Lucas 13

Matthew Henry · Citado em PreceptAustin

Lucas 13

Henry comments on what those who find themselves shut out had falsely placed their confidence... First, They had been Christ’s guests, had had an intimate converse with him, and had shared in his favors: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, at thy table. Judas ate bread with Christ, dipped with him in the dish. Hypocrites, under the disguise of their external profession, receive the Lord’s supper, and in it partake of the children’s bread, as if they were children. Secondly, They had been Christ’s hearers, had received instruction from Him, and were well acquainted with His doctrine and law: "Thou hast taught in our streets—a distinguishing favour, which few had, and surely it might be taken as a pledge of distinguishing favour now; for would Thou teach us, and not save us?’’ (Luke 13 Commentary) You taught (didasko) in our streets - Where? Which streets? (Always practice interrogating the text with the 5W/H questions) The answer is everywhere Jesus went in Israel, because wherever He went He gave primacy (preeminence, supremacy) to teaching of the Word of Truth, a practice all genuine disciples should diligently seek to imitate (Mt 28:19-20). As an aside note that false disciples refused to continue to follow Jesus (Jn 6:66, cf 1Jn 2:19+). Continuing to follow Jesus (or "abide") is a prerequisite which He Himself laid down to define what constitutes a genuine disciple (see Jn 8:31 - these so called "believers " proved themselves to be only professors, those who had only an intellectual belief as their subsequent behavior proved -- genuine belief should always issue in Spirit enabled, God honoring behavior! Read the entire discourse between Jesus and these "believing" Jews in John 8:31-59, but see especially Jesus "assessment" of their "belief" in Jn 8:44-47 and their subsequent response to Jesus' words in Jn 8:58, 59). Taught (1321) (didasko from dáo= know or teach; English = didactic; see also studies of noun didaskalia and adjective didaktikos) means to provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting. Didasko means to teach a student in such a way that the will of the student becomes conformed to the teaching taught. They may have heard Jesus teach but like the old saying, it went in one ear and out the other! The ultimate Teacher, with the ultimate Word and yet they failed to hear in a way that produced any change in their behavior. The problem was not with the Teacher's words but with the hearer's hearts! And to make matters worse, their hearts were deceived (Jer 17:9), thinking that hearing and not heeding Christ would warrant entrance into the kingdom of heaven. THE MOST DANGEROUS PROCRASTINATION IN LIFE! Steven

