In our focal passage, Jesus went on to give a very stern warning to His listeners about the fact that the invitation is not perpetual. There is going to come a time when it is simply too late to respond positively to the invitation:
24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able 25 once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us!’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out. 29 They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God. 30 Note this: Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”
We might think that this is a parable, but it isn’t. It’s not telling an earthly story with a spiritual point. This is an explanation of reality using the idea of a door as an analogy. The “you” in 25 are the “many” from 24b who try to get in on their terms. The Owner (God) sets the terms of entry to His banquet, and the time when the invitation expires.
We have three choices when presented with the invitation of Jesus: 1) we can believe it; 2) we can reject it; and 3) we can ignore it—neither overtly accepting it nor rejecting it. Please understand this: Not to decide is to decide. Option three isn’t really an option, because if we take option 3, we are basically taking option 2: rejection. The invitation stands, but as I said, there will come a time when it will be too late to respond positively to the invitation, and so by not responding to it by the allotted time, we respond negatively.
This is how life is: Once a wedding is over, you can’t go to the wedding anymore. There will come a moment when we reach the end of the line of our life: either we will die, or Jesus will return (whichever comes first), and that’s it. That’s the moment that the door to the banquet shuts. Jesus deserves to be at the banquet, and that’s all. Everyone else who gets to go gets to do so simply because of God’s extravagant grace poured out through Jesus. So this isn’t a picture of exclusion, but of inclusion.
When begging to be let in doesn’t work, those locked outside try and talk their way in:
“We ate and drank in Your presence,” was a social argument. They were basically saying, “We went to the same parties as you did, Jesus.” We have often seen in Luke the Pharisees hanging around where Jesus was, but that doesn’t mean that they believed in Him. They were okay being around Jesus. They knew who Jesus is. But they had zero relationship with Him. So it wasn’t enough.
Some of the people who Jesus is referring to as trying to talk their way into the Kingdom might even have done really religious things. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
But no, even the most religious stuff we can do is not enough to deserve eternal life. And so Jesus tells them, “I don’t know you or where you’re from.”
“You taught in our streets!” is their mental argument. They had heard the truth, or at least were nearby when it was spoken. But they never really listened to what Jesus said and what it meant. They certainly didn’t believe Him. Simply being in earshot of the Gospel doesn’t save.
You might be clinging to these kinds of arguments too. You are not a follower of Jesus, you haven’t believed the Gospel, but you know lots of Christian people. You might even go to church (I mean… you’re hearing this, aren’t you?). Maybe your parents are or were Christians. Maybe you were “raised in the church.” Maybe you even did AWANA an earned a zillion AWANA bucks when you were a kid, and you still remember and can even quote those verses. You’ve heard the Gospel a bunch of times, and you could even explain the Gospel to someone else if you had to! None of those things save you. Knowing ABOUT Jesus doesn’t save: KNOWING JESUS saves.
3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.
Are you in a relationship with Jesus through faith? It really is that simple:
12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
And so Jesus will say to those who make these kinds of arguments, “Get away from Me,” calling them “evildoers.” They will be consigned to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of torture and misery as they watch SOME of the Jews (and others) enter the Kingdom, but they themselves cannot.
Jesus makes it perfectly clear here that not everyone who is descended from Abraham is going to be saved. The Jews forgot their place. They thought they were owed salvation because God chose them for His purposes. This isn’t true. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Jew or a Gentile (the only two kinds of people in the Jewish mind): you need Jesus in order to be saved.
And people are going to come from all over. This had to be scandalous for the Jews to hear. The last verse is interesting. It says that some who are first will be last, and some who are last will be first. The meaning is that some who we might think are sure to be in heaven won’t be, and some who we are certain won’t be there, will. Jesus said something similar in Matthew 8:
11 I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The “sons of the kingdom” are the unbelieving Jews. They had every spiritual advantage, and yet didn’t believe.
This warning is first for those who have never believed in Jesus. There will come a time when it will be too late to decide FOR Jesus, and there’s no way for you to know when that time is. Trust in Christ as Lord and Savior today.
And for those of us who are already in the Kingdom, this passage should drive us to tell people about the Gospel. Just as there is going to come a time when it will be too late for someone to respond positively to the Gospel, so there will come a time when it will be too late to TELL someone about the Gospel. Remember what we saw a couple of weeks ago in Luke 12: Because we belong to Jesus, we are to be doing our jobs when He returns:
43 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.
I don’t think any of us are going to get to the end of our lives and stand before the throne of Jesus, and say, “You know, I really wish I would have told FEWER people about Jesus.” I think it will be exactly the opposite. Let this warning from our King motivate us to share the hope of the Gospel with those on that broad road, heading to destruction.
And finally, we come to the King’s bearing.
