He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 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.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Up to this point in Luke 13 we have been reading what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. He has been telling those listening what the Kingdom will be like. In the above passage, however, we read not what it is like but how to enter the Kingdom and who will be in the Kingdom. Jesus tells them that the entrance to the Kingdom is narrow. In Matthew’s gospel we read about Jesus using the word picture of the wide gate vs narrow road (Matthew 7:13). At the end of the above paragraph we read about the last being the first and the first being the last. Jesus is telling them that that those who hear His message now (the Jews) will be the last (lowest honor) and those who hear the gospel last (the Gentiles) will be the first (the highest honor). The Jews were rejecting Jesus message. The Gentile, those the Jews would think would be the last to ever be brought into the Kingdom, will actually hold high honor. We know from John’s gospel that the door is Jesus, Himself. In that gospel He stated, I am the door. When we read Jesus’ words, listen to His teachings, observe His manner of life, we see how counter-culture He was to the entire Jewish religious system, the Roman government and the Greek thought of the day. His message was narrow minded then and to those people and certainly it is in today’s culture. We must realize that the message of Jesus is first a very narrow view for living but also a very narrow for entrance. To say you are the only way, is to be narrow minded.
John 14:6 (ESV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus’ claim to be the only way was to be narrow minded. When others say we are very narrow minded we ought to rejoice. We are in great company. Yet, only those who believe in that narrow way will enter that way. Those who fail to believe in the narrow way and want to find a broad way will be last and left out. Those who attempt another door will find it leads to another place. A very undesirable place.
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