Make every effort to enter through the narrow door (Luke 13c)

Luke 13:18-30
Key verse 13:24

Let’s imagine that you are going to fly to Europe. You are so excited. You have already packed everything and checked the itinerary. Now you drive to Dulles airport and arrive there two hours before the departure. Then you discover that your passport has disappeared. You have no time to go back home to get it. Obviously, you cannot board your plane without it whether you are handsome, rich or famous. Even if you plead earnestly, the agents will not allow you to get in. This is the traveler’s worst nightmare. And actually many travelers forget to bring their IDs. But what if you are unidentified and rejected at the door to the kingdom of God? There is no way to undo things. Once you are rejected, that is final. Many people think they will get in the kingdom of God, but the Bible says that they will be rejected. And we may be among those. Thus, we should listen carefully to what Jesus is telling us today so that we won’t be ashamed at the door to the kingdom of God.

In today’s passage, Jesus tells two parables and the narrow door. They teach us how the kingdom of God grows and how to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches these on his way to Jerusalem, where he will die on the cross and rise. (9:51) And verse 22 says again that he is heading for Jerusalem. In other words, all these teachings relate to his way to Jerusalem and thus to his death and resurrection. I pray that we all may be able to enter the kingdom of God without fail.

Two parables

18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

My wife loves plants. In our old house, she used to plant seeds like sesame, pepper, pumpkin, etc. One time a pumpkin seed she planted yielded so big a pumpkin that it was even hard for my daughter to hold it. I was so impressed and mesmerized by that, saying, “How come such a small seed can be transformed like that?” However, a mustard seed here comes as much more a great surprise. It was considered by the Jews the smallest of all seeds. (Matt 13:31-32) It usually grows about 4 feet high but occasionally can grow to more than 10 feet. It is amazing that such a tiny seed can grow so large though it is not a tree. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Yeast mixed with the dough is not much but it brings about an amazing change to the dough. The leavened dough becomes much bigger than before. Here the woman mixed yeast with three measures of flours, which was about sixty pounds (NIV). It was a big lump of dough and it must have been really big after it was leavened. Yeast mixed with the dough is invisible but it brings about amazing changes to the dough. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like yeast.

The common thing between the mustard seed and yeast is that both begin small and even invisible but they end so large. Likewise, the kingdom of God may look small or invisible at the beginning but it grows large and brings about surprising changes beyond our imagination.

In fact, from a realistic point of view it is not common that one single mustard seed grows big enough for birds to perch its branches. Usually mustards grow together and become a bush, not a tree. And it may be unlikely to put yeast into such a big dough about sixty pounds (NIV) because the yeast the people used in Jesus’ days was not so powerful as today’s. Yet, the man planted a mustard seed and it actually became a big tree. And the woman mixed yeast with such a big dough and the yeast leavened the whole dough. It may not make sense in some sense. Yet, God planted his kingdom on earth by faith and it actually became greater than an ordinary mustard seed or yeast can.

Why then did Jesus tell them these parables? Probably, he was telling this to those who wondered about his ministry, which looked still small and insignificant. His disciples in particular expected that the kingdom of God would come as soon as Jesus entered Jerusalem. But what he was doing looked small and even nothing in comparison with Roman Empire. Roman Empire was so great that Jesus’ ministry in a small colony country looked as small as a mustard seed and yeast. But the end was different. Roman Empire fell and is remembered only in history. But the kingdom of God Jesus planted on earth is ever-growing. It began small from the manger. No one knew that Jesus was born. But when he began his public ministry, the heaven was opened and the Spirit of God came down. He preached the good news and healed people and drove out demons. People received forgiveness and salvation. Regardless of opposition and obstacles, the kingdom of God grew and expanded rapidly because it has life in it.

However, that was just the beginning of the kingdom of God on earth. Now Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die on the cross. His death and resurrection would bring much more amazing things. Satan would be completely defeated and this world would be restored to God so that many people and nations would be saved and ruled by God. The kingdom of God is still growing and changing people and this world until God is all in all. Luke 1:33 reads, “and he [Jesus] will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” The kingdom of God is advancing no matter what happens. We should believe this. Though we are small and even mess things up, the kingdom of God is still advancing.

In 2010, a mission team found a shocking and sensational discovery in the dense jungle in Congo. Each of the villages had a church. One of the church buildings had 1,000 seats. They had no Bible in their language other than a French Bible someone gave them about 100 years ago. The mission team found out that a Canadian missionary ministered there and he was William Leslie. In 1888, he felt that he was called as a medical missionary and went to a jungle in Congo. He was challenged by illness and hostility from the tribal leaders. After his service for 17 years, he had to leave there with no fruit. He died thinking he failed. But the seed he planted began to grow and 84 years later people saw the fruit. We can fail but God never fails. His kingdom grows because it has God’s life and power in it.

Our ministry is small like a mustard seed. Things look slow. But we are planting the seed of the kingdom of God. God will use our Bible study, preaching, and our service to bring many people to his kingdom. We may not see the fruit with our eyes now but we sure will see it in the kingdom of God.

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

From 13:22 on, Jesus’ teachings are more focused on his way to Jerusalem. In that respect, verse 22 is the summary verse of what he would do next on the way to Jerusalem, particularly regarding the kingdom of God and salvation. Now a man asked Jesus a question.

23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them,

We don’t know exactly why he asked such a question. Probably, he heard Jesus’ warnings. For instance, in 13:1-9, Jesus said they would perish unless they repented. That must have surprised and confounded the person because he believed that majority of the Jews would be saved by default. He asked the question seriously and nervously. What did Jesus say?

24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Jesus’ answer implied that many people would not be saved though they try to. He elaborated on it in the following verses.