Lucas 13

Lucas 13:22-30

Henry - Our Saviour came to guide men's consciences, not to gratify their curiosity. Ask not, How many shall be saved? But, Shall I be one of them? Not, What shall become of such and such? But, What shall I do, and what will become of me? Strive to enter in at the strait gate. This is directed to each of us; it is, Strive ye. All that will be saved, must enter in at the strait gate, must undergo a change of the whole man (cp 2Co 5:17-note). Those that would enter in, must strive to enter. Here are awakening considerations, to enforce this exhortation. Oh that we may be all awakened by them! They answer the question, Are there few that shall be saved? But let none despond either as to themselves or others, for there are last who shall be first, and first who shall be last. If we reach heaven, we shall meet many there whom we little thought to meet, and miss many whom we expected to find. Pastor Steven Cole in his sermon on Luke 13:22-30 entitled The Narrow Door comments... Somewhere in some village some unnamed person in the crowd asked Jesus an interesting theological question: “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” I don’t know the man’s motives for asking the question. Perhaps he saw the increasing opposition from the religious leaders and he could sense that the crowds, although superficially interested in Jesus’ message, tended to side with their leaders. But he asked this question, “Are there just a few who are being saved?” Most of us have wondered about that question as we look at the billions of pagans compared with the few committed Christians. It would have made for an interesting theological discussion. But Jesus did not answer the question directly. Instead, He directed the question away from abstract theological speculation and toward specific application for each person in the crowd. The man had asked, “Will the saved be few?” Jesus turned it around to ask, “Will the saved be you?” Remember, Jesus was speaking to a crowd made up mostly of religious Jews. Almost to a person they believed in the one true God. They were not agnostics or polytheists. They believed in the Hebrew Scriptures and lived in basic accordance with them. In giving His answer, Jesus was not addressing a pagan audience. He was talking to the “church” crowd, most of whom assumed that they would go to heaven because they were good Jews. And He gives us church folks some important and practical lessons on the subject of salvation: Salvation requires our earnest effort, our urgent attention, and our careful self-examination (Ed: e.g., 2Cor 13:5-note). It requires our earnest effort because the door is narrow. It requires our urgent attention because the door is soon to be closed. It requires our careful self-examination because once it is closed, the door will be eternally-closed. (Luke 13:22-30 - The Narrow Door) John Piper exhorts us to... STRIVE TO ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR, FOR ALL OF LIFE IS WAR And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”—LUKE 13:23–24 Jesus taught us that life is war. When he said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24), the Greek word behind the English strive is recognizable in English transliteration: agōnizesthe. You can see the word agonize in that Greek word. The implication is that we must struggle, wrestle, and exert ourselves. But the most important fact about the word “strive” is that the one other place where we find it on Jesus’ lips is John 18:36, where he says his disciples would be “fighting” if his kingdom were of this world. “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting [ēgōnizonto], that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.” So here the phrase “strive to enter” means that entering is a battle. STRIVE TO ENTER WHAT? Entering what? The kingdom of God. This is plain from the following context. After saying that we should “strive to enter through the narrow door,” he refers to a master of a house who rises and shuts the door so that no one else can enter (Luke 13:25). Those outside knock and say, “Lord, open to us,” but the master says, “I do not know where you come from.” Then they say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” But he responds, “Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” (Luke 13:25–27). Then Jesus applies this picture to the real situation of some who will be excluded from the kingdom of God while Gentiles from all over the world will “recline at table in the kingdom of God.” “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:28–29). So the “narrow door” through which we must “strive” to enter is the door to the kingdom of God. Outside there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28). This is one of the ways Jesus refers to hell: “Throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:50). The alternative to entering by the narrow gate is destruction. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction” (Matt. 7:13). In other words, what is at stake when Jesus demands that we “strive to enter” is heaven and hell. It is an ultimate issue. THE GREATEST THREAT IS OUR OWN SIN EVERY DAY But what does Jesus want us to strive against so that we can enter through the narrow door? What are the obstacles? If life is war, who is the enemy? In our striving, the aim is not to hurt anyone. Jesus is clear that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27). Saying that life is war does not mean that we make war on people, but on sin, especially our own. In fact, it is only our own sin that can keep us from entering the kingdom, not anyone else’s. The sin of others can hurt us, even kill us. But that does not keep us from entering the kingdom of God. Our own sin is the greatest threat to entering the kingdom of God. But temptation to sin comes from an amazing variety of sources. Jesus is demanding serious personal vigilance. The command to “watch” is one of his most frequent commands. The idea is that we must be awake and alert and ready, lest the temptations of life take us off guard and we be overcome and ruined. Jesus said to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). This command is relevant to all of life. Temptations abound, and Jesus does not take them lightly. The watchword of all of life is, watch, be alert. I say all of life because Jesus warned that the days just before His second coming would be in many ways very normal. It will be, Jesus says, like the days of Noah before the flood came and swept people away who were utterly unsuspecting (Ed Comment: This is another reason to support the doctrine of the Rapture as Pre-Tribulation - if it is Post-Tribulation, those days surely will not be "normal"). They were not watchful. Life seemed too normal, so they were not vigilant. “As in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark … so will be the coming of the Son of Man.… Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:38–39, 42). Nothing is more normal than eating and drinking and marrying. The point is that we must be vigilant all the time, not just when the times feel perilous. They are always perilous. Soul-destroying temptations to unbelief and sin are present in everyday, normal life. Striving to enter through the narrow door is a lifelong, all-day, every-day calling. PAIN AND PLEASURE CAN KEEP US FROM ENTERING THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR Jesus’ demand for vigilance is all-embracing. Both the pleasant parts of life and the painful parts of life present dangers to the soul. In the parable of the four soils he warns about both. The painful and the pleasant threaten to destroy the faith-sustaining work of the word in our lives. When the word falls on rocky ground it sprouts, then dies. This represents those who hear the word, but then “tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word” (Matt. 13:21), and they fall away. They do not enter through the narrow door. When the word falls on thorny ground it sprouts, then dies. This represents those who hear the word, but then “they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Luke 8:14). They do not enter through the narrow door. One person falls away because of pain (tribulation or persecution); the other person falls away because of pleasure (riches and pleasures of life). The call for vigilance is all-embracing. There is no unembattled place in this life. Surprising to us perhaps, Jesus’ demand for vigilance is directed more often at the pleasures of life than the pain. Some people are driven away from God by their pain, but more are lured away by their pleasures. Pleasures seldom awaken people to their need for God; pain often does. So Jesus is more concerned to warn us about the dangers of prosperity than the dangers of poverty. THE PERILS OF PRAISE AND PHYSICAL INDULGENCE One powerful lure away from the kingdom of God is the praise of man. Therefore, Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts” (Luke 20:46). “Beware” means be alert, take care, pay close attention to. This is a call for vigilance against the lure of following those who live for the praises of man. