Lucas 13
Alexander Maclaren · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 13
Maclaren notes the reason for the command to strive to enter.... It is briefly given (here in the last clause of) Luke 13:24, and both parts of the reason there are expanded in the following verses. Effort is needed for entrance, because many are shut out. The questioner would be no better for knowing whether few would enter, but he and all need to burn in on their minds that many will not. Very solemnly significant is the difference between striving and seeking. It is like the difference between wishing and willing. There may be a seeking which has no real earnestness in it, and is not sufficiently determined, to do what is needful in order to find. Plenty of people would like to possess earthly good, but cannot brace themselves to needful work and sacrifice. Plenty would like to ‘go to heaven,’ as they understand the phrase, but cannot screw themselves to the surrender of self and the world (cp Mk 8:35 36 37). Vagrant, half-hearted seeking, such as one sees many examples of, will never win anything, either in this world or in the other. We must strive, and not only seek. (Read Maclaren's entire sermon - The Strait Gate) Godet - I declare unto you, says Jesus: They will think it incredible that so great a number of Jews, with the ardent desire to have part in that kingdom, should not succeed in entering it. The word polloi, many, proves the connection between this discourse and the question of Lk 13:23. Only Jesus does not say whether there will be few or many saved; He confines Himself to saying that there will be many lost. This is the one important matter for practical and individual application. (Luke 13:22 Commentary) C H
Lucas 13
Maclaren notes that "in reference to each stage of life, specific opportunities are given in it for securing specific results, and these can never be recovered if the stage is past; so mortal life as a whole is the time for entrance, and if it is not used for that purpose, entrance is impossible. If the youth will not learn, the man will be ignorant. If the sluggard will not plough because the weather is cold, he will ‘beg in harvest.’ If we do not strive to enter at the gate, it is vain to seek entrance when the Master’s own hand has barred it. (Luke 13:22-30 The Strait Gate)
Lucas 13:22-30
Maclaren notes the reason for the command to strive to enter....It is briefly given (here in the last clause of) Luke 13:24, and both parts of the reason there are expanded in the following verses. Effort is needed for entrance, because many are shut out. The questioner would be no better for knowing whether few would enter, but he and all need to burn in on their minds that many will not. Very solemnly significant is the difference between striving and seeking. It is like the difference between wishing and willing. There may be a seeking which has no real earnestness in it, and is not sufficiently determined, to do what is needful in order to find. Plenty of people would like to possess earthly good, but cannot brace themselves to needful work and sacrifice. Plenty would like to ‘go to heaven,’ as they understand the phrase, but cannot screw themselves to the surrender of self and the world (cp Mk 8:35 36 37). Vagrant, half-hearted seeking, such as one sees many examples of, will never win anything, either in this world or in the other. We must strive, and not only seek. (Read Maclaren's entire sermon - The Strait Gate) Godet - I declare unto you, says Jesus: They will think it incredible that so great a number of Jews, with the ardent desire to have part in that kingdom, should not succeed in entering it. The word polloi, many, proves the connection between this discourse and the question of Lk 13:23. Only Jesus does not say whether there will be few or many saved; He confines Himself to saying that there will be many lost. This is the one important matter for practical and individual application. (Luke 13:22 Commentary) Luke 13:25 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": aph' ou an egerthe (3SAPS) o oikodespotes kai apokleise (3SAAS) ten thuran, kai archesthe (2PAMS) exo estanai (RAN) kai krouein (PAN) ten thuran legontes, (PAPMPN) Kurie, anoichon (2SAAM) hemin; kai apokritheis (APPMSN) erei (3SFAI) humin, Ouk oida (1SRAI) humas pothen este. (2PPAI): Once: Ps 32:6 Isa 55:6 2Co 6:2 Heb 3:7,8 12:17 Shut: Ge 7:16 Mt 25:10 Lord: Lk 6:46 Mt 7:21,22 25:11,12 I know: Lk 13:27 Mt 7:23 25:41 Luke 13 Resources The door is strait and the way narrow and uphill, but one moment in heaven will make amends for a lifetime of striving to enter! Shuts the door - This explains why they will not be able to enter the door. The great lesson of this passage is that the call of the Gospel has limitations of time, for the door named "mercy" will not remain open indefinitely - yes, for a time but not for ever. Entrance is only possible while the narrow door stands wide open. Every pitiful or plausible plea will be to no avail. The door is sealed shut. Those outside are hopelessly and forever debarred. