22 And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching,
and journeying on unto Jerusalem. 23 And one said unto him, Lord,
are they few that are saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to
enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek
to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the
house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to
stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us;
and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are;
26 then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy
presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; 27 and he shall
say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye
workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be the weeping and the
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves
cast forth without. 29 And they shall come from the east and west,
and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of
God. 30 And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there
are first who shall be last.
This is the first in a new series of incidents on the last journeys of
Jesus toward Jerusalem. He realized the seriousness of the situation. He
knew that he was offering his salvation to the people for the last time,
and therefore he was making an effort to reach every possible city and
village with his message.
Some one among his hearers asked him the question, “Lord, are they few
that are saved?” He did not reply directly but his answer implied that
many Jews who expected to be saved would be lost and many Gentiles whom
the Jews expected to be lost would be saved. Jesus likened the blessings
of his Kingdom to a banquet served in a palace. The door into this palace
is narrow, and many who are invited refuse to pass in thereby; after a
time this door is shut, and then those who before have refused to enter,
intreat the Master of the house to reopen it, but in vain; they are
forever excluded, and are overwhelmed with remorse and chagrin. The narrow
door is that of repentance and faith in Christ; the opportunity for
entrance is present but not endless; those who reject Christ will be
excluded from his Kingdom; among these will be many whose folly will be
specially apparent. In the parable they are represented as pleading for
entrance, and on the very ground which condemned them. They are pictured
as saying that they had known Christ well; they had eaten in his presence
and he had taught in their streets. Why, then, had they not accepted him?
These privileges only increase their guilt; and the Lord refused to
recognize them as his own. Thus did Jesus describe the exclusion from his
Kingdom of many Jews; and he added the equally surprising statement of the
reception of Gentiles: “They shall come from the east and west, and from
the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”
Thus Jesus gave a very practical turn to the question which had been asked
in mere curiosity. It is not important to know exactly how many will be
saved; it is for each who hears the gospel to place himself in that
number, now and at any cost. It is not enough that one lives in a
Christian land, and in a religious home, and possesses knowledge of saving
truth; each must repent and accept Christ for himself. The sad truth is
that many who, like the Jews, have the largest religious opportunities are
the furthest from salvation: “There are last who shall be first, and there
are first who shall be last.”