The Door of Salvation Is Narrow. Luke 13: The question of this person has been on the minds of many: Lord, will those

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1 The Door of Salvation Is Narrow Luke 13:22-30 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Dear saved ones, The question of this person has been on the minds of many: Lord, will those who are saved be few? No doubt the motive for this question is something like concern for others, wanting to see the whole world saved and after all, God our Savior desires all people to be saved, doesn t he (1 Tim. 2:3, 4)? The problem is, many who have asked this question throughout the centuries have not liked Jesus answer. And notice, he didn t answer it directly, but in effect: 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. So the answer to the question itself seems to be that there are many who are not saved. And so, because people have not liked this answer, we ve come up with all sorts of ways around it. One doctrine that surfaces something like once every 30 years is that there is no hell. In this way, people have tried to get rid of the idea of damnation, because they also want all people to be saved. The problem is, salvation is not something that will be given to those who spurn it. Finish out that verse: God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3, 4). This is how salvation comes to a person: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they

2 Luke 13: are sent? But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:13-17) Yes, God wants everyone to be saved but not everyone obeys the Gospel. Therefore Jesus does not simply answer the question put to him by saying, Yes, and it s really too bad that there will be only a few saved. Instead, he makes it personal, turning the question back on the asker: Strive to enter through the narrow door. I. Strive to Enter Before It Shuts See what has happened when the concern over how many are saved becomes the burning question? False doctrine creeps in, because we want to find something other than what God s Word says. Therefore: Make the question personal, [as Jesus instructs,] and let your concern be that you may be saved. 1 Appraise your own spiritual well-being, and spend time cleaning up your spirit and heart. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother s eye (Matt. 7:3-5). The message here is that this is your time of grace. It is during this time right now while you live and breathe that you have God s grace coming to you, pleading earnestly with you that you may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, that is, when Jesus 1 Lenski 747.

3 3 The Door of Salvation Is Narrow has returned and judged the world, no one outside will enter in. Much of the torment, the weeping and gnashing of teeth, will be in realizing how many opportunities there were for salvation, which a person rejected. Jesus warns, Don t let that be you! Instead, be aware of the opportunities, or, be aware of the Word of God when it comes to you: Do not quench the Spirit, St. Paul told the Thessalonians. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good (2 Thess. 5:19-21). That is, if the Word of God is in your hearing, don t cross your arms, don t frown, don t put up a mental block and decide, I don t want to hear this right now, but hear it, test it to make sure it is true and God-pleasing, and hold onto it firmly. St. Paul had this advice for the Philippians: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). No, he was not telling the Philippians to save themselves that s impossible, as he even said immediately afterward: for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). But Jesus himself said the same thing: Strive to enter through the narrow door. Strive that is, struggle focus on that narrow door like runners focusing on the finish line. Let that be what occupies your whole being. Consider the weight of this thing: we are speaking of salvation. There are only two options: salvation or condemnation. If one is not saved, he is damned. This is serious! The whole idea of Jesus answer is that, unless we enter the kingdom of heaven while we are able, while we are in this time of grace, we will be forever excluded from it. This is why all of Scripture continually urges us: Strive, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God our Savior desires all people to be saved

4 Luke 13: and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3, 4), therefore he gives us his Word, he offers us his grace, he urges us to Strive. Striving in this way is what Paul calls godliness, or what we might call the workout program of righteousness and spirituality: godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe (1 Tim. 4:8-10). Strive means stretch and engage your spiritual muscles, grow in the habit of godliness, build up the muscles of faith. This comes by hearing the Word of God, believing it, and doing it. And Paul told the Philippians again: Do all things without grumbling or disputing (Phil. 2:14, Lilienthal). That is, if the Word of God is coming to you, don t grumble, don t wish that you heard something else, don t argue about it, because 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. Notice what Jesus warns that those outside will say to him: Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. Don t be among those who were nearby when Jesus taught, but did not receive his teaching: see, Jesus taught in our streets, but did he teach in your spirit? But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil! This seems to be a great and difficult responsibility: that we must strive and struggle and work out our salvation with a great deal of effort. Not only is it difficult, but

5 5 The Door of Salvation Is Narrow it is in fact impossible, For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God s law; indeed, it cannot (Rom. 8:7). But the Word of God is of such character that when it makes demands, it also bestows what it demands so that according to the Law Jesus says, Strive, and by the Gospel there before us is that narrow door and in us in the Holy Spirit empowering us toward repentance, giving us the forgiveness and salvation of Christ that passes us through the door. Likewise Jesus commands, Believe, and his Word has kindled faith in the heart. This is what Paul said: faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). This salvation comes freely from God, because of Jesus death and resurrection: Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations (Luke 24:46-47). This was proclaimed to you and it was that proclamation, and still is that proclamation, that gives you salvation, that bears you through that narrow door. Don t despise it. The Word is there for you: it sits on a shelf in your home read it! It is preached to you in the worship service here listen to it! It is put to music in hymns and liturgy in the same service sing it! This is the message of Christ crucified for you! He is that door, he is the mediator of this new covenant. This is the knowledge of the truth that saves you. Come through the door while it is still open. It s easy for those of us who have been Christians for all or most of our lives to think that we ve got it all straight, to think that we re good and we don t need anything more, or that the way we do things is the right way, and that no one better come bringing something contrary to what we think, even if it s from Scripture, because this