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door - This explains Lk 13:24b, why they will not be able to enter. Conversion and pardon for sin are no longer available, no longer possible! This day comes to every sinner who dies outside of the safety of the "Ark" of Christ Jesus, for once the door of the ark is closed, it cannot be reopened (cp Ge 7:16, 21, 1Pe 3:20). An unrepentant sinner's last heart beat and last breath is equivalent to the head of the house shutting the door, shutting out that person's soul eternally from entrance into the kingdom of heaven and God's very presence! This is a terrible thought to ponder beloved. It should drive us to travel the highways and byways proclaiming the good news while the door of salvation and the day of grace remain open! (Let the following "modernized" version of an old Fanny Crosby hymn motivate you to go forth [cp Mt 9:37, 38] - Rescue The Perishing) Matthew Henry has some poignant comments on the "door of distinction"... Now, within the temple of the church there are carnal professors who worship in the outer-court, and spiritual professors who worship within the veil; between these the door is now open, and they meet promiscuously in the same external performances. But, when the Master of the house is risen up, the door will be shut between them, that those who are in the outer-court may be kept out.... As to those that are filthy, shut the door upon them, and let them be filthy still (Re 21:8-note, Re 21:27-note Re 22:15-note); that those who are within may be kept within, that those who are holy may be holy still (Re 22:14-note). The door is shut to separate between the precious and the vile, that sinners may no longer stand in the congregation of the righteous. Then you shall return, and discern betwixt them. A door of denial and exclusion. The door of mercy and grace has long stood open to them, but they would not come in by it, would not be beholden to the favour of that door; they hoped to climb up some other way, and to get to heaven by their own merits, and therefore when the Master of the house is risen up he will justly shut that door; let them not expect to enter by it, but let them take their own measures. Thus, when Noah was safe in the ark, God shut the door, to exclude all those that depended upon shelters of their own in the approaching flood. (Luke 13 Commentary - Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible) The Psalmist warns of the danger of procrastinating in regard to one's eternal destiny Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. (Psalm 32:6-note) Isaiah issues a warning calling for an immediate response from the readers... Seek (red = this is imperative!) the LORD while He may be found (Ed: While the "door" is still open!); Call upon Him while He is near (Ed: Before He closes the "door" AS HE DID in Noah's day when the flood came - Ge 7:16-17, 23!). (Isaiah 55:6) Paul issues a warning to the unrepentant sinner quoting the Lord Who... says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." Behold, (command to draw the hearer's attention to what follows) now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" (2Corinthians 6:2) Comment: In the preceding context (2Co 5:20), Paul as an ambassador of Christ, has just begged the sinful readers on His behalf to be reconciled to God. Paul echoes Jesus' warning (Lk 13:22-30) that the acceptable time...the day of salvation will not last forever. The sinner must strive to enter today! Observe the repetition of expressions of time and two "behold's" calculated to grab the reader's attention and bring them to a point of decision (now)! Murray Harris writes that "To emphasize the seriousness and urgency of his appeal and to highlight the privilege of the present and the danger of procrastination, Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 and then applies the passage to the age of grace." (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary) Alexander Maclaren notes that "in reference to each stage of life, specific opportunities are given in it for securing specific results, and these can never be recovered if the stage is past; so mortal life as a whole is the time for entrance, and if it is not used for that purpose, entrance is impossible. If the youth will not learn, the man will be ignorant. If the sluggard will not plough because the weather is cold, he will ‘beg in harvest.’ If we do not strive to enter at the gate, it is vain to seek entrance when the Master’s own hand has barred it. (Luke 13:22-30 The Strait Gate) "Lord (kurios) open up to us!" - When the door is shut, the day of grace will have come to an end. Today is the day to call Jesus "Lord", not when the door is shut! And if we call Him "Lord" it is not just a mouthing of our lips but reflected in the living of our lives! To call Jesus Lord is to surrender to His sweet will, which speaks not of perfection but of the general direction of our life. Think for a moment -- Here when it is too late, even these lost souls recognize Him as Lord. How much more should saved souls not choose to recognize Him as as Lord and to submit to His will for their life! Notice how sin deceives the sinner (He 3:13-see discussion of deceitfulness of sin) so that they think they can address Jesus as "Lord" while demonstrating absolutely no evidence that they have surrendered their selfish will to their Master's perfect will during their lifetime! They do things like the song says "my way", not "my Master's way"! Their sinful behavior points to their self-centered belief. And why do you call (present tense = this was their habitual practice!) Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do (poieo in the present tense = this was also their habitual practice, their lifestyle!) what I say? (Lk 6:46) Comment: Did you notice the "disconnect" between what they said and what they did (more accurately what they did NOT do)? Profession never saved anyone! In Titus 1:16-note they were continually professing [present tense] but they were also continually denying [present tense] by their deeds! Deeds do not save! Deeds do demonstrate the authenticity of one's profession. Profession must always be coupled with possession. The English definition of profession is an open but often false declaration or claim! Do not be deceived dear reader! And later the other virgins also came, saying, ' Lord, open up for us.' But he answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' (Mt 25:11, 12) Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does (present tense = as their habitual practice - the idea is that this is their general direction, not perfection!) the will of My Father who is in heaven. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (Notice He does not dispute their claims! Miracles don't save us, except one miracle, the miracle of a circumcised heart, a new heart, a new [miraculous] birth!) “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Mt 7:21-23-note) Then He will say to them - Notice that "them" is plural, so Jesus is not addressing this only to the one who asked a question (Lk 13:23 "someone said to Him") but to the entire audience (and to all who read His words). I do not know where you are from - Again Jesus uses the plural for "you." The point is that they had no personal relationship with the Lord, as emphasized by the Lord's two categorical denials of relationship. Kent Hughes makes some piercing statements - We may be preachers and have perhaps ministered to thousands. We may be Sunday school teachers and point many little ones to Christ. We may be missionaries and are held up as paragons of sacrifice, and yet end up as castaways. Why? Because mighty works do not save us, but only vital union with Christ through real faith. So the burning question is, does Christ know you? Are you in authentic relationship with Him? The corollary question is, has the relationship with Christ that you claim to have turned you away from evil? Are you morally improved from God’s point of view? Or will he say, “Away from me you evildoer!”? The telling question is not a matter of ministry or standing in the church but of authentic righteousness. (Ibid) Woe! Luke 13:26 "THEN YOU WILL BEGIN TO SAY, "WE ATE AND DRANK IN YOUR PRESENCE, AND YOU TAUGHT IN OUR STREETS": tote arcesthe (2PFMI) legein, (PAN) Ephagomen (1PAAI) enopion sou kai epiomen (1PAAI), kai en tais plateiais hemon edidacas (2SAAI); We: Isa 58:2 2Ti 3:5 Titus 1:16 Luke 13 Resources Then you (plural) will begin to say - Always take a moment when you encounter an expression of time (in this case "then") and query the text with questions like "When is then?" or "What will happen then?", etc. Jesus is warning that hearing His words of invitation must be coupled with heeding His words of warning! We ate and drank in Your presence - Seeing Jesus or sitting with Jesus at a dinner table never saved anyone. Sharing a meal normally speaks of intimacy in the ancient world (e.g., see Jesus' invitation in Rev 3:20-note) but that would not be sufficient to bring about salvation. The speakers may perhaps be alluding to the time when Jesus fed the five thousand (Jn 6:10) but when they were faced with His "hard teaching", refused to become His true followers, even departing from Him in that moment of crisis (cp strive to enter!) (Jn 6:53-65 -- see the crisis point reached in Jn 6:66). Judas Iscariot had an even closer relationship to Jesus, masquerading as a disciple (one who did not even depart in Jn 6:66) and yet his subsequent departure ("failure to strive" so to speak) proved that Judas was not a genuine disciple (Read Jn 13:26-30). External appearances, no matter how convincing to other men, mean nothing unless there has been an internal change, a "circumcision" of one's heart (See Excursus on Circumcision Of the Heart). Matthew
Lucas 13:24
Maclaren notes the reason for the command to strive to enter.... It is briefly given (here in the last clause of) Luke 13:24, and both parts of the reason there are expanded in the following verses. Effort is needed for entrance, because many are shut out. The questioner would be no better for knowing whether few would enter, but he and all need to burn in on their minds that many will not. Very solemnly significant is the difference between striving and seeking. It is like the difference between wishing and willing. There may be a seeking which has no real earnestness in it, and is not sufficiently determined, to do what is needful in order to find. Plenty of people would like to possess earthly good, but cannot brace themselves to needful work and sacrifice. Plenty would like to ‘go to heaven,’ as they understand the phrase, but cannot screw themselves to the surrender of self and the world (cp Mk 8:35 36 37). Vagrant, half-hearted seeking, such as one sees many examples of, will never win anything, either in this world or in the other. We must strive, and not only seek. (Read Maclaren's entire sermon - The Strait Gate) Godet - I declare unto you, says Jesus: They will think it incredible that so great a number of Jews, with the ardent desire to have part in that kingdom, should not succeed in entering it. The word polloi, many, proves the connection between this discourse and the question of Lk 13:23. Only Jesus does not say whether there will be few or many saved; He confines Himself to saying that there will be many lost. This is the one important matter for practical and individual application. (Luke 13:22 Commentary)