Strive to Enter by the Narrow Gate: A Meditation on Luke 13 for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

And he went through the cities and villages,

teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?

And he said unto them,

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you,

will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

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, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you,

I know you not whence ye are:

Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,

and thou hast taught in our streets.

But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are;

depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

 

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,

when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,

and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God,

and you yourselves thrust out.

And they shall come from the east, and from the west,

 and from the north, and from the south,

and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

And, behold, there are last which shall be first,

and there are first which shall be last.

 

The question asked of Jesus in Luke 13 regarding how many would be saved did not elicit the kind of answer they were likely looking for.  The inquiry, Lord, are there few that be saved?, is followed by an answer that commands action, Strive to enter in at the strait gate.  The Greek word translated in the KJV as “straight” is also rendered as “narrow,” and either way indicates a portal to eternal life that many will fail to pass through.  Jesus made the point even more emphatic by describing the eschaton, or end of the age, when He would close that portal with many on the outside clambering to enter.  In direct reference to the people who were standing around Him yet did not believe in Him, Jesus noted that many will claim to have had some proximity to Jesus and will still be cast out with the horrifying words, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.  The inescapable question Jesus left with those He was teaching was not how many or how few would be saved, but on which side of that portal each individual listener would be found.

 

The Greek used in this passage helps clarify and amplify the context of Jesus’ teaching.  When Jesus told His disciples to strive for the narrow gate to eternal life, that root word has the connotation of competition, conflict, and even agony.  In this sense, to strive was not just an intellectual pursuit or inquiry, but a consuming pursuit of a goal that would not be dissuaded by suffering or pain.  To strive in this context was to exert a full force of the personal will as if in mortal combat, bringing every faculty of the mind, body, and soul to bear upon the goal.  This sense of striving is contrasted with another Greek word Jesus used that many would seek to enter but not be able.  The root of the word translated as seek pertains to inquiry and desire, but not particularly to action.  The person who asked Jesus the question about eternal life was inquiring of Jesus how many might be saved, but Jesus flipped the question back upon him by noting that inquiry and desire are insufficient to enter eternal life.  Rather, the questioner would now have to reflect on whether his curiosity or desire would become an all-consuming pursuit in that quest to be saved.

 

And that’s a question every person must ask themselves as they encounter Jesus.  Far from an intellectual curiosity or philosophical rumination, Jesus is the Word Made Flesh who dwells among us, full of grace and truth.  To follow Jesus is not simply a matter of desire, or an inquiry into theological questions, but a life spent in fervent pursuit of Him.  When Jesus said that many would desire to enter in after the door was closed but not be able, the underlying Greek suggests that they will no longer have the power or might to pass through that portal.  For as St. Matthew adds in the seventh chapter of his Gospel regarding the same teaching, the way to eternal life is narrow and rugged, and Jesus notes that few find it, while the path to perdition and eternal condemnation is wide, broad, and easy, and that many take that road instead.  To follow Jesus has never been the easy path in this world, regardless of what the external trappings of society might suggest.  In every age and in every place, Jesus’ call to follow Him is one that commands the totality of our powers, the entirety of our lives, the whole of our being.  There is no authentic disciple of Jesus who follows Him at a distance, picking and choosing which of His Words they will accept or decline, as if proximity to Jesus will make of Him a totem that saves them without true and living faith.  Jesus is not a t-shirt logo or piece of jewelry or periodic dalliance, but the Author of Life and the Eternal Word of God.  There is no half-way with Jesus:  we’re either all in, or we’re all out.

 

But how, precisely, do we go all in with Jesus?  Jesus Himself tells us, as do His Apostles who wrote down His testimony and expounded it their epistles:  the just shall live by faith.  Faith in Jesus, as the gift of God through the Word and Spirit of God, grants the grace and power to follow Him in this life and the next.  To be sure, no one has the power on their own to believe in Jesus and pursue Him with all their powers, but Jesus gives His life and power and Spirit to His people that they might be born again with new powers and new life.  It is not our works which save us, nor the power of our striving, but the grace of God which comes through faith in Jesus that creates something new in us that is able to love, trust, and follow Him no matter where He may lead us.  Even as apart from Jesus He tells us we can do nothing, we know from both Jesus and St. Paul that in Him we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  The narrow gate is not achieved by virtue of those who strive to enter it, but by Him who is the narrow Way, the Truth, and the Life, through whom alone we may be reconciled to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is Jesus alone who gives faith to those who hear Him, forgiveness and life to those who trust in Him, that they might strive victoriously through all the struggles and persecutions of this life, and enter at last by the power of His grace into the joy of their Master.  The narrow way is not countless billions of people all trying to save themselves by their own convoluted thoughts, words, and deeds, but the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, gathering all who will receive Him unto Himself.  Every other way can only end in despair.

 

Hear the Word of the Lord as it comes to you this day, calling you out of a tepid and weak inquiry of desire, and into the saving power of His grace.  Be renewed in your mind, your soul, and your body, as the Word and Spirit of the Living God descends upon you, giving you a new life and a new power to rise up in Him forever.  Set aside the half measures and divided loyalties of a fallen mind, as the Gospel of Jesus Christ takes hold of you and makes of you a new creation in His image—born again unto the good works which He has ordained for you from before the foundation of the world, striving in victorious hope of the eternal life which lies before you.  Behold, the portal is open unto you, and the Word of the Living God speaks His goodness, forgiveness, and life into you, that you might abide with Him forever.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.