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them” (Matt. 6:1). We feel good when people speak well of us. It may not be wrong. But it is dangerous. It is a time for vigilance. “Woe to you,” Jesus says, “when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). Less subtle is the lure of physical indulgence. Jesus focuses on alcohol and the dissipating effects it has on our minds and bodies. He says, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34). There are drugs and foods and practices that “weigh down” the heart. They make the heart sluggish. This is the opposite of vigilance. We will not “strive to enter through the narrow door” if we are self-indulgent and use drugs or food or drink in a way that dulls our spiritual alertness and vigilance. MONEY IS A MORTAL THREAT TO ENTERING THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR The danger Jesus warns against most often is the danger of money. It is a mortal danger. Heaven and hell hang in the balance in our vigilance against the lure of money. Jesus made this as clear as possible with the words, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). The issue is entering the kingdom. Striving for wealth is not the striving that leads to the narrow door. Over and over Jesus warns us to be vigilant against the lure of riches. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19). “You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ” (Matt. 6:31). “The deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word” (Mark 4:19). “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy” (Luke 12:33). “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). THE “HEALTHY EYE” WILL HELP US STRIVE TO ENTER THE NARROW DOOR It appears, then, that striving to enter the kingdom of God through the narrow door is largely a battle about how we relate to money. We should linger here since Jesus did. He is jealous that we “guard against all covetousness.” He is deeply concerned with our “eyes” when it comes to the treasure of our lives. We see this in a puzzling statement he made in Matthew 6:22–23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” In other words, if the eye is good (literally, “single”), the whole body will be full of light. But if the eye is bad, the body will be full of darkness. In other words, how you see reality determines whether you are in the dark or not. You will naturally ask, what does that have to do with money? First of all, notice that these words of Jesus are sandwiched between the command to lay up treasures in heaven (6:19–21) and the warning that you can’t serve God and money (6:24). Why is this saying about the good and bad eye sandwiched between two teachings on money? I think it’s because what makes the eye good is how it sees God in relation to money. That’s the issue on either side of this saying. In Matthew 6:19–21 the issue is: You should desire heaven-reward, not earth-reward. Which, in short, means: Desire God, not money. In Matthew 6:24, the question is whether you can serve two masters. Answer: You cannot serve God and money. This is a double description of light! If you are laying up treasures in heaven, not earth, you are walking in the light. If you are serving God, not money, you are walking in the light. Between these two descriptions of the light Jesus says that the eye is the lamp of the body and that a good eye produces a fullness of this light. So, what is the good eye that gives so much light and the bad eye that leaves us in the dark? WHAT IS THE GOOD EYE? One clue is found in Matthew 20:15. Jesus has just said that men who worked one hour will be paid the same as those who worked all day, because the master is merciful and generous. And besides, they all agreed to their wage before they worked. Those who worked all day grumbled that the men who worked one hour were paid too much. Jesus responded with the same words found here in Matthew 6:23, “Is your eye bad because I am good?” (literal translation). What is bad about their eye? What’s bad is that their eye does not see the mercy of the master as beautiful. They see it as ugly. They don’t see reality for what it is. They do not have an eye that can see mercy as more precious than money. Now bring that understanding of the “bad eye” back to Matthew 6:23 and let it help us discern the meaning of the “good eye.” What would the good eye be that fills us with light? It would be an eye that sees the Master’s generosity as more precious than money. Which means that the good eye sees God and his ways as the great Treasure in life, not money. The good eye sees things as they really are. God is really more valuable than all that money can buy. You have a good eye if you look to God and love to maximize the reward of his fellowship—that is, lay up treasure in heaven. You have a good eye if you look at Master-money and Master-God and see Master-God as infinitely more valuable. In other words, a “good eye” is a wisely valuing eye, a discerning eye, an astutely treasuring eye. It doesn’t just see facts about money and God. It doesn’t just perceive what is true and false. It sees beauty and ugliness; it senses value and worthlessness; it discerns what is really desirable and what is undesirable. The seeing of the good eye is not neutral. When it sees God, it sees God-as-beautiful. It sees God-as-desirable. That is why the good eye leads to the way of light: laying up treasures in heaven and serving God, not money. The good eye is a single eye. It has one Treasure: God. When that happens in your life, you are full of light. And this is so important that Jesus adds in Luke 11:35, “Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.” In other words, be vigilant. Don’t be casual or slack or careless about this matter. Strive, wrestle, fight to keep your eye good. That is, do what you must to see God, not money, as supremely valuable and desirable. In the next chapter we will continue to unfold the implications of Jesus’ demand to strive to enter by the narrow door. We will see how he calls for vigilance and watchfulness in regard to false prophets and false christs and the suddenness of his second coming. And then we will turn to the question, how does the demand for vigilance fit with his demand that we rest in him? How does the seriousness of watchfulness fit with the sweetness of Jesus’ care? (Download the free Pdf copy of Dr Piper's book - What Jesus Demands from the World) Luke 13:24 STRIVE TO ENTER BY THE NARROW DOOR, FOR MANY, I TELL YOU, WILL SEEK TO ENTER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE: Agonizesthe (2PPMM) eiselthein (AAN) dia tes stenes thuras, hoti polloi, lego (1SPAI) humin, zetesousin (3PFAI) eiselthein (AAN) kai ouk ischusousin (3PFAI). Strive: Lk 21:36 Ge 32:25,26 Mt 11:12 Jn 6:27 1Co 9:24 25 27 Php 2:12, Php 2:13 Col 1:29 Heb 4:11 2Pe 1:10 Narrow: Mt 7:13,14-note) Greek: Agonizesthe (2PPMM) eiselthein (AAN) dia tes stenes thuras, hoti polloi, lego (1SPAI) humin, zetesousin (3PFAI) eiselthein (AAN) kai ouk ischusousin (3PFAI). Amplified: Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. (Amplified Bible - Lockman) Berkley: Strain every nerve to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will be unable to. (Modern Language Bible) ESV: Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. GWT: Try hard to enter through the narrow door. I can guarantee that many will try to enter, but they won't succeed. HCSB: Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able ICB: Try hard to enter through the narrow door that opens the way to heaven! Many people will try to enter there, but they will not be able. KJV: Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. NET: Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. NLT: Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. (NLT - Tyndale House)

