Luke 13, Part Two

"Are there few who are saved?" (vs. 22-30)--Jesus is heading towards Jerusalem (v. 22) which will result in His final confrontation with the religious leaders and His death. As He was journeying, someone asked Him an interesting question: "Lord, are there few who are saved?” (v. 23). It was a common idea among the Jews that only a few, indeed, would be saved, and nearly all of them Jews. On the first point—only a few saved--Jesus, in another location (Matt. 7:13-14) agreed; regarding the latter, mostly Jews, He never gave His endorsement. Regardless, in this context, He does not directly answer the question, but explains a far more important point, viz., how to be saved. One must "strive" to enter through the narrow ("strait," KJV, which is a better translation because it implies difficulty as well as narrowness) gate" (v. 24). The word "strive" derives from the Greek word agonidzomai, from which our English word "agonize" comes from. Jesus is saying here that we should "agonize" to get into heaven. He uses the present tense, imperative mood, which means a command to always be doing it. We must never let our guard down, but continue to struggle against sin, to literally agonize over it. And most people won't do that: "for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able" (v. 24). Jesus then illustrates the teaching with a parable about a householder who had his door open for awhile, but when he shut the door, the seeker will not be able to enter (v. 25). It will be too late. It doesn't matter that they call him "Lord" (v. 25), or claim that they have lived in his presence and accepted him (v. 26, which they had not truly done). They didn't enter the door when it was open, i.e., they did not continually to "strive" to be pleasing to him. Thus, they will hear "'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity'" (v. 27). Jesus then takes a slap at the "mostly Jews will be saved" doctrine in verse 28 when He says that, while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be in heaven, many Jews would be "thrust out" and it will be Gentiles who "sit down in the kingdom of God" (v. 29). If anything, this strongly implies that most Jews will be lost and the majority of the saved will be non-Jews, but God will be the ultimate judge of that, of course. The idea the "there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last" (v. 30) indicates the same idea--the "last" (to be called) were the Gentiles and the "first" were the Jews. The mass rejection of Jesus by His people continues to this day.

Jesus' coming death in Jerusalem (vs. 31-35)--Exactly why Herod wanted to kill Jesus is not stated, but Christ's popularity, His resemblance to John (whom Herod had executed), and Jesus' claim to be a king (which would threaten the Herod family) would all be justifiable reasons, at least in Herod's mind. Jesus wasn't terribly afraid of Antipas: "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'" (v. 32). Whether the "third day" was literal or not--and it probably only refers to a short period of time--it's not a reference to Jesus' resurrection three days after His death. Jesus would continue His ministry for a short time yet, then be killed in Jerusalem (v. 33). Jesus then expresses grief over the City of David's obstinacy at the word of God. The people of Jerusalem had killed God's prophets, and though Jesus "wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings," they "were not willing!" (v. 34). Thus, the Lord God would depart from His temple ("your house," now, not God's, v. 35), but they would see Him again at some point in the future, of which the text is not clear. "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'” (v. 35) is probably not the final judgment, because the lost are not going to be happy to see Him on that day. The reference is probably His "coming" to establish His church, which would truly be a blessing for all men, including those of Jesus' audience who accept Him.

Matthew has Jesus' statements in verses 34 and 35 in the context of His strong denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23). Whether He made these statements twice to different audiences, or whether Luke is simply extracting the Lord's teaching to fit his own plan for his book, is unknown and not especially of great concern. As I've noted before, preachers do preach the same sermons in more than one location, though in this case, I tend to the latter view that Luke is simply fulfilling his own purposes.




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