“Make every effort
to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter
and will not be able to…”
(Luke 13:24).
Parables of God’s kingdom (Luke 13:18-30). What was
their use?
1.To see heaven while looking at the earth. The
universe/the earth is God’s creation. As such, it reflects a little of heaven.
When Jesus looked at the earth, He saw God’s love and care.
For Him a flower was not a flower but a display of
God’s creativity and initial love…a bearer of an inner beauty which outshines
the human attempts at improving it. Our imagination is no match for His
imagination!
For Him a bird was not a bird but an instance of the
Creator’s sovereignty.
2. To unlock His hearers’ locked up minds. Our minds
can often be locked on earthly things. The parables unlock our minds to the
point that we exclaim, “Wow…I see…”
3. To awake in His hearers a desire to open their
hearts to God…to live godly lives…
Back to our passage, the question, “Lord are
only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:24), is similar to another
question addressed to Jesus.
At one point, Peter the apostle asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” (John 21:21).
You know the answer: “…what is that to
you…you must follow me.”
The parable of the narrow door addresses the
relation between God’s kingdom and the individual. Here is God’s
kingdom…growing and expanding and over here is me… Will the growth of God’s
kingdom affect me? Will it draw me in?
Making every effort – does it mean that I can work
my way into God’s kingdom? cf John 3:1ff. No it doesn’t.
What effort can we put in for ours salvation when
Jesus did it all…paid it all – all to Him I owe?
Striving starts with responding to God’s call and
remaining faithful through life’s up and downs.
Pastor Alois