6 Luke 13: is the way we ve done it all our lives! This is how the Jews thought in Jesus day, that even though he proved to them that he was the exact Messiah they d been told to look for in their Scriptures, they preferred to do things a certain way. Therefore Jesus adds the warning: II. Some Who Are Last Will Be First, Some Who Are First Will Be Last This is a warning for certain sorts of people: Jesus was here speaking to Jews. They needed to hear this warning because they were the first, that is, they were the heirs of God s favor, the recipients of his promise, the descendants of his favored Abraham. For this reason Jesus told them, 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. Their precious patriarchs and prophets would be seen having entered the narrow door, but these Jews themselves who rejected the door and sought to enter by a different way would be cast out. This would be incomprehensible to a Jew, because they think they have the guarantee of the kingdom and salvation by virtue of their tradition and their ancestry. The nail in the coffin for these Jews is when Jesus tells them: And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. These people from the east and the west, do you know who they are? They are non-jews Gentiles. Jesus statement would be shocking to the Jewish people, that many of them would be left out in the cold, while the filthy, pig-eating Gentiles would be welcomed! But they had plenty of prophecies in this regard: Isaiah foretold, the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my

7 7 The Door of Salvation Is Narrow glory, and I will set a sign among them. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord (Is. 66:18-21). Yes, not only would saved people come from Gentile nations the world over, but priests, and incomprehensibly Levites! Levites were specifically descendants of Levi, an Israelite tribe from which the priests especially came. But now people who are not genetically related to Abraham would be brought into the fold and made into Levites. John the Baptist preached to the people, And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Luke 3:8). God did not raise children for Abraham out of stones, but just as well: from pagans and Gentiles. The problem of the Jews is they became haughty. They felt entitled, and therefore refused the path of repentance. What need would they have of repentance, of striving? They already had the way of life, as they thought. They needed only to coast through life. It was easy. Jesus statement in this Gospel lesson is therefore a statement of love: it is a wake-up call! They are perishing, outside the door! They thought they had it, but did not! Therefore, this warning applies to other haughty people, not just the Jews. Paul applied this warning to Christians: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Cor. 10:12). This comes out of a section in his first letter to the Corinthians in which he described the destruction that came upon the Israelites when they put Christ to the test. It s easy for us to look at those haughty Jews I ve just described and to say, Those idiots! Of course they had to have the righteousness of

8 Luke 13: Christ! But hear what Paul says: Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction (1 Cor. 10:11). That means, consider their error! Be sure that doesn t happen to you! If you catch yourself saying, I know this! take a step back. You re secure in your faith? You re positive that you re doing everything right? You re sure that you know all you need to? Are you confident in your knowledge and your ability and your faith? Then there s a problem. Your confidence must not be in any aspect of yourself, but rather in God God is faithful, Paul goes on to write (1 Cor. 10:13). We ourselves are often unfaithful; we slip, we backslide, we deny our God. We cannot rely on our own faithfulness, our own religion. Those of us who have been Christians our entire lives need this reminder. It s easy to get caught up in the way you ve done things for years, and forget that what matters is that the Gospel is preached to you. This is the error of thinking, I m doing it right, versus, God s giving me what I need. This is the error of seeking to enter by your own means rather than being carried through the narrow door by repentance and forgiveness. Thus there are two types of people, as Jesus demonstrates: some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. The first are those who have the means of salvation at their disposal, but in some way reject them, refuse to make use of them, and therefore they are lost. The last are those who completely lack these means of salvation at the beginning, but at the moment that these means come to them they rejoice, make full use of them, and therefore obtain salvation.

9 9 The Door of Salvation Is Narrow What are the means of salvation? We more commonly call them the means of grace. They are the tools that the Holy Spirit uses to lead people to the narrow door, to Christ. They are the Word and Sacraments. Notice the intent of these means of grace: they are to lead people to salvation. God earnestly desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). How he puts that desire into motion is by sending his grace in the form of his Word and his Sacraments Baptism and the Supper. All three of these effect, cause in us, the forgiveness of sins, the grace for true repentance and amendment of life, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. What we must acknowledge is that we can do nothing toward our salvation. It is God who does it all, from start to finish. If we realize this, then we will eagerly snatch at every scrap of grace that comes our way. If the Lord s Supper is offered take and eat, drink of it, all of you! For in that is the forgiveness of your sins! If the Word is preached, hear it with joy, for in it is grace, forgiveness, life, and salvation! If the Word is there in the liturgy, sing it! For there is the life-giving Word and the joyful praise of your God who gives you that life. Again, the irony of all this is that Jesus tells us, Strive to enter through the narrow door, but he knows full well that we cannot. We are unable, by nature, to make our way there. And even if we were to try ourselves to get to that door, we would be no better than the Jews who wanted their own way of salvation. We cannot rely on our own efforts. Our efforts lead us astray, and never find the narrow door, until it is too late and judgment is done. But by telling us to strive, Jesus places the door before us. I am the way, and the truth, and the life, Jesus said. No one comes to the

10 Luke 13: Father except through me (John 14:6). He set himself up before us. This is why, when you sit in worship, receiving the service of your Lord, what is central in your vision is that cross. That is where Jesus opened the door, where he gave you the way, where he brought you into the incomprehensible feast of heaven. Look there, where it is all done for you. Receive the grace of your Lord. It s free. Amen.