The Kingdom: The Narrow, Shutting Door (Luke 13:22-30)

Luke reminds the reader that Jesus is heading unstoppably and inevitably towards Jerusalem… and the cross. With all the serious talk about “knowing the times” and not missing the signs, someone finally clues in and asks, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” The expectation for the Jewish nation in Jesus’s day was that the Messiah was coming to save the nation, everyone, all you had to do to enjoy the coming Kingdom was: be Jewish. The teaching of Jesus was sounding like there was an individual responsibility to the Kingdom.

Jesus does not directly answer the question. (He so seldom did!) Instead, He warns the crowds. “You need to work at being in the Kingdom.” Many people who want to be there will not. There is a time coming, for every individual and for the world at large, when it will be too late! One can’t think to themselves, “I will surrender to the King and live for the Kingdom of God later, once I’ve done everything I have planned for myself.” No one know the day when it will be too late for them. Beyond that, that very statement reveals the sort of attitude that has driven humanity away from God. The essence of being in the Kingdom of God is to be totally surrendered to God’s authority, His plans. The Fall in Genesis chapter 3 was all about humanity deciding to do things their way instead of God’s. We decided to be our own gods.

People often think about how unfair this is. People who want to enter the Kingdom are going to be denied? Doesn’t Jesus also say, “Knock and the door will be opened to you?” However, on the individual level there is a disingenuous aspect to the complaint. God will not allow people who have no interest in coming to Him to enter His Kingdom after the fact.

More importantly, the context here is saying a lot about the collective misapprehension of Jesus’s day. The narrow and closing door says a lot to the nation Jesus was warning. God’s plan was not to save the nation, but rather the remnant. Being a Jew was no guarantee of salvation. A person’s personal stance towards God is what counts. Not only that, God’s plan is not just for the remnant of Israel. People will “come from east and west and from north and south and sit at the table.” God salvation plan is for any who will turn to God, Jew and Gentile.

So, in a key way, the door is narrow and closing. It isn’t about what group you belong to, but about how you respond to God. On the other hand, it is much wider than the Jews of Jesus’s day could imagine. Anyone is welcome!