September 9, 2001 Luke 13:22-30
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.”
It was a beautiful day on a Sunday afternoon as I was walking to the park with my niece. The grass was green and the birds were singing - one of those easily forgettable yet enjoyable moments in life. Somehow, however, we got in a conversation about my niece’s grandfather who had recently passed away. I was kind of surprised when she told me, “grandpa turned into an angel. Now he’s in heaven looking after me.” Now, I’m thinking to myself, “I know that the Bible doesn’t say that.” So I gently tried to explain to her, “no, that’s not quite right.” But the more I tried to state the truth to her, the more she adamantly demanded that she was right. It was at that time that I put my theological gloves back in my locker and saved the fight for another day.
My niece was confused about the facts of salvation. She believed a myth. There are many myths when it comes to salvation - especially when it comes to who goes there and how you get there. As Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem to die - he wound his way through many side villages and towns. As he was walking, someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” It was an open ended question that Jesus could answer in any way he felt fit. And so, after having dealt with the people in these towns for quite some time, he answered in a way that would debunk any well known myths of the day. Today we’ll see how
Jesus Corrects the Modern Myths of Salvation
I. Who will be saved
When I was in McCook I conducted a door to door survey of as much of the town as I could. In this survey, I started with the first question - “do you believe that heaven and hell exist?” I would say that about 99 percent of the people that I asked said yes. About one percent weren’t sure if hell existed. It goes to show that most people are born with a natural knowledge that there is more to life than our existence here on earth. After I asked the first question, I then followed up with the second, “where do you believe you are going?” Out of the hundreds of people I asked, only about two said hell - the rest said heaven. If everyone who believed they were going to heaven went to heaven, then we would have to say that almost all people are going to be saved. Is this true? That was the question that Jesus was asked - “Are only a few going to be saved?”
Jesus answered the question by giving a very vivid description of what will happen on Judgment Day. 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.’ Isn’t this a vivid picture? People standing outside of the kingdom door - banging and crying, “Lord, let us in!” But when the trumpet blows and Judgment Day comes, there will be no second chances. The separation will take place, the righteous from the damned. How many will end up in hell? Jesus said, “MANY” will try to enter and not be able to. This debunks the first myth that all or most people go to heaven. Not true. Many don’t. It doesn’t matter if everyone thinks they’re going to heaven. Many aren’t.
Who is Jesus talking about that wouldn’t make it to heaven? We can get an inkling from his answer. “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. This would make us believe then that Jesus was talking to some Jews. They would be especially distraught because they always regarded themselves as descendants of Abraham - true blooded Jews. But when the trumpet call came, they weren’t with them - they were excluded. What myth is Jesus debunking? That heaven is based on what race you are. The Jews back then seemed to think that they would be saved just because they physically descended from Abraham. But that just wasn’t the case. That’s why Paul even said in Romans 9, not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.
Jesus said that pathway to heaven is a NARROW gate. It would seem very clear then that you can’t fit through the gate one race at a time. You have to get through one at a time. You aren’t going to go to heaven just because your name is on a church roster or your family is Lutheran. You aren’t going to heaven just because you grew up in a church. You aren’t going to heaven because your wife or your children are. You have to answer to God for you alone. God doesn’t care what your last name is, whether you’re German or Hispanic, how big or small you are, how rich or poor you are. It just doesn’t matter.
Take for instance Mary. She was just a poor servant girl. She wasn’t a king’s daughter. She wasn’t anyone of special prominence in the world. Yet God chose her to carry His Son in her womb. Rahab was a Gentile prostitute, yet God chose her to be the forerunner of Christ. David was the last in line of Obed’s sons - yet God chose him. Paul was a murderer of Christians - an outright self righteous enemy. Yet God chose him to be an apostle. Different races, different origins - all kinds of people were chosen for God’s kingdom. And so in today’s text, Jesus describes who will be in heaven. 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.” In Revelation, John said, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. Even though most are going to hell, there are still MANY - beyond counting - that will end up in heaven.
Isn’t this great news for you? We have no royalty in our congregation. We have no people of special heritage that I know of. I’m half German and half Norwegian. I have no pure blood in me. I’m just a mingled American - like most of us. But it doesn’t matter. God doesn’t care. Isn’t that just the sweetest news for you? That’s not what the kingdom of heaven is about. Even though a majority will end up in hell, there are still many - beyond number - that will end up in heaven - from north, south, east and west. I don’t have to worry about where I come from. I don’t have to worry about what my bloodline is. I don’t have to worry about where I’m living when Jesus comes. From these words alone, I know I have a chance. Why? Because I’m just a normal guy who lives in America.
II. Why people are saved
In the survey I conducted, I was usually able to get through the first two questions pretty easily. Do you believe in heaven and hell? Where do you think you’re going? It was the third question that usually gave people the most grief. “Why?” Even though a majority believed they were going to heaven, they didn’t know why or how. Isn’t that important to know? If your neighbor told you, “I’m going to Mars,” and you asked “how?” - and he replied, “I don’t know.” What would you think? “You better know how if you plan on going there and want to go there.”
Jesus was living among many Jews who assumed they were going to heaven. They didn’t only assume this because they were Jews however. The story of Jesus explains another reason why they thought they were going - “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ Do you see why the people thought that Jesus should let them into heaven? They ate with him. They drank with him. They knew him. Notice he didn’t actually TEACH them, but he taught IN THEIR STREETS. Do you see the basic myth that most people think about their relationship with God? “I’m a good guy. I’ve been to church before. I know who Jesus is. I’ve eaten at churches before. I gave money. I’m not opposed to Christ.” They basically think, “I’m not a bad guy. I know who Christ is.” They assume that a basic belief in “God” is good enough to get to heaven.
