“The doors were shut”
Are there few that be saved?
(The Gospel History, Section 104)
And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Lk 13:22–30. Are they few that be saved? Jesus does not directly reply to the question, but warns His hearers of the difficulty of obtaining salvation, of the danger of delaying repentance, and of the probable rejection of many unbelieving descendants of Abraham, and of the salvation of many believing Gentiles. There are close parallels in St. Matthew.
Lk 13:23, 24 > Mt 7:13, 14. The broad way and the narrow way. Although it is a blessed thing to be a Christian, it is not easy. The Christian journeys along the narrow way of self-denial discipline and mortification, perhaps of contempt and persecution, but the end of it is life. Much easier is the broad way of self-indulgence, avarice, pride and ambition, but the end of it is death. How many choose death, rather than life! St. Luke speaks only of the narrow ‘door,’ not of the narrow way, and describes the terrible condition at the last day of those who have not entered it. There is a fine heathen parallel in the allegory called ‘the Tablet,’ by Cebes, a disciple of Socrates: ‘Seest thou not a certain small door, and a pathway before the door, in no way crowded, for only a very few travel that way, since it seems to lead through a pathless, rugged, and stony tract? That is the way that leadeth to true discipline.’ There is another in the philosopher Maximus of Tyre (150 b.c.): ‘There are many deceitful bypaths, most of which lead to precipices and pits, and there is a single narrow straight and rugged path, and few indeed are they who can travel by it.’
Lk 13: 24 > Mt 7:13. The narrow gate] St. Matthew’s word means a city gate, St. Luke’s a small gate or door. Even city gates are exceedingly narrow in the East. Few there be that find it] lit. ‘few be they who are finding it.’ In St. Luke the disciples definitely ask, ‘Lord, are they few that be saved?’ but Jesus avoids a direct answer, bidding them look to themselves, and take care that they themselves enter by the narrow door. So here Jesus does not solve the mystery of the ultimate destiny of human souls. He refuses to say what proportion of mankind will be finally lost or saved, but he does say that the majority of men do not, in this world at least, choose the narrow way that leads to life. Whether after this life God will interpose to save them from their doom, and will apply to them some chastening discipline which may bring them to a better mind is not revealed. It may be so. Holy Scripture contains certain hints in this direction (1 Pet 3:19, 4:6), but nowhere gives any clear hope, lest men should be encouraged to neglect their opportunities of repentance in this life: see on 12:32.
Lk 13:25. The master] i.e. our Lord. The ‘shutting the door’ takes place at Christ’s second coming, or perhaps at the death of each individual. Mt 25:10. And the door was shut] viz. the door of heaven. Mt 25:12. I know you not] i.e. because in the true sense you have never known Me: cp. Jn 10:14. Mt 7:23. I never knew you] i.e. as true disciples: The divinity of Christ appears not only from His office of judge, but from His power to read the heart. He claims that the most secret thoughts of the millions of the human race are naked and open before Him, and this is in effect, a claim to be divine.
Lk 13:26. This v. specially applies to the Jews.
Lk 13:28, 29 > Mt 8:11. Shall sit down (lit. ‘recline at table’) with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob] The rabbis taught that the Messianic age would be ushered in by a great feast. All Israel, with its patriarchs, prophets, and heroes, would be there. The Gentiles would be excluded, and would have the mortification of seeing all the sumptuous preparations. Every (clean) animal that exists, and many that do not, would be eaten at that feast, e.g. the Leviathan, Behemoth, the gigantic bird Bar Jochani, and certain fabulous fatted geese. The wine of the feast would have been kept in the grapes from the creation of the world. King David would return thanks according to Ps 116:13. Very startling, therefore, was the declaration of Jesus that Gentiles from all nations would be admitted to this Messianic feast, and many circumcised Jews (‘sons of the kingdom’) excluded. In the NT., the figure of a banquet or marriage feast is several times used (as here) to represent participation in Christ’s Kingdom, both in this world and the next: see 22:2, 25:10, Rev 19:7. The present passage is a double prophecy (inserted most suitably in a Gospel meant for Jewish readers), (1) of the admission of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews into the Christian Church, and of the exclusion of many of the latter; (2) of the final salvation of many Gentiles, and of the reprobation of merely nominal Jews.
Lk 13:28 > Mt 8:12. The children (RV ‘sons’) of the kingdom] i.e. the Jews. Outer darkness, etc.] a rhetorical description of the sorrow and disappointment of those who are excluded. The gnashing of teeth represents anger and disappointment, not torture: see Ps 112:10 Ac 7:54.
“The doors were shut”
(The Saviour of the World, Vol VI Book IV Poem LX)
Then, turning to the people, spake the Lord,—
In ready image clothed portentous word:
Of one who made a feast, the tale He told;
In time his doors were shut; late comers bold
Knocked loudly to proclaim them there by right;
Enter they must; did not the Lord invite?
They stand without and raise disturbing din,—
Surely the Lord will bid them enter in!
Familiar, cry they, “Open, Lord, to us!
Thou wouldst not have Thy friends neglected thus!”
But shame awaits them, bold, importunate,
Who bring their lusty summons there too late.
The Lord makes answer,—“Only for my friends
I spread a supper which none else attends;
For you, I know not whence ye are, nor why
Ye assault My house or on its Master cry!”
Abashed an instant, soon they summon heart
And with a hundred pleas support their part:—
“Why, Lord, we ate and drank where Thou didst sit,
Nay, Thou Thyself didst give us sup and bit!
Sure, day by day Thou walkedst up and down,
Teaching and healing in our very town!
We know Thy garb, Thy voice, the way Thou go’st
To that man’s house Thou choosest for Thine host;—
“Canst say Thou dost not know us when we be
Familiar to Thine eyes?” “Depart from Me,
Sinners in deed and thought, who used no skill
In all your doings to discern My will;
Abide without, where desolate weepings be,
And men gnash teeth in dreadful misery,—
“Seeing a glad procession reach the door,
Innumerous as sands on the sea shore;
And every one a joyous welcome meets,
And honoured guests are led to heavenly seats;
For they indeed are Abraham’s righteous seed
Who hear God bid, and by His word proceed:
“See how they come, from west and north and south,
Prophets and teachers, here, from whose blest mouth
Issued the Word; your holy fathers, see,
And multitudes of Gentiles who agree
With Abram,—who the Bidding straight obeyed,
How hard soe’er the service on him laid.”
St. Luke xiii. 23–30.
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