Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 13:22-30
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  August 21, 2022

Does this section from Luke 13 give you the shivers? Doesn’t it strike just the smallest amount of fear in your heart? The question that Jesus is asked seems rather innocuous, rather innocent. Yet, how does Jesus respond? He doesn’t even answer the question. Instead, he talks about narrow doors and weeping and gnashing of teeth and being thrown outside the kingdom of God. And then to top it all off he flips the script saying: “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” What is going on here? How do we understand all of this and what does it mean for us today?

First, we need to understand the context. In Luke chapter 9, verse 51, we hear: “Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem.”  Ever since that moment, Jesus has been slowly but surely making his way there. And as he goes we hear, “He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem.”  Earlier here in chapter 13, we get a sense of what that visiting and teaching was like. As he was traveling and teaching, some people mentioned an incident about some Galileans whom Pontius Pilate had killed when they were making sacrifices, mixing their own blood with the sacrifices. Why would they mention this to Jesus? It seems that they thought those Galileans were worse sinners. They saw themselves as morally superior and were looking for Jesus to confirm their thoughts. But Jesus squashes that idea immediately. Essentially he says, “Nevermind about the Galileans. You need to think about your own salvation. You need to repent!” 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a unique interaction. There was definitely a mindset among the Jews that since they were God’s chosen people, they had nothing to worry about. Since they were descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were better. And that’s really the tone behind the seemingly innocent question that Jesus is asked in our reading. “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”  In other words, “Lord, we know that us Jews are going to be saved…is that really all it’s going to be?” Jesus doesn’t answer their question directly. Instead, he answers the question that they really should have been asked. They should have asked, “Lord, am I going to be saved?” Jesus’ answer to that question is intensely personal and practical. “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” 

Let’s just stop here for a minute and catch our breath. Jesus has just dropped a couple of truth bombs on us here that we need to process. First of all, in answer to the salvation question, he says the door is narrow. He says many will try to enter and they won’t fit. They won’t be narrow enough. And secondly, he says that we need to “Strive to enter.” That word strive is an athletic term. Jesus says that we need to approach our eternity with the same intensity, hustle, and focus that we would if we were playing for the championship. Now, if you take these words all by themselves, outside of the context of the rest of Scripture, it almost sounds as if Jesus is saying that it’s up to us to fit through the narrow door. We have to save ourselves. This is what we need to accomplish.

So let’s test out that thought. Are you narrow enough? Are you narrow enough to fit through the door? Sometimes we live as if our good deeds, our good works are going to be what gets us favor with God and ultimately into heaven.  Picture it like you’re carrying a backpack and your hands are full of grocery bags. We’ve got grocery bags full of good works. We pack our backpack full of superficial connections and our pedigree and moral superiority. And we think this is what is going to save us. And we’re not alone. This is exactly what the Jews who asked this question believed. And you can see this in Jesus’ response to them. They just assumed they would be let in, that the door would never be locked. But Jesus says, “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come 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 don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. People will come from east and west, from north and south,  and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Without them even asking the questions or offering the solutions, Jesus shows them they won’t fit.  Look at the first objection those who are locked out raise. Look at this bag Jesus, look what we have to offer! “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” Jesus, we were connected to you, at least outwardly!  But just stop and think about how those meals went with those who ate with Jesus. They complained that Jesus ate with sinners. After a miraculous feeding, they still wanted more. And at Jesus’ most important meal, he ate with someone who betrayed him to death. Eating with Jesus was nothing to brag about. It gets you nowhere. The next objection, “But Jesus, we’re children of Abraham. We’re God’s chosen people. “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.” The Jews loved to point to their pedigree. They were children of Abraham. They were God’s chosen people. But that earthly pedigree is worthless when it comes to the kingdom of God. And their supposed moral superiority? “We know for sure that the Jews will be saved. Only a few right?” It’s met with disappointment as they see, “People will come from the east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”

Friends, we are prone to do the same. We somehow think that simply having our name on a church membership roster or coming to church on the major holidays is good enough. We’re connected, at least superficially. Or we think that our pedigree carries weight. We were baptized and confirmed and married out of this church. My parents and grandparents helped build this church. Or we think that we’re morally superior to others and so that must have some value. Friends, each time we do that, it’s just like adding another grocery bag to our load, packing that backpack even bigger. And if that’s how we think we’re going to fit through the narrow door, we’re going to find that we’re not nearly narrow enough.

This is why it’s so important to understand the whole message of the Scriptures. We don’t get into heaven by what we do. There is only one door to heaven. And it’s narrow. We’d never fit. But as narrow as the door is, Jesus is doing everything he can to make sure people can get through it. And that is why he was determined to go to Jerusalem. He too was going toward a narrow door, a door that would only accommodate one. And he went through that door carrying the sins of the whole world. And by his death on the cross he has opened the door to eternal life. Jesus himself is the door. And it’s only through faith in him that we can enter. Faith makes a person small, because faith completely trusts in Jesus. We come empty-handed to Jesus. As the hymn writer said, “Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling.” Anything that we try to bring as proof that we deserve to go through the door disqualifies us. It keeps us out. We must be empty-handed. And that’s hard for us to grasp. Which is why Jesus’ encouragement is so important. 

“Strive to enter through the narrow door.” What does that mean? It means refocusing on Jesus. It means reassessing where you are spiritually. Are you putting every effort into being truly connected to Christ where he is found, in Word and Sacrament? Are you prioritizing his will for your life? Are you throwing off everything that leads you away from Jesus? Jesus is the only way, the only door. He’s done everything for you. 

There are some who will argue that Christianity is an exclusive belief. How can we say that there’s only one way to heaven? That’s a Hard Truth. But, it’s true, there is only one way and it’s Jesus. But here’s the thing, since Jesus has done everything and the only requirement is empty-handedness, that means that no one is incapable of getting in. Even though the door is narrow, because that door is Jesus, it stands wide open for all. No one is excluded. And that helps us to understand that last phrase: “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”  We see that clearly as Jesus hangs on the cross. In the eyes of the world, the first person going into heaven would have been the high priest. And the last person you’d expect to see there would have been that thief hanging next to Jesus. And what do we see? As we do so often in Luke, we see that Great Reversal. Jesus tells the thief, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” The last will be first. And that high priest? We can only pray that he repented and trusted in Jesus as his Savior.

So are you narrow enough? With hearts full of faith in Jesus and hands empty of any deserving proof, you are. Jesus makes you narrow. Jesus makes you small. Jesus has done it all. There’s no reason to fear when your trust is not in yourself, but is completely fixed in Jesus. May you strive to stay connected to him! Amen.