Lucas 13:22-30

Henry comments on what those who find themselves shut out had falsely placed their confidence... First, They had been Christ’s guests, had had an intimate converse with him, and had shared in his favors: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, at thy table. Judas ate bread with Christ, dipped with him in the dish. Hypocrites, under the disguise of their external profession, receive the Lord’s supper, and in it partake of the children’s bread, as if they were children. Secondly, They had been Christ’s hearers, had received instruction from Him, and were well acquainted with His doctrine and law: "Thou hast taught in our streets—a distinguishing favour, which few had, and surely it might be taken as a pledge of distinguishing favour now; for would Thou teach us, and not save us?’’ (Luke 13 Commentary - Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible) You taught in our streets - Where? Which streets? (Always practice interrogating the text with the 5W/H questions) The answer is everywhere Jesus went in Israel, because wherever He went He gave primacy (preeminence, supremacy) to teaching of the Word of Truth, a practice all genuine disciples should diligently seek to imitate (Mt 28:19-20). As an aside note that false disciples refused to continue to follow Jesus (Jn 6:66, cf 1Jn 2:19-note). Continuing to follow Jesus (or "abide") is a prerequisite which He Himself laid down to define what constitutes a genuine disciple (see Jn 8:31 - these so called "believers " proved themselves to be only professors, those who had only an intellectual belief as their subsequent behavior proved -- genuine belief should always issue in Spirit enabled, God honoring behavior! Read the entire discourse between Jesus and these "believing" Jews in John 8:31-59, but see especially Jesus "assessment" of their "belief" in Jn 8:44-47 and their subsequent response to Jesus' words in Jn 8:58, 59). Taught (1321) (didasko from dáo= know or teach; English = didactic; see also studies of noun didaskalia and adjective didaktikos) means to provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting. Didasko means to teach a student in such a way that the will of the student becomes conformed to the teaching taught. They may have heard Jesus teach but like the old saying, it went in one ear and out the other! The ultimate Teacher, with the ultimate Word and yet they failed to hear in a way that produced any change in their behavior. The problem was not with the Teacher's words but with the hearer's hearts! And to make matters worse, their hearts were deceived (Jer 17:9), thinking that hearing and not heeding Christ would warrant entrance into the kingdom of heaven. THE MOST DANGEROUS PROCRASTINATION IN LIFE! Steven

