And one said to him, Sir, [are] such as are to be saved few in number? But he said unto them,
On the road to Jerusalem, a man asks the Lord how many people will be saved. The Lord gives no number — He turns the question back on the man himself, and shows what really gets a person through the door.
Nothing in the account shows the man cared about his own soul. Commentators read his question as religious speculation, kept at a safe distance.
The question put here, "Lord, are there few that are saved?" looks like a merely curious or idle question from the man who asked it. Unconverted men will sometimes ask about the doctrine of election in the same way. But the Lord, in His usual way, answered it so as to turn it into a serious one. What a lesson for us! He replied so as to meet, not the question, but the real state of the man's soul.
The word carried a settled meaning for a Jewish hearer. It pointed to the remnant Scripture promised to spare when judgment fell on the nation. Notice also who the Lord answers: not the one questioner, but them all.
In the question of the disciples (v. 23), "Are there few that are saved?" the word "saved" is the same word used all through the Old Testament. There it means the remnant that is spared. So the question really was this: when the judgment came, would that remnant be few or many? This was a mere idle question, so the Lord does not answer it. He says to them (v. 24), "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Those who want to get in may. The narrow gate was receiving Christ at that time.
The Lord gives no number. He deals with the person in front of Him, not with the topic raised.
Does He say "few" or "many"? Does He answer directly? No. There is a style among ourselves that is often painful. You hear people say, "Is he a Christian — is he a Christian?" We are not to confuse light and darkness. But we ought not to answer such bare questions. What they involve is far too serious. He does not say "many" or "few," but "Do you seek to get in?" He looks at the inquirer, not the inquiry.
Anyone who speaks with others about God can follow the same method:
When reasoning with unbelievers, answer their conscience, not their questions. The Lord did this when one asked Him, "Are there many that are saved?" He said, "Strive to enter in yourself."
A person can stay busy with other people's spiritual state and never face his own.
Some people seem constantly occupied with religious questions. Their enquiry is not, "Am I saved?" but, "Are others saved?"… It was so in the days of our Lord. One said to Him, "Lord, are there few that are saved?" Jesus replied, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." So He sought to lead him away from thinking about others. He wanted him to weigh the all-important question of his own soul's salvation. He exposed the folly of appearing concerned for others while he himself was on the broad road to destruction.
Some take the command to strive as effort that buys a way in. Writers here say the opposite.
The gate, road, or way is open at present. It is strait, that is, narrow. The real entrance is faith in Christ and turning to God. The striving to enter in does not mean an energy in return for which entrance is granted as a reward. It is a man casting himself on the grace of God in Christ. A man cannot bring anything of his own through such a gate; all that belongs to that must be left outside for ever.
Being half-hearted about something this important is itself the danger.
No one is saved by his striving. But if a man is lax and half-hearted about a matter so important, how can he expect God to show him grace? For the time would come when it would be too late for people to become concerned. Many will eventually seek to enter in, but will be unable. They will be much like Esau. He earnestly sought the birthright he had lost by unconcern, but he was rejected, because he found no place for repentance (Heb. 12:17). He wanted the blessing, but would not repent of his sin.
- Question. The man asked for a number. His word "saved" meant the remnant the Old Testament promised to spare when judgment came.
- Redirect. The Lord answered the man's conscience, not his curiosity. He looked at the inquirer, not the inquiry.
- Self. Worry about whether others are saved can crowd out the one question that decides your own case.
- Gate. The narrow entrance is faith in Christ and turning to God. Striving is not effort that earns a reward. It is casting yourself on His grace, leaving all of self outside.
- Now. The gate stands open today. A day comes when many will seek to enter and cannot — like Esau, who wanted the blessing without repentance.
Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
Someone asked Jesus a question about other people: how many will be saved? He gave no number. He gave a command instead. That leaves two hard questions: what is this narrow door, and how can striving belong to a message of free grace?
Curiosity about the size of the saved crowd is a way of staying out of the conversation. The Lord breaks that habit.
