Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

“Are only a few people going to be saved?” What was the point of this question? How did it concern this man? Maybe his mind was wandering, trying to explore those mysterious things that we will never know on this side of heaven. Perhaps he was trying to trap Jesus on what He would say next, like the Pharisees were always trying to do. Or maybe he was genuinely concerned for his own salvation, wondering if he was among those people who are saved, the chosen few that Jesus was talking about. It seems like he was sincere. He must have read all those prophets saying that God’s wrath would let loose and many people will be swept away by fire—the chaff will be incinerated, even the grain a little scorched, but still spared. The end times have some scary moments ahead, so this man asks Jesus about it.

Now if that is the case, then the man in the Gospel story asked the wrong question to Jesus. This question, “Are only a few going to be saved?” it tries to probe into the depths of divine knowledge and it’s as inappropriate as asking why some people are saved and others are not. It’s also like those who try to calculate the year when the world will end. And they’ll keep on trying! But if this man was so troubled over his own salvation, then why didn’t he come right out and say it?

However, does Jesus simply dismiss this poor soul for his bad question or point out his faulty logic? No, the Lord saw this man’s true need. He is the loving, caring Teacher—the Word of God in human flesh. He was sent by the Father, not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. One day He will be a judge. But right now, He’s a Physician sent to bring healing to souls, letting them drink from the wells of salvation. What God revealed through His Son wasn’t the inside scoop on perplexing questions but rather His divine plan of rescue for the whole world through faith in Jesus Christ.

So, in answering this question, our Lord says to all those listening to Him: “Strive—struggle, you may even say—to enter through the narrow door. For many… will seek to enter and will not be able.” Notice that Jesus makes the question personal, the way it must be. This is not a hypothetical situation, and so He doesn’t treat it that way.

Instead, He tells you that it’s a life and death struggle, as you may be aware of already in your life. That’s why His words sound somber, not too comforting at their first hearing. He doesn’t avoid the original question either, as He basically says: No, many will not make it, few will be able to enter the door—because it is actually impossible for you to reach for the perfection of heaven. Your Lord’s words are harsh because the consequences are harsh: “The wages of sin is death.”

But what is this struggle? It involves some truly vicious enemies, such as the devil, the world, and your sinful nature within you. Throughout your life you will face this “unholy trinity” of enemies, locked in a struggle with eternity on the line. Since the world began, Satan wishes you to be lost forever in sin and death. He is powerful and will stop at nothing to undo you. And left to yourself, you cannot resist the devil. But it’s true as the Church sings you have a Champion on your side, whom God Himself elected. As for the devil, one little word can fell him. Christ has already defeated Satan and the victory is yours.

The world is against you as well. Now, people have had to face natural disasters as long as history has been recorded. But in addition to fire, flood, hurricane and tornado, you also struggle against materialism, greed, lust and so on. The phrase “save money” has almost entirely lost its literal meaning, thanks to the common spending lifestyle. The accumulation of wealth, fame, political power, the ever-fantasized sex life, who’s “coming out of the closet” today—all this screams at you from every direction to find happiness and excitation now and pay for it later, and you are tempted to believe those voices of the world. But Jesus answers your anxious hearts in this greedy playground world with words He spoke in the Gospel a few weeks ago: Seek ye first the Father’s kingdom, store up your treasures in heaven.

And besides the devil and his present kingdom, the world, you are engaged in a bitter struggle against your own sinful nature. Every day of your life since your baptism you have undergone a civil war in your very being between your reborn New Man, who has complete trust in God, and your Old Adam, the doubting and rebellious part of you that is in league with the devil and the world. That is the part of you that would have nothing to do with your heavenly Father.

Your Christian life is perfectly summarized by St. Paul in Romans 7 & 8: “I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.” Your sinful flesh cannot be taught a lesson on how you can reform and renew yourself. You as a sinner can only be killed—crucified, dead and buried with Christ—so that the New Man may arise. In your daily remembrance of your baptism, the Old Adam is drowned through confession of sin and you arise forgiven and reborn, again and again.

So this is your struggle against the devil, the world and your sinful nature, but you see that really it is Christ who fought the battles and by God’s grace you overcome these enemies—not by your own effort. But as long as you are with Christ you know that those terrible enemies will be against you while you are still on this earth. That is why you hear that we all are part of the Church Militant—the Church fighting the battles, though you are also united as one with the Church Triumphant, those souls who are already in the safe-keeping of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus. They’re not two churches but one.

What is your role in this struggle? A good word for it would be repentance. It is a turning around, a reversal. It is a drastic change that God performs upon your heart when you hear His Word and eat and drink Christ’s true body and blood. It’s not a superficial change of mind, like you could simply think a different way all of a sudden. No, it is a change of your real being, from the Old Adam to the New Man. You are being transformed into the likeness of Christ, and He lives His life in you. Your life as a believer is automatically patterned after His life. You gladly take upon your shoulders the burden of suffering that He places on you. You go with Jesus all the way to the cross. You crucify your sinful nature with Him and rise victorious with Him in your baptism. Your life has never been, nor will be, the same.

That is why repentance is not one-time, but constant: because every day God has you face the harsh consequences of your own sinfulness: that you don’t deserve a seat at the banquet with the narrow door. Day by day you give in to the devil, the world, and your own sinful desires. You hide your sinfulness behind the wrong questions, and you pursue your own pitiful party as a substitute for the great, heavenly feast.

Once you are faced with this harsh reality in all its seriousness, then you can know that you trust in nothing else but Christ your Savior. That is true faith, that is how you receive forgiveness and new life. And the only way it is possible is not because God suddenly changed His mind, but because your rightful punishment was directed to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. You see, as Jesus was walking about and teaching all these people, He was on a specific mission. His mission then was to invite all who would hear to believe in Him and feast with Him at His heavenly banquet.

His mission now is no different, for He continues His mission of salvation through the Church. He at His death became the Door through which you enter, and no one comes to the Father, He said, but by Me. For you, that narrow door stands open by grace. He commanded Holy Baptism to wash away sins and clothe you with the garments of His righteousness, so that you and I and all who believe in Him, and publicly confess the Truth may feast on His Body and Blood given and shed for you in Holy Communion.

But although the whole world is invited, it still remains as Jesus said: not all will make it. Even with those who heard Jesus in their own streets, or ate with Him in their homes—if they ask, isn’t it enough that we heard you teach, isn’t it enough that we ate with you? Or the questions you may ask: Isn’t it enough that we come to the important meetings and social events? Isn’t it enough that we give more than our fair share around here? Those, again, are the wrong questions because they are self-righteous, they lack repentance, those questions reveal a lack of true faith.

Once again, it’s a personal issue. Put simply, a life of repentance that you must have is a life of faith in Jesus, trusting that He died for your sin. The narrow door is closed to the unrepentant who refuse the free grace of God in favor of their own good deeds. Truly those good things you do for your sake are what the Bible calls the “filthy rags” of unrighteousness.

However, since your Savior is the master of the house, your unrighteousness is covered by His righteousness. The narrow door to the never-ending feast stands open to you. Where Jesus makes clear that you can’t be totally sure about the faith of other people or grasp some of those difficult questions of life, He assures you that you can be certain of your own faith that He gives to you. You today can know of salvation because He knows you—He has called you by His name, given when you were baptized. His trustworthy promises are given every day as you remember your baptism and live a life of repentance. That’s the answer only Jesus can give, even when you didn’t ask the right question!

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 66:18–23 I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
Psalm 50:1–15 Every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.
Heb. 12:4–29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Luke 13:22–30 Strive to enter through the narrow gate