The Agony of Entry Text: Luke 13:22-30
Introduction: The Most Important Question
We are a people drowning in questions. We ask about politics, about the economy, about our health, about the future of our nation. But underneath all these legitimate, and sometimes frantic, questions, there is one ultimate question that haunts the human heart. It is the question that someone in the crowd, seeing Jesus on His final, determined journey to Jerusalem, finally works up the courage to ask. "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?"
This is not a question of detached, theological curiosity. This is the question. It is the query that lies beneath all other queries. Will I be all right in the end? Will I be safe? Is there a rescue, and am I part of it? And if there is a rescue, is it a broad, general evacuation that sweeps everyone up, or is it a select, special operation for a few?
Our modern sensibilities want the answer to be a comforting, "Of course, many will be saved. The door is wide, the path is broad, and God is too nice to do otherwise." We want a salvation that is convenient, a gospel that is inclusive to the point of being meaningless, and a God who grades on a very generous curve. We want a faith that fits into our lives like a decorative throw pillow, not a faith that demands we reorient the entire house. But Jesus, in His typical fashion, refuses to give the easy answer. He does not satisfy the man's curiosity about the numbers. Instead, He turns the question from a speculative "them" to an intensely personal "you." He redirects the focus from the abstract to the urgent. He doesn't say, "Here's the census data for heaven." He says, "You. Strive. Enter."
In this passage, Jesus confronts our lazy assumptions about salvation. He demolishes the idea that salvation is a matter of ethnic heritage, religious proximity, or casual acquaintance with Jesus. He makes it clear that entry into the kingdom is not a stroll in the park but a desperate striving, an agonizing push through a narrow door. And He warns that a day is coming when that door, which is now open, will be shut. And once it is shut, it will be shut forever.
The Text
And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” 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. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ And He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU WORKERS OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.’ In that place 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 yourselves being cast out. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”
(Luke 13:22-30 LSB)
The Urgent Command (vv. 22-24)
We begin with the setting and the pivotal question.
"And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” 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." (Luke 13:22-24)
Notice the context: Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. This is not a casual tour. This is the final march to the cross. Every word, every teaching is now freighted with the weight of His impending sacrifice. The shadow of the cross falls over this entire exchange. He is on His way to become the door.
The question is direct: "Are only a few being saved?" Jesus' answer is a command, not a statistic. "Strive to enter." The Greek word for "strive" is agonizomai. We get our word "agonize" from it. This is not a word of casual effort. It is the word used for an athlete straining every muscle to win the prize, or a soldier fighting for his life in battle. It means to contend, to struggle, to fight with intense, focused energy. Salvation is not a passive affair. It is not something you drift into. You are to agonize to enter.
But what are we striving against? Are we striving to earn our salvation? Not at all. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. We are not saved by our striving. Rather, our striving is the evidence that we have been saved. The striving is the fruit of God's grace working in us. We strive against our own sin, our own laziness, our own pride. We strive against the world, which offers a thousand wide and easy gates. We strive against the devil, who wants to distract and discourage us. We strive to lay hold of what has already laid hold of us in Christ.
The door is "narrow." Why? Because the door is Christ Himself. "I am the door," Jesus says in John 10:9. There is no other way. It is narrow because truth is narrow. It is not a broad, "all paths lead to the top of the mountain" kind of door. It is exclusive. It requires you to leave your baggage behind: your self-righteousness, your idols, your love of sin. You cannot squeeze through this door carrying the baggage of the world.
And here is the terrifying part: "many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." This should jolt us out of our complacency. Many will want to get in, but their seeking is too little, too late, or on their own terms. They want the kingdom without the King. They want heaven without holiness. They want the benefits of salvation without the submission of discipleship. They seek, but they do not strive. Their desire is a lazy wish, not an agonizing pursuit.
The Shut Door and the Vain Appeal (vv. 25-27)
Jesus then paints a picture of the finality of judgment.
"Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ And He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU WORKERS OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.’" (Luke 13:25-27 LSB)
There is a point of no return. The "head of the house," who is Christ, will rise and shut the door. The day of grace has a limit. The opportunity to enter is not infinite. This is a sober warning against procrastination. Today is the day of salvation. The door is open now. It will not be open forever.
Notice the appeal of those left outside. It is an appeal based on superficial association. "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets." This is the cry of the nominal Christian, the churchgoer, the person who lived in a "Christian" culture. They were close to Jesus. They heard His teaching. They were familiar with the things of God. They might have been baptized, taken communion, and sat in a pew every Sunday. They confused proximity with possession. They mistook familiarity for faith.
Their claim is essentially, "We know You." But the Lord's devastating reply is, "I do not know you." It is not that He lacks information about them. He is omniscient. He knows everything they ever did. The word "know" here is the biblical word for intimate, covenantal relationship. He is saying, "We were never in a relationship. I was not your Lord. You were not my people."
And the final verdict is damning: "DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU WORKERS OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Despite their religious activities, their lives were characterized by lawlessness. They heard the word but did not do it. Their faith was a dead faith, a faith without works, because it was not true faith at all. True faith, a gift from God, always and necessarily produces the fruit of obedience. Their unrighteousness revealed the true state of their hearts. They were workers of iniquity, and so they are banished from the presence of the Holy One.
The Great Reversal (vv. 28-30)
The scene then shifts to the horror of exclusion and the glory of inclusion.
"In that place 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 yourselves being cast out. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." (Luke 13:28-30 LSB)
The "weeping and gnashing of teeth" describes the torment of hell. It is not just physical pain; it is the agony of eternal regret. The horror is intensified by what they see. They will see the great feast of the kingdom. They will see the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the very fathers of their nation, reclining at the table. They will see the prophets they claimed to honor. They will see the reality of the kingdom they thought was their birthright, and they will know they are forever outside of it.
This was a direct blow to the ethnic pride of the Jews of that day. They assumed that because they were physical descendants of Abraham, they were guaranteed a place at the table. Jesus shatters this assumption. The kingdom is not populated by race, but by grace through faith. And this grace extends to the ends of the earth.
"And they will come from east and west and from north and south." This is the great ingathering of the Gentiles. People from every nation, tribe, and tongue, who were once far off, will be brought near by the blood of Christ. They will stream into the kingdom and take their places at the feast, while many of the children of the kingdom, the ones who had every advantage, will be cast out.
This leads to the final, sobering principle: "And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." This is the great reversal of the kingdom. Those who were "first" in privilege, in religious standing, in cultural advantage, the religious insiders of Israel, will find themselves last, cast out. And those who were "last," the Gentiles, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the outcasts, who came to Christ in humble, striving faith, will be first, honored guests at the messianic banquet. This is not a call to be last in order to be first. It is a warning to those who are first not to presume upon their position, and an encouragement to those who are last that the door of grace is open to them.
Conclusion: Are You Striving?
So we are brought back from the speculative question, "Are there few who are saved?" to the intensely personal one. Jesus turns the camera around on us. The question is not how many, but whether you are one of them. Are you striving? Is there an agony in your pursuit of God? Or is your Christianity a casual, comfortable affair?
Do not presume upon your proximity to the things of God. Do not think that growing up in the church, or having Christian parents, or living in a Christianized culture will save you. Have you personally gone through the narrow door? Have you left your baggage of sin and self-righteousness behind? Have you embraced Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior?
The faith that saves is a faith that strives. It is a faith that fights sin, that pursues holiness, that loves the brethren, that hungers for the Word. This striving is not what saves you, but it is the undeniable evidence that God has saved you. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. And part of that work is the grace of striving.
The door is open now. Christ is the door. He invites all who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him. But the door will not remain open forever. The Master of the house will rise and shut it. Therefore, while it is still called today, strive. Agonize. Flee from the wrath to come and lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called. For many will seek to enter and not be able, but all who strive in the strength that God supplies will find that the door is Christ, and He will in no way cast them out.