Some people seem constantly occupied with religious questions. Their question is not, "Am I saved?" but, "Are others saved?" … He sought to lead him away from thinking about others, so that he would weigh the all-important question of his own soul's salvation. He also exposed the folly of seeming concerned for others while he himself was on the broad road to destruction.
So the real question is not about the crowd. It is whether you yourself are in.
Let me ask you this: are you among the few? … You must get in individually. That is the point, and I say to you, see to it that you personally get Christ.
The word means more than effort, and it is not the same as work. (Older translations read "strait gate" where the ESV has "narrow door," so the quotes below speak of a gate.)
The word "Strive" in verse 24 does not mean work of any kind. It means earnestness so intense that it is almost agony. It is as if He said, "Agonize to enter the narrow gate while the chance lasts." … There is no real entrance except through the narrow way of repentance.
The gate is not a rule or a religion. It is a Person — and a crucified one.
If Jesus had not died on the cross, there could have been no way for sinners to escape the wrath to come. … Christ crucified, then, is the "narrow gate." Jesus lifted up on the cross is the door of access. "I am the door," He said. "If anyone enters by me, he will be saved." So the cross of Christ becomes the point of separation between the saved and the lost.
At the moment He spoke, entering meant siding with a Man the nation was about to throw out.
The narrow gate was receiving Christ at that time. It was the real but narrow entrance of faith in Him and conversion to God. … Strive to enter in at the narrow gate. Christ goes through it before you — that is, by way of rejection.
The command does not turn salvation into wages. The narrowness is what strips a person down.
The striving to enter in does not imply an energy in return for which entrance is granted as a reward. It is a man casting himself on the grace of God in Christ. A man cannot bring anything of himself in through such a gate; all that belongs to that must be left outside for ever.
Free grace and urgent earnestness are not rivals, and using one to cancel the other is a mistake.
It is blessedly true that salvation is free to all. The righteousness of God is for the one who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly (see Rom. 4:5 and Titus 2:11). Yet the sinner is still most solemnly responsible to flee from the wrath to come and strive to enter by the narrow gate — the open door. Some use the freeness of God's grace and the gift of righteousness to set aside man's responsibility and the need for intense earnestness about the soul's salvation. That is a fatal mistake.
They do not fail for lack of religious energy. They fail because the one entrance offends them.
Men are ready enough to do or suffer much for salvation. They welcome a means that allows room for their efforts, if not their merits. But "you must be born again" is hateful to them. They will accept it only if they can hang it on a ceremony that works without bringing the soul into the presence of God. This is what men naturally dread and dodge. They refuse to face God about their sins.
There is also a clock running. The word "able" points to a time when seeking comes too late.
The time will come when it will be too late. Some will knock and not be let in. Right now the Saviour says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." … But the time is coming when God must deal with men in righteousness instead of in grace, as He does now. … Now, sinners hide in the Saviour's arms and are saved. Then, sinners will seek salvation and will not find it.
- In, not about. The Lord answers the man, not his question. The point is not how many get in. It is whether you have gone in.
- In through Christ. The gate is Christ crucified — "I am the door" — so the cross is the dividing line between the saved and the lost.
- In empty-handed. Striving is not effort paid back with entrance. The gate is too narrow to carry anything of your own through, so it all stays outside.
- In earnestly. "Strive" means agonize, not work. Free grace never excuses a careless soul, and repentance is the only real way in.
- In now. Many will seek later and will not be able. Grace speaks today, righteousness speaks then, and the door will not stay open for ever.
From the time that the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he answering shall say to you, I know you not whence ye are
Someone asks Jesus whether only a few people will be saved. He answers with a picture instead of a number: a householder gets up and shuts the door, and everything hangs on which side of it you are standing.
The whole scene turns on a change of posture. One writer traces what the door depends on, and who is left outside it.