Lucas 13:22-30

Henry writes that "It is the hell of hell to depart from Christ, the principal part of the misery of the damned." Beloved ambassador of Christ (2Co 5:20-note), may our Father cause the Spirit of Christ to take this study on our Lord's command to strive to enter the narrow door and break our hearts, empowering us by His Spirit to go forth boldly (Acts 1:8-note, perhaps we need to ask others to pray for us as Paul did in Eph 6:19-20-note) with the message of justification "as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." (Ro 3:24-note). Take a moment and listen to Fanny Crosby's heart piercing words Rescue The Perishing and then go forth with the Gospel seeking to rescue the perishing from the wide gate and broad road that leads to eternal destruction. Thayer summarizes the meaning of aphistemi... Transitively (denoting a verb which requires a direct object), in present, imperfect, future, 1 aorist active -- to make stand off, cause to withdraw, cause someone to move from a point of reference, to remove; tropically, to cause or excite to revolt, to mislead, to alienate, refers to political defection (Ac 5:37, cp use in Lxx of Dt 7:4 "draw...away"). Intransitively (denoting a verb when it does not require a direct object), in perfect, pluperfect, 2 aorist active -- to stand off, stand aloof, with the genitive of person to go away, depart, from anyone (Lk 13:27-note) (from Ps 6:9; cf. Mt. 7:23); Acts 12:10; 19:9; to desert, to leave in a lurch, to withdraw from one, Acts 15:38; to cease to vex one, Lk. 4:13; Acts 5:38; 22:29; 2 Co. 12:8; to fall away, become faithless, to apostatize as in Heb. 3:12-note which is the antithesis of the call to draw near in Hebrews 4:16-note and thus it implies a refusal to listen to God’s voice. All you evildoers - The late comers are shut out because of the evil deeds (manifesting their unregenerate hearts) not because the are "late". Their character is unfit for the mansion of purity. Matthew Henry minces no words noting that "This is their ruin, that, under a pretence of piety, they kept up secret haunts of sin, and did the devil’s drudgery in Christ’s livery (Ed: identifying uniform, distinctive dress, outward appearance - cp 2Ti 3:5-note)." Evildoers - This expression is two words in Greek and is more literally rendered "workers of unrighteousness". Evil (adikia from a = not + dikê = right) means not attaining to God's standard of what is right. Doers (ergates) describes one who is engaged in some kind of work. In other words the ones Jesus addresses work at their sin! Cyril of Alexandria adds that "the light has no communion at all with the darkness: nor can any one he near unto the perfectly pure God who is held by the pollutions of sin, and whose stain is not yet washed away." (Sermon) Steven

