Luke 13:22-24 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching
as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a
few people going to be saved?" He said to them, " Make every effort to
enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to
enter and will not be able to."

You've heard me say it time and time again. Jesus died for the sins of
the world. Jesus came to be the atoning sacrifice for all of mankind.
He lived the perfect life we could not and then became the payment for
our sins. He did that by dying on the cross and as 2 Corinthians 5 says,
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God."
That passage is telling us exactly what Jesus did. He went to the cross
and suffered death, not just mere physical death but the eternal death of
hell to pay for our sins. Think about what God's Word says. It says
that those with sin die. Yet Jesus, though perfect, died. Died because
he took our sins upon himself. He took those sins to pay for them. I
can't emphasize that enough. The main message of Jesus is not about how
we are to live our lives. Jesus is about how he came to do what we could
not. We could not meet the demands of the law of God. We could not earn
our way to heaven, I mean if we could, then why did Jesus come? As 2
Corinthians says, "he came to be sin for us."
That's what Jesus is all about! He is our Savior from sin. It is true
that he does a few other things for us, like send the Holy Spirit to give
us faith and keep us in the faith. He gives us the Lord's Supper that
our faith be strengthened and we are drawn closer to God. He gives us
baptism that we might grasp that it is the act of God that saves. For in
baptism children, infants are brought to faith and salvation though they
can do nothing for righteousness. It is the power of God working in them
that grants eternal life.
All of this is based on the fact that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice
for our sins. It is this fact that makes our text so very interesting.
So very interesting because the text alludes to what is coming, alludes
to what Jesus will do when it says, "Jesus went through the towns and
villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem." He was going to
Jerusalem to suffer and die. He was going to Jerusalem to fulfill all
righteousness. He was going to defeat Satan completely and utterly that
he might put an end to the reign of terror that sin holds in our lives.
Jesus was going to Jerusalem to win the eternal victory of salvation for
mankind. Make no mistake. Jesus didn't just stumble into a bad
situation where the Roman governor needed to make an example of someone.
There was nothing accidental that happened to Jesus. Jesus went to
fulfill the plan of God, to give the gift of life, eternal life to the
world.
So how very interesting when the question is asked: "Lord, are only a
few people going to be saved?" If Jesus and faith in Jesus were
unimportant don't you think Jesus would have said something like: "I'm
going to save everyone and all sin will be made of no account for
everyone. Therefore, I tell you, follow me and you will be saved, but if
not, don't worry, you will still make the kingdom anyway.'
Please note that such is not what Jesus said. What he says is shocking
and alerting. What he said is of the utmost importance. He began by
saying, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because
many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Let's then
consider these words and what they say. Let's use the theme: THE FEW WHO
ARE SAVED. 1st. They enter the narrow door. 2nd. They make every
effort. 3rd. They are the last!
It is very clear from Jesus' answer that only a few people, relatively
speaking, will be saved. What that means is that the vast majority of
the world is not going to hear or believe in Jesus. The world is not
going to care about salvation and the issues of sin. The world will be a
place where we are told "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die."
That's what Jesus was talking about last week in our Gospel reading when
he spoke about causing division among families and people. The world
will by and large hate Jesus and what he stands for. That's why few will
be saved.
Because the truth of the matter is that Jesus did indeed die for the
sins of the whole world. He supplied atonement for everyone but the key
to that atonement is faith. To believe in Jesus is the Son of God and
the Savior of the world. To believe that it is Jesus who grants
"righteousness by grace through faith." To believe in Jesus but not just
to say you believe, rather to live you believe. It's just the way it is
with God's children. They can't help but live to please Jesus. It is
one of the gifts that Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit.
That, dear people is what the narrow door is. Jesus is the narrow door.
