Luke chapter 13 is full of hard and challenging statements by our Lord, which He makes amidst growing opposition. He has warned His hearers several times that if they do not repent, they will perish. He tells a parable about a fig tree which does not produce any fruit. There is extra time and care given to it, but the warning stands that if it still will not produce, it should be cut down. The rulers of the Synagogue denounce Jesus because He heals a woman with a severe disability on the Sabbath. In response, He doubles down on the promise of the great coming of the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that comes in the work He is doing, and they just might be left out of it. And as you are carried along in the text, you begin to sense the increased hostility between the call of our Lord and the religious leaders of the day. At the core, there is a fundamental difference between the messages being presented, a difference that cannot be reconciled. They cannot be both true.

This leads to someone finally asking the question, the question that has no doubt been lingering in their minds for some time. As they get closer to Jerusalem and the opposition is growing, someone finally asks it. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Those people over there claim theirs is the way to salvation. You, on the other hand, are calling for repentance, which is necessary for us to bear fruit and be saved. If Your way is the true way, then how many from this confused and mixed-up world of competing voices and promises will be saved? Perhaps, they were wondering if any of those others would be saved, or if they themselves would be saved. Will you or I be saved? Where is our assurance? How can we be sure?

When we ponder this question, we rightly feel a great amount of sadness. The people we worry about are not just groups and characters in the pages of scripture, but our friends and family members. Repentance is not exactly a hallmark of our day. Instead, many are simply encouraged to tell their own truth, to do what is in their own heart. What is prized is not being a follower but a trailblazer, unfazed by the opinions and challenges of others. So, if we take our Lord’s words seriously, we too may wonder if those being saved will be few.

In response to this question, Jesus says, “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.’” Notice how He does not say, “I don’t know who you are.” The issue is not their identity but their point of entry. Where did you come from? The way to gain entrance to the Master’s house is to enter through the narrow door. Those who come through the door, he knows. Those who come through the door can enter. It is not enough to say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” Where you come from matters.

Entrance into the Kingdom comes through the narrow door, and getting through the narrow door will take some work, for our Lord says you must strive to enter. Now, when you hear that, what do you think of? Perhaps you are considering the importance of getting your life in order. I cannot tell you how many times I have had conversations with people who show interest in coming to church, who in some unspoken way know there is something missing in their life, some longing for something more. And even though there is an open invitation to come, they think they first need to take care of some things in their life. They believe there is a need to overcome some past sins or ruinous habits before they assume they can come into the house of God. Their striving is to overcome moral failings which they assume will keep them out.

Yet, our Lord is a lord who welcomes sinners and eats with them. He does not call the righteous but the unrighteous. The sins of mankind are not a deterrent to His compassion and invitation. So, the striving must be something else. In fact, the striving is far more personal, for it does not involve your accomplishment but your letting go. It is not about your great deeds but your confession that you cannot better yourself, you cannot fix yourself, you cannot make yourself clean and holy. The striving of the narrow door is to be emptied out of any glory or honor you might claim for yourself. In reality, the narrow door demands you die to yourself.

Those who will not die, those who refuse to be reduced to empty-handed beggars and stand instead upon their own works, cannot fit through the door. It is too narrow to allow you to bring any of your baggage through. It must all be stripped away. Entrance into the Kingdom of God is, on the one hand, inclusive for all who come. They come, as our Lord says, “From east and west, and from north and south, and recline at the table.” They come despite their background, despite their failures. They come from every language, nation, and people. Yet, on the other hand, the entrance is exclusive, for no matter who comes, they must all come through the narrow door. You can only enter through the death and resurrection of Christ alone, which will take everything from you.

So, what does this striving look like? It looks like the waters of Holy Baptism. As Saint Paul says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried, therefore, with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” It is a new life by dying with Christ. Hope then, not in what you have accomplished, but in what has been given to you by your Lord’s death and resurrection.

Striving through the narrow door looks like gathering around this altar today, having confessed that we cannot do it, we are unable to be faithful enough, righteous enough for entrance. Yet, Christ Himself comes to feed you His own body and blood, to embrace you as His brothers and sisters. You come here with nothing to offer, and Jesus says, “I know where you came from! I know you. So, take and eat, take and drink. For here is life eternal. Here is the gift of salvation.”  This is your assurance. This is the foundation of your hope. All glory be to God.