Luke 13
The Narrow Door
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
He said to them, 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. 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!'
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. 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. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
These have to be some of the most challenging words ever spoken. One thing is clear...Jesus is making sure his disciples understand that we must not take lightly our commitment to him and our willingness to continue to seek to be fully faithful to his teachings. One noted Biblical scholar says:
It is easy to think that, once we have made a commitment of ourselves to Jesus Christ, we have reached the end of the road and can, as it were, sit back as if we had achieved our goal. There is no such finality in the Christian life. We must always be going forward or necessarily we go backwards. The Christian way is like a climb up a mountain pathway towards a peak which will never be reached in this world. For the Christian, life is constantly an upward and an onward way.
The relationship between our actions in this life, our efforts toward Christlikeness in this life, and the rewards of heaven has been and is a persistent discussion among Christian thinkers and scholars. One can say readily that whatever the varied perspectives, Jesus did make it clear that we are to seek with God's help to be more and more like him as life's journey moves along. While we are ultimately saved by grace, Jesus consistently taught that our lives and witness really do matter. Just read Matthew 25 wherein Jesus talks about the consequences of not helping the poor, the hungry, and the needful. Or look, as I noted recently, at Matthew 6:14-15 where Jesus ties our own forgiveness with our willingness to forgive others.
What I really want to emphasize today is the positive nature of this journey to be more like Jesus. Let me offer two key insights:
- We are not expected to achieve greater Christlikeness by ourselves alone. We can only grow in Christ with God's help. As I've often said, There is nothing God expects of us for which He does not empower us. The more time you and I spend in Bible study, prayer, worship, and spiritual connection with God, the more we inherently grow in our Christian discipleship.
- There is profound joy and enrichment for us when we do grow in Christ. There is no greater satisfaction for a follower of Christ than discovering that one can be more loving, one can be more self-giving, one can be more merciful, etc. Jesus says, as recorded in the Gospel of John, "that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full" (John 15:11). What a wonderful opportunity...to have the joy of Jesus as we live more like Jesus.
