Will There Be a Lot of People in Heaven?
Saturday, October 10, 2009 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
Bible verses taken from Luke 13:22-30, ESV. Bible will be in italics.
Jesus walked from town to town, village to village. He must have talked to hundreds, if not thousands of people. I find this premise interesting considering that Jesus was God. He knew these people intimately before he ever spoke to them. As he came to a town or village, he could name every man woman and child in the area. He knew whom the Lord would call to salvation. He knew that some would reject the message being preached to them. Someone following Him got curious about how efficient this trip could be. I have no doubt that the person who asked was really thinking, "How many of THEM will be saved?" Jesus flipped the script, and characteristically invaded the comfort level of the questioner.
"And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’"
Jesus spoke directly to the group following Him. "Strive to enter the narrow door." This answer reflects the mystery of God's relationship with mankind. We are told to try with everything we have, like we are searching for a treasure, a jewel, a pearl of great price, though in the end many will not have entered through it. Why will they not enter? Maybe they'll be too enamored with the world around them. Perhaps sin will have been something they would have dealt with eventually. It is clear here that Jesus is talking directly to the Jews, and this teaching deals with them as well. But can we see a group of people Jesus would flip the script on today? Truth be told, I cannot see a better people for the Lord to warn than my friends in the liberal American church. Seriously, who else is he meaning when he described the objectors siting their eating and drinking in His presence and His teaching so nearby them? Who is this if not for those Emerging, social-justice driven, milquetoast churches who gloss over the sin of their members and seek out the world's approval? These will knock, but it will be too late.
"But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place 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 but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”"
Is the Lord suggesting that he is not aware of the origins of these objectors? No. As stated above, Jesus knew these people. He knit them together in their mother's wombs. He knew their motives, their struggles, their habits. But when it comes to the final judgment, the Lord will so separate himself from these people, that it will be as if he has never known them. The fact that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are specifically mentioned is cryptic, yet telling. Jesus emphasizes that salvation cannot be equated with a national identity, nor can it be guaranteed with lineage. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, shared a blood lineage, but it was a different blood that covered their sins and allowed them entrance to the table of the kingdom of God. Is Jesus contradicting Himself when he describes the people coming from the four corners of the globe, yet there will be few? Jesus is letting his immediate audience know that His message was not just for the towns that he was passing through, but for all men. He then tempers His teaching with the reality that few people will be saved.
It is a mystery to me why Christians are called to preach to a world who is told to strive for the narrow gate, and will, for the most part, reject the true gospel of Christ. What I know for sure is that this command is bigger than I am. I am to submit, and follow the example of Jesus.
October 18, 2009 6:00 PM
A great post!!
There are few that find it.