He is narrow or small because the world rejects him. He is narrow
because the majority of the world believes they will be saved by works,
that is, by what they do or don't do. The faith of the world is in
itself. The faith of the world is based on a somewhat shady and
undefined sense of goodness, often the idea that "I'm not as bad as my
neighbor." The faith of the world says, "I believe in God," but they
don't go to church, they don't read the Bible, they are not even sure of
who the true God is let alone what he truly says. Yes, Jesus is the
narrow door. Few will truly believe in Jesus though Jesus has paid the
debt of sin for everyone. Few will believe and few will completely trust
in Jesus. Such is the truth of the narrow door.
Please note that Jesus does tell us, "Make every effort to enter through
the narrow door." Well, Pastor, if salvation is by grace through faith
then why does it seem that Jesus is telling us we had better live right?
Let me ask this, "Is that what Jesus said? Did he speak of living right,
of doing the right things, of keeping the law of Christ? Did He?"
You'll find that Jesus is doing nothing more than pointing out the
struggle that faith is going to be. The word used here is that of the
athletic contest, to struggle or to strive. Faith will be a struggle.
It will be easy (and this is what the world does) to just give lip
service to faith without actually being of the faith. It would be easy
for anyone to claim they belong to the team, but if they aren't at
practices, if they don't attend games...? And when they do come to
practice or games they clearly show some sort of "don't give a rip"
attitude. What does that say? So it is in the life of the follower of
Jesus. We need to make the effort. We need to at least show that we are
struggling to do what is God pleasing, that we understand the horror of
our sins are, that we don't just give in to the ways of the world.
Being a Christian is a battle. Galatians 5 says, "For the sinful nature
desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary
to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other." What does
it say of us when we simply give in, when we simply go along with the
world and what it says is cool? When we are as immoral as the world,
when we drug, drink, gamble, commit adultery, lie, cheat, steal, all the
while claiming Jesus is our Savior, don't you think that's a problem.
Jesus says it is. To listen again to everything found in this text would
be helpful at this point.
"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." Then you will say,
"We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But he will
reply, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you
evildoers." 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. People will come from east and west and
north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom
of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first
who will be last."
Just a few quick things. I believe these words address those who have
heard and had opportunity to believe in Jesus but didn't think Him
important enough. Notice how the text says that they ate and drank with
Jesus, that they were aware of his teaching in the streets. But they
ignored him.
Second, notice that Jesus specifically mentions Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
and the prophets. In other words, he is referring to the faith of the
fathers and the revelation of the prophets. Believe what they believed
in. They were saved by grace. They wrote of God's grace and his
promises of the Savior to come. But people tend to think the Bible isn't
all that important. Okay, but don't be surprised when you knock and you
are told, "I don't know you!" It is all there to emphasize what we
already really know. The follower of Jesus is in the struggle of faith.
That doesn't mean we won't sin but it does mean we work hard at not
sinning.
Again think in terms of playing on a sports team. If you were the coach
what would you say to the kid who comes and works hard at doing
everything wrong? What would you say when you discover the kid has the
attitude, "I'm going to play my way, don't care about any rules, don't
care what the coach says!" Dear people, when we go around living like
the world, when we go around ignoring our coach Jesus what does that say?
Jesus again addresses the struggle that will be ours when he says,
"Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first, and first who
will be last." If you would Jesus is talking about winners and losers.
I can help you get what Jesus is saying by just giving you these words a
different way. "There are those in the world who are considered losers
because of Jesus, but in truth they will be first in God's Eternal
kingdom. There are those that the world considers "winners", the big
wigs, the top dogs in worldly ways, but make no mistake they will be the
losers in God's kingdom." Jesus is simply making you think all the more
about the struggle of faith. Either you are with the world or you are
striving to follow Jesus. And I wouldn't want to try and count on just
"being in the middle" and getting the best of both worlds. Attitude
counts and such an attitude would invoke the words of Jesus, "Those who
are not for me are against me."
It is true that only a few will be saved. Only a small percentage of
this those who have lived in this world will be in heaven. The solution
is very simple. His name is Jesus. Jesus isn't about a particular
church but is about hearing and believing what His Word says. Try
playing on his team and see how He does make the difference. Amen.