The Lord solemnly assures us that the moment His position changes, the door is shut. There would be no hope for those outside who had refused to enter by the narrow gate. The position of the door depends entirely on the position of the Master. While He remains seated, the door is open; but when He rises up, the door is shut. Those shut out with no hope were the people who had enjoyed the greatest privileges: eating and drinking in the Lord's presence, and hearing Him teach. They might try to get in at the shut door, but there was no way in for them.
So where is He now? Another writer describes what Christ is doing at this moment, and how that moment ends.
At the present time Christ is seated and expecting. He is now an exalted Prince and Saviour. "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved." Because of Christ's death there is salvation, present and eternal, for all who believe. But — reader, mark this well — as soon as He leaves His present position, when He rises up as it were, the door closes forever.
In the picture the Lord is inside and His hearers are outside. One writer traces that reversal back to how they had already treated Him.
The Lord takes this place outside them because He was rejected. They rejected Him, so for a time He has no choice but to reject them. Any other course would make God share in the dishonour of His own Son.
The title used in the question comes back at the shut door. There it opens nothing.
This person had addressed Him as "Lord" — another detail the Lord took account of and dealt with in His reply. A time would come when some would say, "Lord, open to us." The answer would be, "I do not know where you come from." A profession of the lips without inward reality would bring no benefit at all. It is also striking that the Lord's answer was not meant to show His own knowledge. It was meant to help the man who asked.
Those outside then plead their past privileges. The answer shows what those privileges never gave them.
The Lord Jesus will appear in glory to judge the inhabited earth. In vain will men in that day say, "Lord, open to us." He who now calls in love will sentence the guilty. He will say, "I do not know where you come from." If they had heard the word in faith, they would have received not only pardon and peace, but life in Christ... Pleading past privileges does no good. Neglected opportunities and slighted mercies only add to guilt.
Writers differ on which event closes it. Kelly links the moment to Christ appearing in glory to judge the earth. Others tie it to the removal of Christians to glory and the end of gospel preaching.
The gospel is not always going to be preached. God will not always send out the message of peace. He is the God of judgment as well as the God of peace, and Christ is a Judge as well as a Saviour. He is now seated at the right hand of God, but before long He will rise up and shut the door. The preaching of the cross will then cease; the seeker will not find, the knocker will be disappointed, the asker will be refused. The gospel testimony will close, the church will be taken to glory, and the hypocrite and unbeliever left for judgment.
Because the door will close, the Lord tells people to strive. What does that striving actually involve?
Striving to enter does not mean effort that earns entrance as a reward. It means a man throwing himself on the grace of God in Christ. No one can bring anything of his own through such a gate. Everything of that kind must stay outside forever.
- Seated — Christ sits now as an exalted Prince and Saviour, and while He sits, the door stands open.
- Risen — the door follows the Master. The moment He rises up, it shuts, and there is no way in.
- Rejected — they rejected Him first. So for a time He rejects them, rather than let God share in the dishonour of His Son.
- Unknown — "Lord, open to us" is only words. Meals in His presence and His teaching in the streets never made anyone known to Him.
- Strive — you enter the narrow gate by casting yourself on grace. Leave everything of your own outside, and do it now, not at a shut door.
then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets;
Jesus has just warned that the door will one day be shut. Those outside then plead their history with Him — shared meals, His teaching in their own streets — and the plea is true, yet it fails.
Their claim is true. One writer weighs what such a plea is worth once the door has shut.
From the time the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, it would be quite useless for the Jews to plead their case. They could say that Jesus had come among them, and that the Messiah had been in their streets. They could say that "they had eaten and drunk in His presence," and that He "had taught in their streets." This was what most clearly proved their guilt. He had been there, and they would not have Him. He had taught in their streets, but they had despised and rejected Him even more than the Gentiles did. They demanded His crucifixion when even the hardest-hearted of Gentile governors wanted to acquit Him.
Another writer sets the two days side by side: the day of Christ's humiliation and the day of His glory.
Those who reject Christ in the day of His humiliation will themselves be rejected in the day of His glory. Instead of being His companions in the kingdom, they will be thrust out.
