Pentecost 14
Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Luke 13:22-30
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.”
May God the Holy Spirit lead you through the narrow door. Amen.
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,” Jesus said. Think of a door that is two inches narrower than you are, standing sideways. The door is also two inches shorter than you are. . The only way you can get through this door is if you have absolutely nothing attached to you. No motorcycle helmet. No back pack. No elegant or bulky clothing. Just you.
When we are discussing spiritual matters, we have to acknowledge that we human beings are always wearing a bunch of stuff. We have this motorcycle helmet on called selfish pride, or the big head, if you would rather call it that. God says that is sin. We have our back pack stuffed with things we don’t want to give up even though we know they are against God’s will. God says they are sinful words and actions. We are wearing what we think are elegant clothes, things that other people have complimented us for doing, but which we know were done in our own selfish best interest. God says that attitude is sin. If we are going to get through the narrow door, all of this stuff has to be removed.
How does all of this stuff get removed? Try as we might we won’t get rid of any of it on our own. We need some outside help. Jesus provided this outside help for us. He took our selfish pride, our sinful words and actions, and even our selfish attitudes on Himself and removed them from us. Or to use another Bible picture - He washed away all of the guilt of these things in His blood. So we aren’t wearing any of this stuff that we continue to produce as sinners. So we fit through the narrow door.
How do we know that is what Jesus was thinking of when He said: “Make every effort to enter though the narrow door.?” Listen to Jesus in John 10: 7 - “I am the gate for the sheep.” 9 - “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” How about John 14:6 - “I am the way;. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus didn’t say, “In order to be saved you must be spiritual.” No. He wasn’t abstract, nebulous, generic, general or imprecise. Why? Because He loves us. He wanted us to know the answer to the question, (23)“Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” Jesus is the door. The only door.
“Are only a few people going to be saved?” Your answer needs to be precise. The guilt of my sin makes it impossible for me to fit through the narrow door. Jesus’ blood washes away the guilt of my selfishness, my loveless actions and words, and my self-oriented attitudes. Only if that guilt is removed will I fit through the narrow door.
“Are only a few people going to be saved?” Your answer needs to be precise. Jesus says only holy people fit through the narrow door. Since I don’t produce holiness, I couldn’t get past the reception desk on my own. Jesus gives me the holiness that I can’t produce for myself. Holiness that He lived as a real human being. He covers me with it. When I stop at the reception desk of the kingdom of God, what do we tell the receptionist? We say, “Jesus is my Savior. What does God see? When He is looking at a believer, He sees Jesus. And Jesus is holy. So He says to us, “Come on in the door is open.”
“Are only a few people going to be saved?” Your answer needs to be precise. 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.” I doesn’t matter what ethnic background you come from. It doesn’t matter where in the world you live. It doesn’t matter if you live right after the Creation of the world or right before Judgment Day. Jesus is the Savior of every person who has ever lived or will ever live in this world. He is the only one through whom anyone can enter into the feast that is going to last forever with the LORD. Jesus is the Door. The only door. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.
I Jesus very clearly in this discussion indicates that there is another side to this issue. {24}“Many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” What keeps people from being able to fit through the narrow door? If all the attachments are not removed, a person won’t fit. When a person refuses to allow the blood of Jesus to wash off his sins, he won’t fit. That can happen for two reasons. He might not acknowledge what he is doing is sin, and therefore doesn’t repent and seek forgiveness. Or he might not believe that what Jesus did has any significance for his relationship with God. Lack of repentance. Rejecting Jesus the Savior. Both keep people out of the narrow door. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that
There is another reason people don’t fit. They insist. {26}“We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” “We hung out with you Lord, while we were living on earth. We were Your people. Look at our lives. Don’t they prove we were Your people?” Jesus quote is:
“I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!” When someone insists on getting through the narrow door on the basis of his own credentials, he must pay for his own sins. That would take an eternity of punishment. Second. He must produce perfection. That is impossible for any selfish human. No human being on his own can make himself fit through the narrow door. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.
Everybody wants to fit through the door. So the comment, “I don’t know you or where you come from,” gets an argument. But an argument doesn’t change the verdict. God doesn’t change the standards in the middle of the game. Either you produce perfection, or you don’t. Either you have no sinful selfish baggage, or you do. Notice the statement is the same before and after the argument. “I don’t know you or where you come from.”
When it is time for a person to go through the narrow door, or be kept outside it, or to state it as we usually do, when it is time for the Lord to end a person’s life on this earth, it is too late to argue about your status. The person who dies or on Judgment Day enters the courtroom of the Lord has no possibility of repenting then. It is too late. You can’t go back and fix things then. Jesus puts it this way: 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.’” God’s verdict at the time of death and on Judgment day is final. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.
For those outside the door, the picture isn’t very pleasant. {28}Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping is a sign of sorrow, pain, anguish, loss, failure. Gnashing of teeth I think is the same as gritting or grinding your teeth. You do that because the pain is so bad, because the anger, frustration, sorrow is so bad. Yes. God loves all people. He wants all people to be saved. But He also sends unrepentant people who don’t believe in Jesus to an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.
Jesus notes that those {30}who are first will be last. Those who heard Jesus preaching first and rejected Him. Those who insist that they are first on God’s priority list because of their own personal piety will find themselves last. They will be outside the narrow door throughout eternity. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.
Jesus clearly teaches here that there are two places one can spend eternity. Either with the Lord or apart from the Lord. In spite of many attempts to blunt that message by saying a loving God would never push anyone away from Him forever, it is obvious from Jesus’ picture that He very clearly teaches us that the narrow door lets some in and keeps some out. If we love people, we are going to tell them precisely that.