3: The King’s bearing
3: The King’s bearing
“Bearing” might seem like a strange word to use for this point, but it really captures the two things I want to point out in this passage. The word “bearing” has a double meaning: it can mean a direction of heading, or it can mean countenance or manner. Jesus fits both uses of the word in the last five verses of the chapter:
31 At that time some Pharisees came and told him, “Go, get out of here. Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.’ 33 Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem. 34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See, your house is abandoned to you. 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’!”
First, Jesus shows His direction or heading: He’s traveling to Jerusalem, and He’s going to be working while He goes.
I have to admit that I’m a bit of cynic when it comes to the Pharisees. My study notes for verse 31 start with the question, “Are they honestly trying to help Him?” I think that I (and probably most of us) tend to lump all of the individual Pharisees into the same boat: They’re all bad news because some of them are bad news. But I think this is a genuine concern from them. I can’t see any reason if they were all so opposed to Jesus that they wouldn’t just let Herod kill Him otherwise. And actually, we know for sure of ONE Pharisee that didn’t oppose Jesus: Nicodemus.
1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”
Just a thought: We don’t ever think that because someone in a group is bad news, then they’re all bad news, do we? Only all the time. This is foolish. We should take each person as we find them. I misjudged these Pharisees when I read this passage the first time in prep for this sermon.
So they’re actually warning Jesus that Herod Antipas wants him dead.
But Jesus doesn’t flee. Instead, He refers to Herod as “that fox,” meaning that Herod is deceptive, sneaky, shifty. Jesus knows that no earthly ruler is going to change His direction, and His purpose will be fulfilled (which speaks to the other meaning of “bearing” as well).
Verses 32 and 33 come across confusing if we take them as Jesus literally talking about “today” and “tomorrow,” because He would be contradicting Himself if He were. He’s going to drive out demons and perform healings and travel today and tomorrow? No, He’s saying that He’s going to keep working as He travels toward Jerusalem, which we’ve seen already. But in His reference to “the third day [He] will complete [His] work,” and “it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem,” He is speaking about His resurrection and crucifixion, respectively. Luke’s readers would not have been missed these references, and neither should we.
Jesus would indeed be killed in Jerusalem. When He said that it was not possible for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem, He was making reference to two things: where He would die: inside Jerusalem, and the fact that He would not die until His arrival in Jerusalem. He would be nailed to a Roman cross and die a criminal’s death in order to pay the penalty that we owe because of our sins. He would be taken down and buried in a tomb. But then, on the “third day,” He would rise again, beating death itself, so that those who belong to Him can have eternal life. This is where He completes His work.
And in the last two verses, where Jesus reveals His heart for Jerusalem, He is truly displaying his countenance or manner: He has compassion for Jerusalem, even though He knows what awaits Him upon His arrival there. Though they kill the prophets, and they will kill Him, He longs to hide the city where the temple resides in the shadow of His wings, as it says so beautifully in the Psalms:
8 Protect me as the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings 9 from the wicked who treat me violently, my deadly enemies who surround me.
But instead, they will reject Him, and they will have to live out the consequences of that rejection.
Their house is abandoned to them. God’s protection over them will be removed, because they have refused it. But there will come a time when Jesus will return, and there will be those who rejoice at His coming. This at first feels like a reference to the Triumphal Entry, and I suppose that is possible, and this reference has a double fulfillment—near (Triumphal Entry) and far (Second Coming). The reference comes from Psalm 118:26, but I would like to read verses 21-26 for context:
21 I will give thanks to you because you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let’s rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! 26 He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
Jesus’s directional bearing was where the Father wanted Him to go. His countenance bearing was toward people for their good. I think we can learn from both of these things.
First, we have a tendency to make plans and then ask God to bless them, when what we should be doing is seeking the face of God and asking Him to set our plans. Granted, He has delegated responsibility over certain things in our lives to us. But when He moves, we should move. When He says go, we should go. We need to develop the habit of letting God set our direction, instead of ourselves.
Second, we should be available to serve others, because Jesus served us,. And not only that, He was determined to do so—nothing was going to keep Him from it. If we are going to look like Jesus, then we’re going to need to engage with people for their blessing. How can you be a blessing to others this week?
Closing
Closing
The question of our place in the Kingdom first and foremost comes down to whether or not we have believed the Gospel and started that relationship with Jesus. The invitation is still open to us.
Salvation
But for those who already belong to Christ, what is OUR bearing? What direction are we going: toward God, or away from Him? Do we even think in those terms? What does our countenance and manner toward others say about our relationship with Jesus?
Baptism
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Prayer
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PRAYER
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Bible reading (Rom 7:7-8:39, Ps 50)
Pastor’s Study returns next Sunday night
Prayer Meeting
Instructions for guests
Benediction
Benediction
1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.