C. E. Stuart ties this verse to what everlasting life depends on.
There were those present who had seen Him, and yet had not believed. But everlasting life, as set out here, is connected with seeing Him and believing on Him. To have seen Him, to have been in His company (Luke 13:26), was not enough. To believe on Him was the important matter.
He then looks at the plea itself, and at the door these people passed by.
"We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets." All true — too true. But what had it profited them? … The privileges once enjoyed, which they list, only condemn them. They saw Him, they heard Him, but did not enter by the door. Do any ask what the door is? We answer in the words of the Master, "I am the door."
One writer describes the crowd left outside when the door shuts.
Then there would be many left outside. Some of them could plead outward acquaintance with Him, but they had no practical inward knowledge of Him. They were still the unsaved doers of unrighteousness.
Why is outward religion not enough, and what does God look for instead?
God could not have mere forms: there must be what suits His nature. This is always proved true when the light of God shines. … Conversion essentially consists in distrust of self and turning to God. This the Jews had not, and, despite all their high claims to religion, they were only workers of evil.
Earlier the Lord tells His hearers to strive; here the same people only seek. Is that just a difference of degree?
Are the striving and seeking in verse 24 merely different measures of the same thing? No. They are not different measures of intensity, but different actions. The man who seeks does so after the master of the house has risen up — at the last moment. But see that you begin beforehand. Do not let that moment find you in the position of a seeker. … Then the Lord goes on to show the plea the seeker may put in. But "depart from Me." It will not do. He pleads his privileges and intimacy.
What should they have done instead? One writer weighs the word "Strive" in verse 24 against the plea here.
The word "Strive," in verse 24, does not mean work of any kind. It means earnestness so intense that it is almost agony. It is as though He said, "Agonize to enter in at the narrow gate while the opportunity lasts." Many seek a wider entrance through ceremonial things, as verse 26 shows. But only what is personal and spiritual will do. There is no real entrance except through the narrow way of repentance.
One writer presses the warning as far as the Lord's Supper.
So it is even possible to share in the Lord's Supper for years — to have "eaten and drunk in Your presence" — and still spend eternity at the table of demons!
- Near, not in. They ate with Him and heard Him teach; nearness to Christ is not entrance through Christ.
- Privilege, not protection. Having Him in their streets is the very thing that proves their guilt — He was there, and they would not have Him.
- Acquaintance, not knowledge. Many could plead outward acquaintance with Him, but they had no inward knowledge of Him.
- Striving, not seeking. Striving happens now, while the door is open. Seeking comes after it shuts. Begin beforehand.
- Ceremony, not repentance. Many look for a wider entrance through ceremonial things. The only way in is the narrow way of repentance.
and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of iniquity.
The scene is a shut door, with people outside knocking and listing what they once enjoyed. The Lord repeats His refusal. He does not know where they come from, and He names what they are.
Those shut out are not strangers to religion. They had contact with Christ, and they treat that contact as a claim. The writers quoted here use older translations, which read "I do not know you, where you are from" and "workers of iniquity."
The people will protest that He ought to know them. They have eaten and drunk in His presence — though they cannot say they had fellowship with Him — and He has taught in their streets. Because of these outward contacts they demand some recognition. This is the very character of the hypocrite. He touches the fringes of Christianity by his formal observances, but in heart he does not know the Lord. Therefore the Lord repeated, "I tell you I do not know you, where you are from." He then adds the solemn words, "Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." Their power to deceive will no longer make a way for them. He will expose their falsehood.
The plea itself is true. That is what makes it useless — and worse than useless.
Missed opportunities and mercies ignored only add to guilt… There is no peace for the wicked, whether Gentile, Jew, or of Christendom. Least of all is there peace for those who have heard most.
The label seems harsh for people who attended, listened and ate in His company. William Kelly ties it to what they never received, and to who is speaking.
He who now calls in love will sentence the guilty… If they had heard the word in faith, they would have received not only pardon and peace, but life in Christ. And His life is the only source, and a sure one, of the fruit of righteousness that comes through Him to God's glory and praise. If men do not receive Christ for eternal life, they are only "workers of iniquity" — the baptised no less than the circumcised.