Lucas 13:24

Henry points out that Jesus' following discussion contains a number of points that should serve to strongly motivate us to submit and obey His command to strive to enter the narrow door... (1) Think how many take some pains for salvation and yet perish because they do not take enough, and you will say that there are few that will be saved and that it highly concerns us to strive. Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able; they seek, but they do not strive. Note, The reason why many come short of grace and glory is because they rest in a lazy seeking of that which will not be attained without a laborious striving. They have a good mind to happiness, and a good opinion of holiness, and take some good steps towards both. But their convictions are weak; they do not consider what they know and believe, and, consequently, their desires are cold, and their endeavours feeble, and there is no strength or steadiness in their resolutions; and thus they come short, and lose the prize, because they do not press forward. Christ avers this upon his own word: I say unto you; and we may take it upon his word, for he knows both the counsels of God and the hearts of the children of men. (2) Think of the distinguishing day that is coming and the decisions of that day, and you will say there are a few that shall be saved and that we are concerned to strive (3) Think how many who were very confident that they should be saved will be rejected in the day of trial, and their confidences will deceive them, and you will say that there are few that shall be saved and that we are all concerned to strive....Many are ruined by an ill-grounded hope of heaven, which they never distrusted or called in question, and therefore conclude their state is good because they never doubted it. They call Christ, Lord, as if they were his servants; nay, in token of their importunity, they double it, Lord, Lord. DON'T PUT OFF UNTIL TOMORROW WHAT YOU MUST DO TODAY! TOMORROW MAY BE TOO LATE! Puritan writer John Owen notes that agonizomai "embraces in its general sense, not only great and continued effort, but such timely action, as to avoid being excluded in the way referred to in the following verse. The contrast lies principally in the idea of prompt and energetic effort on the one hand and a fatal procrastination (put off from day to day; delay; defer to a future time) on the other. This brings out with emphasis the NOW, with which all the offers of salvation are made to men in the Word of God. See Isa 1:18; Jer. 25:5; 35:15; Zech. 1:4; Lk 14:17; Ro. 13:11; 2Co. 6:2; Heb 4:7. It is most unquestionably true, that men are often beguiled to ruin, by mistaking a few vain and feeble efforts for the energetic action requisite to obtain salvation; but that is not here the prominent idea (Ed: Do not misunderstand - Owen is not saying our efforts merit entry through the narrow door, for by works shall no man be saved). Our Lord intends to warn men against delaying to enter the strait gate, until it is shut, and they are forever excluded. This will appear more clear from the following verse (Lk 13:25). (Owen, J. J. Commentary on Luke) Enter (1525) (eiserchomai from eis = into + erchomai = come) means to go or come into and so to enter into. (Aorist Active Infinitive) The narrow door - KJV has the "strait gate". Frederic Godet writes that "The strait gate represents attachment to the lowly Messiah; the magnificent gateway by which the Jews would have wished to enter, would represent, if it were mentioned, the appearance of the glorious Messiah whom they expected. (Luke 13:22 Commentary) IVP Commentary - Jesus is clear from the start: "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door." The verb here, make every effort, or better "strive" (NRSV; Greek agonizomai), suggests great labor and struggle in the effort to get through the door. The verb is used in other contexts of an athlete in training (1 Cor 9:25). Our world places many obstacles before us, as does our own pride. Access to God is not a wide-open, take-anyroute-you-want affair. He sets the route's ways and means. So many . . . will try to enter and will not be able to. Such restrictiveness would not surprise this Jewish audience, since it was already taught that Israel was God's elect nation (m. Sanhedrin 10:1; 2 Esdras 7:47; 8:4--9:22). Second Esdras 8:3 reads, "Many are created, but few are saved." The surprise in Jesus' reply is not that access may be limited, but who gains entry. There will come a time when the householder arises and shuts the door, announcing that the time for filling the room has come to an end. Those on the outside of the closed door will knock, seeking entrance, but it will be denied. The basis of the refusal is the Master's declaration that he does not know those who knock. Earlier, when there had been opportunity to get to know the Lord, those outside had not been interested. So the Lord now says, "I don't know you or where you come from." The Lord's denial perplexes those who appeal for entry, since they once had meals in Jesus' presence and listened to his teaching in the streets. But Jesus' reply makes it clear that exposure is not knowledge. Something more than presence is required in coming to know Jesus. So he tells them, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!" Outward contact with Jesus means nothing; inward reception is everything (Lk 6:46-49; Jn 1:12). There is no bargaining with the Lord here. The issue is simply, Did you know him? (Luke 12 Commentary - Know the Time- Israel Turns Away but Blessing Still Comes - BibleGateway.com) Arthur