Slices
Prepare
Visualise a narrow doorway, with Jesus on one side calling you through to join him. Ask for the grace and humility to enter.
Bible passage
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.’
Explore
Luke begins a new section of his Gospel as Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem and what awaits him there (v 22). After a seemingly random question (v 23), Jesus starts teaching about the way of the kingdom, and this is the underlying theme of the next few chapters. He wants to make it clear that there is a choice to be made.
Who and what does the questioner ask about (v 23)? Jesus replies with an example of a narrow door (v 24 )! He is asked about quantity, but he replies with quality, speaking directly (‘you’, v 25), and with a little story about timing. The important thing is not how many, but that the time is limited. When the door eventually closes, some will be on the wrong side (v 25). How tantalising to be able to see what’s going on, yet be unable to join in with the celebrations (vs 28,29)! Yet all one needs for admittance through the narrow door is a relationship with Christ (v 27). And that’s possible even for those who are despised and viewed as the least important in our society (v 30).
Respond
There is a cost to entering through the narrow door (v 24) and joining in the feasting, including giving up the desire to be part of today’s élite (v 30). What might Jesus be calling you to give up?
Deeper Bible study
‘Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.’1
After Jesus emphasises the smallness of the way the kingdom begins in a person’s life, yet the many who will feed on it, someone asks him whether only a few will be saved. This is a highly relevant question, which Jesus makes personal. Christians often talk about seeing Christ in another person, such as the stranger in need, and yet here the focus shifts to us instead and whether our lives will be filled with enough faith and love and hope to be saved.
Jesus’ answer is challenging. He emphasises that it is not enough to eat or drink with him, or to listen to his teaching; his response to these people will be ‘I don’t know you’ (v 27). It seems it is not enough to attend church services, to listen to many sermons, even to participate in communion. Going through religious motions is not adequate. Mere familiarity with Christ is clearly not sufficient. Many of these who assume they are first in line will have actually become last. These are the ones who will end up in a distressing place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
By contrast, what Jesus emphasises is a knowing, an intimacy of real relationship. This passage is provocative, pointing us firmly towards a kind of relationship with Christ that is so different from ritual, proximity or religiosity. This is religion of the heart, which allows Christ to know us deeply and intimately. Jesus clarifies that these are the kinds of people who will be able to enter through the narrow door into the feast in the kingdom of God.
This is a clear call to focus on our personal relationships with Jesus – the way we know him and he knows us. Lord, please help us to know you intimately and follow you wholeheartedly.
1 JI Packer, Knowing God, 3rd edition, Hodder & Stoughton, 2005
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 40,41; John 15
Pray for Scripture Union
Give thanks for SU’s trustees who have overall legal responsibility for the charity and who are ultimately responsible for the strategic leadership of the movement. Pray for them as they meet today with the leadership team to finalise the strategic plan.