God's own nature settles the case, not the amount of religious activity.
God could not accept mere forms. There must be what suits His nature. This is always proved true when the light of God shines. The gospel does not mean that God now approves what is contrary to Himself.
The refusal is not a mood that may pass. C E Stuart names the door, and shows how settled the answer is.
"I know you not where you are from: depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity," shows that His will does not change. He will never open that door… They saw Him and heard Him, but they did not enter by the door. Does anyone ask what the door is? We answer in the words of the Master: "I am the door" (John 10:9). Christ is the door. We can understand, then, why it is a narrow one.
Since the door is Christ, the earlier command to strive is not about effort in general.
The striving to enter in at the narrow gate means, to my mind, a man brought to a true sense of sin. He casts himself on God's grace in Christ — repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the narrow gate — at least, Christ Himself received in this way, by faith and repentance.
In a related warning the Lord says, "I never knew you." Henry Allan Ironside weighs what those words do not say.
Notice, He does not say to them, "I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favour and I do not know you any longer." He says, "I never knew you."
The shut-out group then watches others take the seats they assumed were theirs.
Those who reject Christ in the day of His humiliation will themselves be rejected in the day of His glory. Instead of being His companions in the kingdom, they will be thrust out. The unbelieving Jews will see the Gentiles come into the glory of the kingdom. They themselves, staying in unbelief, will be cast out.
- Contact — Eating in His presence and hearing Him teach is outward contact, not fellowship. The hypocrite touches the fringes, and his heart stays a stranger.
- Claim — Past privilege is what they plead. But those who never received Christ for eternal life are only workers of evil, "the baptised no less than the circumcised."
- Guilt — Missed opportunities and ignored mercies only add to guilt. Least peace of all belongs to those who have heard most.
- Door — They saw and heard Him, but they never went in. The door is Christ Himself, entered by repentance and faith.
- Verdict — "I never knew you" is not a friendship lost. His will does not change, and He will never open that door, while others come into the glory of the kingdom.
There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out.
Someone has just asked Jesus whether only a few will be saved. He answers with a shut door and with people left outside it. This verse shows what being shut out will feel like — and who they will see inside.
The people warned here were not strangers to religion. That was the problem. Religious advantage makes nobody safe, and one writer says it can do the opposite.
It is always so. Religious privilege, when misused and abandoned, leaves those who enjoy it worse than before, worse than those who have never enjoyed it. So the Messiah will say to them, "I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from Me, all you workers of evil." God could not accept mere forms. There must be what suits His nature.
The three names Jesus lists were the very ancestors His hearers claimed. The phrase He picks for their grief also turns up elsewhere, and always in the same kind of case.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth! Notice this phrase. In the rest of the New Testament only Matthew uses it (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and always of people who have brushed aside the offer of grace... The Jews boasted in their natural descent from Abraham and gloried in it. It will do them no good if they reject grace.
Tears at the end are not proof of a changed heart. One writer takes the phrase apart and asks what each part of it shows:
"Weeping and gnashing of teeth" would be theirs. Their fathers and the prophets would have the pure joys of the kingdom of God, and they themselves would be thrust out of it... The weeping is only in self-pity, not in repentance. Wailing is the attitude of complaining, for faith is absent. Gnashing of teeth is a spirit of rebellion, not corrected even by the solemn judgment of God.
Notice where the pain starts: they see. One writer sets this beside a scene from the days of Elisha, a prophet in Israel.
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). His judgments are as sure as His favours. None of His words can ever fail. The scornful official found Elisha's words to be literally true: "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."... Awful thought! They see others blessed, and themselves outside of it for eternity.
The verse also settles something about believers who died long before Christ came. Jesus names them as present in the kingdom.
It is true that the Old Testament believer does not enter a Kingdom which could only begin with a rejected Christ. But in the resurrection they will be raised. As raised, they will have their part in the Kingdom of Heaven, on its heavenly side... they will have their part in the Kingdom in display. Luke 13:28 proves this.
