Are You Going To Be Saved?

Luke 13:22-30 | Proper 16, Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I was once at an airport awaiting a flight. As I sat at my gate awaiting the call to board the airplane, I heard an announcement over the PA system. “This is the final boarding call for the flight with service to Milwaukee. Will the following persons please report to Gate 24. The plane is full and is ready to depart. Once the doors are closed, they will not be opened again.” Then, a few moments later, their names were announced again. “If you want to go to Milwaukee, you must come to Gate 24 now. The door is about to close, and you will not be allowed to board.”

 As I read through the Gospel reading, I was reminded of that situation at the airport. Jesus offers a similar story while he is on his way toward Jerusalem. Jesus wants to remind us that the door of salvation will not remain open forever. If we think about what Jesus is saying, we’ll recognize that this warning is just as vital for us today as it was for those who first heard it.

I. The Door is open—therefore, enter! (vv. 22–24)

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and he’s not taking the direct route. He’s going from town to town, village to village. He is headed to the cross, and still, He stops for small crowds and simple questions. That’s when someone asks a question: “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” (v. 23). The question is a good one. We heard last week how Jesus said that he came to divide and declared that judgment is near. The rabbis of Jesus’ day argued about this subject. Will many get in or only a few? Am I a member of an exclusive country club or part of a countless mob?

But notice what Jesus does. He refuses to answer the question directly. “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (v. 24). Did you notice that the question keeps salvation theoretical? It’s “out there” on a chart. Few? Many? Let’s debate. Jesus doesn’t have time for that. He won’t do a headcount. He won’t draw a graph. Our Lord will not give statistics and figures to satisfy our curiosity. Instead of talking about others, Jesus wants to talk about you. You strive. You enter. He throws out the theoretical and makes it personal. Instead of discussing whether a few will be saved, Jesus would like to discuss whether you will be saved! “Whether there are few or many doesn’t matter. Are you going to be saved? Or are you dallying about and in danger of losing it all? Forget about everybody else. Worry about yourself!”

Jesus compares salvation to entering a door. Not wide. Narrow. Not popular. Uncomfortable. When Jesus says, “Strive to enter the narrow door,” He is not talking about struggling to be better or striving to be good enough. Jesus isn’t calling you to be good enough; He’s calling you to daily repentance. He is warning us that we are in a personal struggle. The world, the devil, and your own sinful desires are all striving against you. Do not let anything hinder you from entering through that door. Think back to the airport terminal. The screen says your destination. You hear your flight being named. The jetway is open. The agent is scanning boarding passes. “Now boarding.” That’s now. Not later. The door is open. Enter while it’s open. Salvation is offered to you today. Repent, and trust Christ. Can you sense Jesus’s tone? He’s urgent. He’s emphatic. He’s serious. Why? What’s the hurry?

II. The Door will be closed—therefore, hurry! (vv. 24b–28a)

Jesus explains the urgency. “For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from’” (vv. 24–25).

Jesus did not say many strive in vain and fail. He said many will try to come in later and cannot, because the door is shut.  Jesus clearly says the door won’t always be open. When the master rises and shuts the door, no amount of knocking is going to open it. What does this mean? The door shuts at your death or the day of Jesus’ return. Once the door is closed, you will not get another chance—time’s up. Salvation is offered to you today, and you have no guarantee about tomorrow, so hurry! Make no delay!

And yet, there are many who approach your relationship with Jesus in a casual way. They try not to take all this Jesus stuff too seriously. But this is spiritually dangerous because delay hardens. Jesus wants you to take salvation seriously.  The longer we postpone repentance, the more practiced we become at not repenting. Habits set. Excuses congeal. The heart calcifies. And the window of opportunity is short. After that door closes, there will be no way of sneaking in. You will be either in or out. The Lord says to us, “You’d better hurry.” If we don’t take salvation seriously, we may find the door shut and somebody else taking our place at the feast!  

And mere association with Jesus isn’t enough. “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS’” (vv. 26-27). Jesus doesn’t want you to be a passing acquaintance, a friend of a friend. Simply being in the presence of Jesus or hearing his teaching doesn’t mean automatically result in salvation.  Being around Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus. You may attend church, you might have Christian family, you might even have an occasional devotion—good gifts, all of them. Being around the Church all your life doesn’t make you automatically saved. Salvation doesn’t work by osmosis. Salvation is not a privilege you inherit.  God doesn’t save us by proxy or through heredity. It’s not something you do to achieve. Thinking  that you’re saved just because you’ve spent your life near Jesus is the ticket to a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Back to the airport. “Final boarding call.” You stroll up with coffee. The jetway door is closed. The agent is kind, but firm. “I’m sorry. The door is shut.” No side hatch. No back stair. Not now. Not anymore. You can see the plane. You can knock on the glass. You can point to your app and your history of miles. A confirmed seat is no good if you don’t board the plane on time. The answer stands: “Too late.” Hurry. Today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow. Today.

III. See who’s inside—therefore, take comfort! (vv. 28b–30)

Jesus doesn’t only warn; He invites you to look through the doorway. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last” (vv. 29–30).  Inside, there they are—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets. It’s a banquet, a grand reunion. Why is that comforting?  Because it shows God keeps His promises. Inside you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets. The patriarchs God promised to bless are at the table. If God kept His word to them, He will keep His word to you who trust His Son. Promises made, promises kept.

Notice also how broad God’s grace is. And the room is full of faces from east and west, north and south. Not just the privileged. Not just the religious elite. Gentiles, and outcasts. The poor, crippled, blind, and lame. The least, the lost, the lowly. If there is room for them, there is room for you. So do not despair. Jesus says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (Jn 10:9). The One who commands “Strive” is the One who is on his way to Jerusalem to die for you. On the Cross, Jesus’ endures the weeping and gnashing of teeth that you deserve. By his shed blood he opens the door for you and welcomes you to his table.

Jesus is the door. He is the way to the heavenly feast. There is only one narrow door to heaven, and today this door is open wide! The door is open right now, but hurry, it will not remain open forever. You have this invitation: come in through the door! By his death on the Cross, now the way for us sinners to enter heaven is open. Repent, trust Christ, follow him, and you will be among the saved. Attention in the terminal. Now boarding. The Door is open. Your ticket has been confirmed. Enter now—through Christ.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.