Verse 27 continues, “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ Jesus still regarded them as literally “workers of evil,” even though they didn’t persecute him or do anything specifically evil against him. All they did was eat and drink with him. Why did Jesus say this to them? Because he understood the very nature of sin and the nature of God. You see, sin isn’t just an accident, like a little blemish that occurs on your skin that can be easily washed off or removed with a little plastic surgery. God’s Word says, “surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Just before God sent the flood it says, The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. When God looks at us, he says in Psalm 14, All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. God doesn’t see us as “good guys who just need a little guidance.” Without God He sees utterly evil and corrupted human beings who have no potential but for evil. That’s what God’s Word says. It doesn’t matter what you think or how you feel about yourself or the world. That’s the plain written truth. That’s why Jesus called them workers of EVIL, even though they ate and drank with him and seemed to be “nice guys.” No matter how good they thought they were, they weren’t going to heaven.
It reminds me of a manure story. One day some manure came out from a prize bull - landing right in the middle of the walkway. It thought to itself, “I’m going to rise above the rest of this dung. I’m not going to live in the gutter - I’m going to be great and famous. That same day, a farmer’s hat fell off on top of the manure. The manure felt pretty good about itself. It said, “look at me, look at me everyone.” Then the flies started buzzing around him, and he said, “see, I’m starting to become famous.” This lasted for about one day, and excitedly, the manure saw the farmers son come walking toward him. He thought, “this is my big chance at fame.” He made sure to omit his best odor and look his best. Very gently the farmer’s son took his hat off of him, looked at him and said, “you stink!” He then proceeded to scoop the manure up and put him in the spreader with the rest of the manure. The manure then realized, no matter how he dressed himself up, he still stunk.
Apply that to yourself. No matter how good you think you are, God says you still stink. You still are not holy. It debunks the common myth today that “normal people go to heaven.” Another reason the gate is NARROW is that you aren’t welled up with pride. The reason many don’t make it through the gate is because they are too full of themselves. Jesus never described the true way to heaven to these people because they needed to be humbled first.
Does this mean that noone goes to heaven? No. Jesus still made mention of people from all over the world who would go. But how could rotten stinking sinners like us end up in heaven? With God, nothing is impossible. If he could take dirt and turn it into a man, he could still take a corrupted man and turn it into something worth while. So Jesus told Nicodemus, “you must be born again!” He had to be completely recreated. But how, Nicodemus didn’t understand. He couldn’t crawl back in his mothers womb.
Thankfully, Jesus explains it to us. Just as certain cleansers help to clean certain stains, God provided a cleaner that could even purify us from the kind sin that is ground into our very souls. 1 John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. When Jesus went to the cross and died for the sins of the world, it was as if he provided a huge eraser to wipe the sins of the world away. Our debt was paid. So Jesus explained to Nicodemus how he could get this cleansing, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Nicodemus needed to be baptized. Paul couldn’t have said it any clearer in Ephesians 5, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In Baptism, then, God takes the blood of Jesus Christ - and applies it to your body and soul. Through this blood that was shed for you, He washes your sins away and makes you look holy in His sight. This blood of Christ is able to take us from being sinfully corrupted humans on the way to hell, and turn us into holy saints on the way to heaven. So Jesus says in Mark 16:16, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Paul also says, Ephesians 2:8 says, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. If you believe that Jesus’ blood has made you holy, and if you have had that blood of Christ applied to you in your baptism, you will be saved. It doesn’t matter who you are - what family you’re from - how sinful you’ve been - the blood of Christ has purified you from ALL sins! So the gate to heaven is only through faith in Jesus. John 10:9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. That’s how people from all nations will enter heaven.
So you might wonder then, why Jesus made heaven sound so difficult when he said, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Why didn’t he just say, “it’s easy! Come through me, it’s free!”? That word for “effort” is the same one that Paul used when he said, “I have fought the fight, I have finished the race.” In a sense, winning the prize is like a race. Even though we have the prize, and even though we already have the holiness of Christ, it doesn’t mean that the devil is going to give up. It’s kind of like when a man holds a gun to you. You know that the power is in the gun. And the only way you could win the fight, is if you could wrestle the gun out of his hand. So you would have to attack the hand that held the gun - or somehow get the hand to let go of the gun. In the same way, we have Jesus Christ’s blood poured out on us. We believe that. So the devil does anything he can to take our grip off of Christ - and get us to cling to someone or something else. He’ll give us riches to let go of him. He’ll give us sorrow to give up on Him. Anything it takes, the devil will use. Therefore, it takes EFFORT to continue to cling to Christ. It takes work to keep listening to the Gospel. Otherwise you’ll end up like so many of the Israelites who gave God up for their idols, or Judas who sold Christ for 30 pieces of silver, or the many once baptized Christians who end up never going to church after they are confirmed.
If someone said to you, “I’ve been a pretty good guy, I think I’m going to heaven,” what would you say? Would it be loving to let him go on in his dream world - believing these myths - so he ends up in hell? Jesus wouldn’t let these people continue to think that they were going to heaven because they were Jewish or good people. Notice what he said, “YOU will be on the outside - weeping and gnashing your teeth.” The only way he could crush their pride was to tell them the truth. My friends, we need to hear the truth, and we need to spread the truth - we are filthy sinners that need a Savior. Therefore, Christ is the only way - the narrow way to heaven. Luke summed it up best when he said, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Amen.