The verse also marks a change in the kingdom itself. Earlier parables in the chapter show a kingdom with a mixture in it. Here the mixture is gone.
The parables of verses 18-21 show there will be mixture in the kingdom in its present form. But verse 28 shows that in its coming form there will be none. Then the patriarchs will be in it, and those with nothing but outward ceremony will be thrust out.
The shut-out are only half the picture. People from outside Israel sit down in the kingdom, and the expected order is reversed.
It is not only that the Jews are shut out from their fathers when the time of glory comes. Others "will come from east and west, and from north and south" — the widest gathering in of the Gentiles — and "recline at table in the kingdom of God." So it was clear that "some are last who will be first." Such were the Gentiles, called by grace. And "some are first who will be last." Such were the Jews. They had held the earliest and chief place in the calling of God, but they gave it up for self-righteousness and rejected their Messiah.
Jesus said this to one nation. One writer turns the warning toward anyone who has heard the gospel and left it there.
What will it be for you who have heard the gospel and neglected so great a salvation? What hope could there be in that day! But for faith there is blessing now and always.
- Privilege — being close to religious things saves nobody. Misused, it leaves a person worse off than those who never had it.
- Pedigree — descent from Abraham did no good once they refused grace. "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" describes people who brushed that offer aside.
- Pain — the grief is self-pity and complaint, not repentance. Its sharpest edge is watching others enjoy what you threw away.
- Patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are raised and seen in the kingdom. In that coming form no mixture is left in it.
- Places — the empty seats are filled. People come from every direction, and the first end up last.
And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God.
Jesus has just spoken of a narrow door, and of a house whose door is shut. Verse 29 turns to the table inside: people arrive from every direction and fill the seats that unbelief left empty.
Commentators read the four directions as a signal. The gospel was about to go worldwide, past limits that Israel's forms could never hold.
Verse 29 hints at the calling of the Gentiles that was about to come, for grace was about to go out worldwide with mighty effects. Jewish limits and forms cannot hold grace, as we saw much earlier in this Gospel. Like new wine it will burst the wineskins. The Jew was first historically, but in the presence of grace his ingrained legalism often hindered him, so that he came in last. The Gentile, not hindered in that way, becomes first when grace is the question.
Those who had every advantage shut themselves out. God's response was not to cancel the feast but to fill it from elsewhere.
Verse 29 shows what happens if Jews shut themselves out by unbelief. God will still bring others (Gentiles) from the east, west, north and south to sit down in the kingdom of God. Men count some people "last", of no importance — as the Jews counted the Gentiles. Those people will be first, because their faith is real. Men count others "first" — as the Jews counted themselves, because of their outward show of religion to impress others. Those people will be last. God is a God of truth, and He will bring everything to its proper level in the day of His judgment.
They come from four directions, but they enter by one door. That door is a Person.
At that time the narrow door meant receiving Christ — the real but narrow entrance of faith in Him and conversion to God. Some will come and knock when the door is closed. He will say to them, "I do not know where you come from": you are not changed. Strive to enter through the narrow door, through which Christ goes before you — that is, rejection.
They share the table with the fathers of Israel. Descent from Abraham does not seat anyone there; grace received does.
Gentiles will accept grace and sit down in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt. 8:11). The Jews boasted in their natural descent from Abraham and gloried in it. It will do nothing for them if they reject grace. Such people will weep and gnash their teeth. They will see those they looked down on in the kingdom with the patriarchs and the prophets — a kingdom they had heard of but will never enter.
Nearness to Jesus on the map gave no claim. A different kind of link now counts.
They would come from east and west, from north and south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. But it was on new principles, and under an order of supreme righteousness: the last would be first, and the first last. Meanwhile those who claimed local nearness to Him lost every claim: "I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, workers of evil." The tie now was a moral one, and the power of the kingdom was new and heavenly.
One writer sees the promise already in motion — and turns the warning back on lands that have heard the gospel longest.