25 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.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

Here the house refers to the kingdom of God and the owner, to God or more likely to Jesus according to verse 26. The door to the kingdom of God will not be opened forever. There is a time when the door will be closed as the door of Noah’s ark was closed. Then shockingly many people who are expected to get in cannot make through it. As the door is closed, they will stand outside. In ancient time, the doors to a city were closed at night. If travelers failed to come in time, they would be troubled. Likewise, the people here will be greatly troubled. They will knock on the door, pleading, “Sir, open the door for us.” And then they will hear a much more surprising word. The owner will say, “I don’t know you or where you come from.” They will say, “What does it mean that you don’t know us? We ate and drank with you on the same table. And you taught among us. We know you, sir.” Seemingly, they are acquainted with the owner and expect that they will enter his house for sure. But again the owner will say, “I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!” This is a very strong statement, which is repeated twice. That means that their destiny is final and they will not enter the kingdom of God whosoever they are. Here we can also see that the owner is indignant. He calls them evildoers, which originally means unrighteous, deceitful workers. They think that they served God well and so they are righteous enough to enter the kingdom of God. But to God they have nothing to do with him. Rather, they displease him, doing evil. What will become of them? 

28 “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.

There they will weep in frustration, anger, and pain and will be cast out. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are their ancestors. The prophets were from among them. But they themselves will not be able to come in the kingdom of God. What a shock!

There was a mam, who was about 70 years old and still worked at university. Usually people retire before they become 65 years old. He thought he could enjoy his job a little more and then retire. But one day morning he received a pink slip. Layoff is a very unusual in university, particularly to such an old timer. I was shocked at this. How much more if I am cast out at the door to the kingdom of God? This is a very serious matter.

It seems that majority of the people rejected at the door were Jewish people. They believed that they would be saved. But many of them would be rejected and fail to enter the kingdom of God.

Why will they not be able to enter the kingdom of God? As the Lord says, they are unrighteous workers. They seemed to serve God well but in their ways. God knew what was in their hearts, which was full of pride, self-righteousness, deceit, and injustice. God was angry at them. They did not belong to the kingdom of God. Here we wonder who will and can enter the kingdom of God.

29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

God will gather people from all places and let them seat at the feast in the kingdom of God, which is well demonstrated in the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15-24. In the parable, God invites other people, who are undeserving like Gentiles and sinners, to fill his house.   

30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

In this way, the unlikely people will be first to come in the kingdom of God whereas the likely people will be last. This means that entering kingdom of God has nothing to do with our own righteousness or our own ways. There will be a surprising reversal when we stand before God at the last day. You may not see someone you anticipate. Or they may not see you there. How can we enter the kingdom of God, then? Let’s read verse 24 again.

24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Interestingly, Jesus compares the way to the kingdom of God to the narrow door. A wide door looks easy and safe whereas a narrow door looks hard. So many people avoid the narrow door and instead enter through the wide door.

But here Jesus says that the way to the kingdom of God is the narrow door and so we should make every effort to enter through the narrow door. “Make every effort” means struggling like wrestlers do. However, this does not mean that entering the kingdom of God relies on our work. We are saved not by work. The door to the kingdom of God is not necessarily hard. The reason the door was narrow to them was that they would not accept Jesus who is the door to the kingdom of God. Jesus is the door to the kingdom of God because he is the only one who died for our sins and opened the way to God. (John 10:7; 14:6; 1 Tim 2:5) In John 6:51-54, Jesus said to them,

“51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world…“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Hearing this, the Jews became indignant and left him. Jesus’ teaching was totally foreign and unexpected to Jewish people who believed that they would be saved by default. They thought his teaching was so hard to understand. So, they rejected Jesus’ way of life. But his teaching was not hard but their hearts were hard. Their hardened hearts, their self-righteousness, and their own thought made themselves hard to enter the kingdom of God. The door to the kingdom of God is wide open and that is why many people from east and west and north and south will come in the kingdom of God, by believing in Jesus. But to those who do not accept Jesus and his death on the cross, the door to the kingdom of God is narrow and hard. As God said to them, they were evildoers because they did not reject Jesus.

So, Jesus said that we should make every effort to enter the through narrow door. We should make every effort to enter through it until we truly drink his blood and accept him by faith as our savior. Just having knowledge about him is not enough. Just having fellowship with him is not good enough. We should know and accept Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection. We should walk the same way he walked. Following Jesus involves self-denial and taking up the cross. (Luke 9:23-24) However, this door leads us to life whereas other doors lead us to destruction. (Matt 7:13-15) There is no other way for salvation than accepting Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The people today live on their own ways. People choose and go their ways based on how things are convenient, easy, familiar, and enjoyable, which is not necessarily bad. However, because of that, we can easily miss the door to the kingdom of God, which Jesus has opened through his death and resurrection. Remember what Jesus said, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Many, including some people who think they know and follow Jesus but their own way, will be cast out and weep and gnash their teeth. How dreadful and shocking will it be? Do not wonder around the wide door many people are entering. Come to the narrow door, Jesus Christ. Throw away your own ways, your own thoughts and your own righteousness. Accept his death for you deeply. Make every effort to enter through the narrow. This is the narrow door to the kingdom of God and the way of life.

Today’s passage comes as a great surprise to those who think they are safe. We can be among them. If you think you are first to be saved, then humble yourselves and live as his disciples. Then you will be not last. But if you still hesitate or you are not sure of your salvation, pray that you may know the meaning and power of Jesus’ blood and sincerely accept him as your savior. Then, you will be first. The kingdom of God is built on his death and resurrection and so it is ever-growing. And it belongs only to those who truly believe in Jesus.

I pray that we all can enter through the narrow door and see all in the kingdom of God. Let’s make every effort to enter through the narrow door instead of hanging around the wide door. Do not forget to bring your heavenly passport Jesus Christ. 

by David Yun