Luke 13:23 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, we have a question put to the Lord Jesus. We are not told who asked it, whether a friend or an enemy. He gave people freedom to ask questions, and he also answered the hidden thoughts and motives of the heart. The question was this: Are there few who are saved? (Luke 13:23). It may have been a tricky question, meant to trap him and harm his reputation. If he said many would be saved, they could accuse him of being too easy and making salvation cheap. If he said few, they could accuse him of being harsh and narrow.

It may also have been a curious question, more about speculation than obedience. He may have been arguing about it with others and brought the matter to Christ. Many people are more interested in asking who will be saved and who will not than in asking what they must do to be saved. It is common to ask, “Can this person be saved?” But it is good news that we can be saved without knowing the answer to every such question.

Or perhaps it was an amazed question. He had thought about how strict Christ’s law is and how sinful the world is, and he wondered how so few could be saved. We have reason to wonder that so many hear the word of salvation, yet so few receive it as a saving word. Or maybe it was an honest, practical question: If few are saved, what should that mean for me? We should all use the truth about the fewness of the saved in a serious and personal way.

Christ’s answer shows us how to use this truth. He did not give a direct count, because he came to guide consciences, not satisfy curiosity. Do not ask, “How many will be saved?” Ask instead, “Will I be one of them?” Do not ask only what will happen to other people. Ask, “What must I do, and what will become of me?”

In his answer, Jesus gives a stirring command: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Luke 13:24). This was meant for everyone, not just the man who asked. All who will be saved must go through the narrow gate. That means a whole life change, as complete as being born again, and it means submitting to a strict pattern of life. Those who want to enter must strive hard to do it. Getting to heaven is serious work, and it will not be won without care, effort, difficulty, and steady diligence.

We must strive with God in prayer, as Jacob wrestled with God. We must strive against sin and Satan. We must strive in every duty of religion. We must also strive against our own hearts. The meaning is, we should agonize, as runners pressing for a prize, and use all our strength.

Christ then gives several warnings to support this command. If we think about how many make some effort toward salvation and still perish because they do not press far enough, we will see both that few are saved and that we must strive. “Many will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). They seek, but they do not strive. Many miss grace and glory because they settle for an easy, lazy search for what can only be gained through hard effort.

These people may have a real desire for happiness and a good opinion of holiness. They may even take some good steps toward both. But their convictions are weak. They do not think deeply about what they know and believe. So their desires stay cold, their efforts stay weak, and their resolutions have no strength or steadiness. In the end, they come short and lose the prize because they do not press on. Christ says this on his own authority: “I tell you.” We may trust his word, because he knows both God’s counsel and human hearts.

Think also of the day that is coming, when decisions will be made, and you will see why few are saved and why we must strive. “The master of the house will rise up and shut the door” (Luke 13:25). Christ is the master of the house. He will notice everyone who comes and goes among his people. For now, it may seem as if matters are left open. But the day is coming when he will rise and shut the door.

This will be a door of distinction. Right now, in the outward life of the church, carnal professers, people who claim faith but remain worldly, and spiritual professers are mixed together in the same outward worship. The door is open between them, and they seem alike in external religious acts. But when the master of the house rises, the door will be shut between them. Those in the outer court will be left out, and those who are outside holiness will be left as they are. The door will separate the precious from the worthless, so sinners can no longer stand among the righteous.

It will also be a door of denial and exclusion. The door of mercy and grace has long stood open to them, but they would not come in. They would not depend on that favor. They hoped to climb in some other way and reach heaven by their own merit. So when the master of the house rises, he will rightly shut that door. They should not expect to enter by it then, but should be left to the result of their own choice. In the same way, when Noah was safe in the ark, God shut the door to keep out all who depended on their own shelters in the coming flood.

Think also about how many people will be turned away even though they were very sure they would be saved. Their confidence will fail them, and you will see how few are saved. We should all be moved to strive. Consider how sure they were of being admitted, even as far as heaven’s gate.