The happy and believing "whoevers" are being gathered out of all nations. In these days the word of the gospel runs with swift feet. It travels north, south, east, and west. Crowds who grew up knowing nothing of God are hearing it with amazement and joy, and they will sit down in the kingdom of God. This is because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The men and women of these "Christian" lands should wake up to a solemn fact. Their indifference and unbelief puts them in danger of being shut out of the blessing for ever.
- Door — a door closes. Those who trade on nearness and privilege find it buys no way in.
- Entry — the one way in is narrow and personal: receive Christ by faith and turn to God. Descent from Abraham will not do it.
- Reach — east, west, north and south: grace bursts the old wineskins and goes worldwide. Writers see it running in every direction today.
- Table — those who come are not just let in. They are seated with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets.
- Reversal — the last become first. Real faith, not reputation, sets the seating order.
And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.
Someone had just asked the Lord how many people will be saved. He answered by speaking of a narrow door, a shut door, and people left outside who plead their connection with Him. Then comes the twist: the order everyone assumed is reversed.
The saying closes a warning about a narrow door. One writer explains what that door is, and who is shut out.
Striving to enter through the narrow door means, to my mind, a man brought to a true sense of sin. He casts himself on God's grace in Christ. That is repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the narrow door — at least, Christ Himself received this way, by faith and repentance. So our Lord, opening this out, announces the judgment of Israel. He announces judgment on anyone who would like the blessing well enough, but refuses God's way, which is Christ.
One writer names the two groups, and says why each ends where it does.
However, verse 29 shows what happens if the Jews shut themselves out by unbelief. God will still bring others, the Gentiles, from the east, west, north and south to sit down in the kingdom of God. Those whom men count "last," of no importance (as the Jews counted Gentiles), will be first because their faith is real. Those counted "first" (as the Jews counted themselves, because of their outward show of religion made to impress others) will be last. God is a God of truth. He will bring everything to its proper level in the day of His judgment.
The reversal has a reason. A new basis of belonging has come in, and one writer hears grace in the first half of the saying.
They would come from east and west and north and south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. But it was on new principles, and under an order of supreme righteousness — there would be last first, and first last. Meanwhile those who claimed local connection with Him lost every claim: "I do not know where you come from; depart from me, workers of iniquity." Now it was moral association, and the power of the kingdom was new and heavenly. Since this was grace, the Lord says here: "Some are last who will be first."
The people the Lord warned had real advantages. Those advantages will not save them.
Not receiving Christ for eternal life, men are only "workers of iniquity" — the baptised no less than the circumcised. They plead past privileges, but it does no good: "We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets." Neglected opportunities and slighted mercies only make the guilt heavier.
The same writer states the rule behind this.
Religious privilege, when misused and abandoned, leaves those who enjoy it worse off than before — worse off than those who never enjoyed it.
One writer sums up the scene as a clash between how people rank and how God ranks.
Then there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. They would see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, while they themselves were shut out. Gentiles from every quarter would come and sit down there; the last being first, the first last. Men's thoughts naturally run the opposite way to God's. But God's will stand.
The saying is not just history about one nation. One writer turns it on whoever hears it.
But there is deep cheer for the despised Gentiles. For the Lord adds, "And they will come from the east and west and from the north and south, and they will recline in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last." Do you say, how terrible and true this is of unbelieving Israel, and how full of blessing for the Gentiles who believe? What will it be for you who have heard the gospel and neglected so great a salvation? What possible hope can there be in that day! But there is blessing through faith, now and always.
- Order. The verse turns rank upside down. People counted as nobodies come in. People who count themselves insiders stay outside.
- Basis. The new order runs on grace and moral association with Christ, not on local or national connection with Him.
- Door. Entry is through the narrow door — repentance towards God and faith in Christ, who is Himself that door.
- Privilege. Hearing the gospel without receiving it leaves a person worse off than never hearing it at all.
- Application. It was terrible for unbelieving Israel and glad news for believing Gentiles. It is now a direct question to anyone who has heard the gospel and ignored it.