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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke

PART 4 - JESUS' MINISTRY DURING HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (Luke 9:51 - 19:27)

18. Christ's Experience on His Way to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22-35)


LUKE 13:22-30
22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 
30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

The evangelist Luke recorded for us uncorrelated sentences of Christ’s many statements, spoken during his journey to Jerusalem, the city of his death. Jesus may have expressed more thoughts than those recorded by the evangelist. These represent a summary of all that Jesus said on this journey that was capable of being grasped by the physician Luke’s mind.

The question addressed to Christ by one of his followers was not: “Are there many who are saved?” But on the contrary, he asked about the few that might be saved, for the people at that time began to withdraw gradually from Jesus. They wanted him to provide bread and miracles which would help them in their life, but neglected repentance. The spiritual leaders of the nation decided to kill Jesus of Nazareth, and Christ was aware of that. The disciples also expected bitter persecutions to swoop down mercilessly on the little flock.

Keeping this in mind, and before he was asked, Christ gave them a promise that the kingdom of God would grow in spite of hardships, as a mustard seed becomes a full tree, and that the gospel would work as good leaven in the dough.

Then Christ commanded the questioner to turn his sight from the deserting multitudes and examine himself that he might repent, become sanctified, and continue in the kingdom of God. As such he described the aim of every believer’s walk is to enter through the narrow gate. People enter through this narrow gate one by one and not in droves. No one can enter it heavily laden, but every newcomer must be free from his earthly possessions and burdens. Christ is the narrow gate, and people come to him not as multitudes but as individuals. Whoever enters into his kingdom must get rid of his offences, worries, problems, rights, books, and luxurious clothes. Come to Jesus as you are.

Your commitment to him means self-denial, complete confession of offences, and abandonment of obstinate faults. This requires effort, sacrifices, certain determination, and decision.

Do not hesitate over the choice of your love of yourself, and commitment to Jesus, for the chance to repent soon disappears, and the Lord closes the door. Then many seekers try to accept Christ, but they cannot, because they neglected the time of grace and deceived themselves about God. Christ wants you to express your willingness, sacrifice your money, give your time, and be strongly determined to become a worthy worker in the kingdom of God. It is not sufficient to eat the bread of grace from the hand of Christ and hear his beautiful words, without moving and working effectively in the field of the Lord. Faith requires of you absolute repentance, and radical conversion as a result of your meditation on the gospel. Do not content yourself with imaginations about God’s being, and pray, “O Lord! O Lord!” for Christ wants to see in you the work of his love, the fruit of his righteousness, the words of his truthfulness, and the thoughts of his Spirit coming out of his fellowship with you in eternal life today.

Every man who lacks the power of Christ is bean unfair to himself, and acts unjustly. He is not from God, but from the spirit of the evil one. Jesus does not know him, and his name is not written in the Book of Life. Christ the Son of Man is asking you today, “Where are you from? From God, or from the evil one?” Do you belong to the fellowship of Christ where the Shepherd knows each one by name, or are you unknown to God? Examine yourself, strive to be freed from your sins, and come to Christ who will by no means cast out whoever comes to him broken and repentant.

But he who arrives at the narrow gate, and then deviates from the path claiming the privileges of the patriarchs, will perish, in spite of his show of godliness. His abode is Hell, an evil refuge indeed!

This place is dominated by continuous fear of the hosts of evil, and the cries of penitence for late repentance. It overflows with bitter blaspheming against the holy God. This place of painful darkness is not completely separated from heaven. But the reprobates see the fathers of faith, true prophets, and every humble saint sitting down near God, where order prevails, peace dwells, joy and love spread among all in the Spirit of the Father and the Son.

Jesus said to the unrepentant Jews, “You will perish, and nations will come from the east, and from the west, instead of you, entering through the narrow gate, and partaking of all the blessings of heaven. They will meet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the faithful prophets, and speak with them about the miracles of the love of God in their lives. They will also enquire of the apostles about the truth and meaning of their gospels and epistles. They will meet the dead and the living in Christ, for they are altogether the family of our heavenly Father. Do you belong to this family, or are you afar from them?

The Jews who rejected the gospel of Christ and became hardhearted will suffer acutely. They who were the first chosen, became the last, having no other chance but to repent and accept Christ at the end of time. However the despised church, small in number, that is considered least by the Jews, became the first. Filled with the Holy Spirit they entered into the glories of their Lord.

PRAYER: Our Lord Jesus, You are the gate leading to God the Father. Teach us to put off our sins and worries, and abandon our ambitions and money. May we repent, become sanctified with your blood and Spirit, and enter into your joy. Let many of our friends and relatives enter into paradise. Let your kingdom come today, and your will be present and working among us. Thanks and glory to you. Amen.

QUESTION 94: What is the meaning of Christ’s command: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate”?

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