“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 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.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “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. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭24‬-‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wow! Jesus packed so much into a few sentences! Let’s try to unpack some of the great themes He mentioned in these few paragraphs. 

To whom was He speaking?

“Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them,”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The context suggests that Jesus was teaching the ordinary people who gathered around to listen to Him. This group was made up mostly of Jews with similar ideas and persuasions. His message to them was, “Don’t take for granted that, because you are a Jew, you are okay. God’s kingdom is for everyone but not everyone is in the kingdom.”

As always, Jesus focused on the kingdom of God. Israel was His chosen nation. They were His people, in a covenant relationship with Him, armed with His law, and called to show the nations what life under His rule was supposed to look like. 

Unfortunately, Israel failed to keep the covenant and eventually forfeited God’s presence among them because of their rejection of His rule over them. The glory of God which had come powerfully and visibly at the inauguration of the tabernacle worship and later the temple of Solomon, had also visibly departed (Ezekiel 8 to 10). 

However, God promised, in His last words to His people in 400 years…

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.”

‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Before the coming of “the messenger of the covenant”, God  would also send a forerunner to announce His coming, in the spirit of Elijah…

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

‭‭Malachi‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The angel Gabriel prophesied the birth of this forerunner to Zechariah…

“But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God…And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬, ‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…and Jesus identified John the Baptist as that forerunner…

“For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

With the arrival of Jesus on the public scene came His announcement…

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Finally, God was back to restore His rule over the people, but not only over Israel but over all the nations. John announced the arrival of the king and Jesus confirmed His own identity as king by preaching and doing the works that illustrated the nature of God’s rule. His intention was to rejoin heaven and earth as His realm and His dwelling place with His people forever. 

This, then, was Jesus’ focus…always His place in God’s kingdom and how it worked. He called people to become a part of God’s rule by repentance, returning to God’s way, so…

The first step is how to enter this kingdom. Although humans are born into the earthly realm naturally, it takes a supernatural event to enter God’s realm where He rules as king. Sin is the great barrier. The focal point of Jesus presence on earth as the God-man was to remove the barrier of sin by His death and resurrection. 

Jesus made it clear that He is the “narrow door” through whom people can enter God’s kingdom, come under His authority and rule and participate in the benefits, blessings, and promises of that realm. 

To change the metaphor, Jesus declared…

“Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Since entry into God’s kingdom is neither natural nor automatic, it takes something from God’s side and something from our side, and then something from God’s side again, to make this transition possible

To be continued…