There they stand and knock, knocking as if they had a right to enter, and as if they belonged in the house. They say, “Lord, Lord, open to us,” as though they had a claim to be taken in among the saved, because they had joined themselves to them. Many people are lost because they built their hope of heaven on a false foundation, and they never questioned it. Since they never doubted, they assumed their condition was safe.

They call Christ “Lord” as if they had served him, and they repeat it, “Lord, Lord,” to show urgency. Now they want to enter by the door they once treated lightly. They would gladly join those serious Christians whom they once secretly looked down on. Their plea sounds bold, but it rests on nothing solid.

What reasons did they give for this confidence? In Luke 13:26, they say they had eaten and drunk in Christ’s presence. They had been his guests and had shared in his kindness. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples, ate bread with Christ and dipped with him in the dish. Hypocrites, hiding behind outward religion, may even receive the Lord’s Supper and share in the children’s bread as if they were children of God.

They also say, “You taught in our streets.” They had heard Christ’s teaching and knew his doctrine and law. They treat that as a special favor, and they think it should count as a pledge of favor now. Their thought is, “Would you teach us and then not save us?” But hearing truth is no proof of saving grace.

Their confidence will fail, and all their arguments will be rejected as worthless. Christ will say, “I do not know you, or where you come from” (Luke 13:25). Again he says, “I do not know you, depart from me” (Luke 13:27). He is not denying that they really ate and drank in his presence, or that he taught in their streets. He is showing that these outward things never meant true friendship with him.

He disowns them first. “I do not know you” means, “You do not belong to my family.” The Lord knows those who are his, but he does not own those who are not his. They are not from him, not part of his house, and not branches of his vine. He has nothing to do with them as his people.

Then he casts them out. “Depart from me” is the misery of hell itself, because the worst part of hell is being separated from Christ. It means, “Go away from my door, there is nothing here for you, not even a drop of water.” That sentence is terrible because it shuts them out from the Savior forever.

Then he names the reason for this judgment: “You workers of iniquity.” Their ruin is that they pretended to be godly while secretly living in sin. Under a mask of religion, they served the devil while wearing Christ’s uniform. Their outward profession covered a life that was still bent toward evil.

Their punishment will be dreadful. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the deepest grief and anger (Luke 13:28). What will sharpen that sorrow is the sight of others enjoying the happiness they lost. They will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets in the kingdom of God, while they themselves are pushed out. The saints of the Old Testament are in God’s kingdom, because they received the benefit of the Messiah before his coming, looking ahead to his day.

This also shows that some people who lived after Christ came will be shut out of the kingdom. They may have assumed they were safe and even pressed forward with confidence, but they will be excluded in shame. They will have no part or share in it. What makes their misery worse is that they will see the prophets they hated and despised, and they will see themselves, once so confident, cast out. That is the kind of sight that makes people grind their teeth in fury and regret (Psalm 112:10).

Think also about who will be saved in the end. People will come from east and west, and the last will be first (Luke 13:29, Luke 13:30). Jesus’ words show that only a few of the people we think most likely will actually be saved. But we should not say the gospel is useless. Even if Israel is not gathered as a whole, Christ will still be glorious. Many from the Gentile world, people outside Israel, will be brought into the kingdom of grace here and the kingdom of glory hereafter.

When we reach heaven, we will meet many people we never expected to see there. We will also miss many we thought would surely be there. The people who sit down in God’s kingdom are often those who had to travel far and work hard to get there. They came from east and west, from north and south, and they faced many obstacles and discouragements. This shows that anyone who wants to enter that kingdom must strive to enter, like the queen of Sheba, who came from far away to hear Solomon’s wisdom.

Those who labor now in the service of God and true religion will soon rest in God’s kingdom. Many who seemed promising for heaven will fall short, while others who looked far behind will win the prize. That should move us to holy effort. We should be stirred up by the zeal and eagerness of others, as Paul wanted the Jews to be moved by the Gentiles’ example (Romans 11:14). If others can press forward and enter, why should I not strive too?