The Narrow Entranceway to the Kingdom

Luke 13:22-35

The Narrow Way

22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"

And He said to them, 24 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where you are from,' 26 then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' 27 But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' 28 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, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

31 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."

32 And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem

34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

The entranceway door to eternal life in the kingdom of heaven is not wide open to all who merely want to escape the judgment of hellfire to avoid accountability to God for their unrepentant sin.  When Jesus was asked, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” He answered with this reply about the narrow and specific entrance that had to be gone through to heaven and no other.  It is easy to say we all come to God and the afterlife in different ways, but the single truth is that Jesus Himself is the only way (John 10:7, 9, 14:6, Acts 4:12) to enter into the presence of God after death; all other broad ways of liberal teaching and philosophies only lead to an everlasting existence of suffering as the price of unforgven sin because of choosing any other way than Jesus Christ.  There is no other gate for the sheep of God’s calling to enter to heaven on earth (Revelation 21:2, 22) but Him.  There we will see our God face to face because we entered the proper door opened to us by the Lamb of God (22:3-4) and not a hole we cut in the fence or a wide open way that does not have our names on it by invitation which is the Lamb’s Book of Eternal Life (Philippians 4:3, Revelation 13:8, 20:12, 15, 21:27).  We are never to believe there is any other way to heaven but by repentance and faith in the One who alone is worthy to work our salvation for us by His sacrificial death on the cross to atone for our sin.  We cannot earn salvation by doing enough good because anything and everything we do is tainted by our sin nature we arrive into this world with (Psalm 51:5, John 2:5-7, Romans 3:23, 5:12) as our inheritance, and we continue to live with our best works tainted with unrighteous thoughts and intentions.  Only the grace of God can provide a refuge in the righteousness of Christ to usher us into His presence as clean in His estimation by the imputed goodness and holiness of God in Him.  When we who are in Christ knock on heaven’s door it will not be Peter guarding the pearly gates as the myths say but Jesus Christ who is the gate and in whose book of His goodness and not ours is recorded for our entrance.  By our we are all naughty and not nice.  God is not Santa and only gives access on His terms which are freely given as a gift, but only to those He chose to give this immeasurable gift of salvation from His wrath on sin to.  Many will claim they deserve entrance into heaven because they used His name but their unchanged lives lack the ticket of the cross of Jesus the Christ to pass through into heaven’s abode.  Those who first heard and rejected will not enter, but all who are given ears to hear and eyes to see the gospel truth will triumphantly go in (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).  Even Herod who wanted to kill Jesus before the time missed the mark and had to wait for the time God set for the atoning sacrifice of His Son on the cross to die in our place and cover our sins forever and not just once a year as the old ineffective sacrifices did.  Jesus therefore arrived in the perfect time (Galatians 4:4) to pay our price and open the gate of Himself into eternal life with Him in the resurrection to come at the final judgment when the books are cracked open.  We also must say with those welcoming Jesus in this death by shouting, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” Amen!