Wayside Conversations

Luke 13:22-35

GOLDEN TEXT: “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.”
—Luke 14:27

THE narrowness of the narrow way, the failure of many to enter it and receive the reward at the end, and the casting off of the natural house of Israel to whom the chief Messianic favors were first offered, are the main points presented in our Scripture lesson for today. Jesus taught by the wayside, as our lesson shows, but because He made the terms of discipleship so difficult, apparently few genuine conversions to His cause were made. It was this that led to the question quoted in the 23rd verse, “Lord, are there few that be saved?”

In view of the seemingly strange course the ministry of Jesus had taken this was a very natural question for any Jew who looked upon Jesus as the Messiah, to ask. Had not the God of their fathers promised that through their Messiah all peoples were to be blessed? (Gen. 12:1-3; 22:18) Had not the angel in announcing the birth of Jesus proclaimed it as being glad tidings for “all people”? (Luke 2:10) What, then, was the meaning of the Master’s teachings which after the multitude had received the “loaves and fishes” of temporal blessings from Him, drove them away?

Jesus did not directly answer the question, “Are there few that be saved?” Instead, He stressed the importance of striving to measure up to the terms of discipleship which He had outlined, no matter how few or how many might be saved. He described the “gate” as being “strait,” that is difficult, and it is. It is the way of the cross and there is nothing in the symbolism of the cross to suggest pleasantness and ease. The way of the cross is the way of death. Christians are crucified with Christ—“planted together in the likeness of His death.”—Romans 6:5

It is unnatural for anyone to seek death, yet in striving to enter the “strait” gate, one is seeking the way of sacrificial death. The rich young nobleman came to Jesus seeking the way to life, but when the Master invited him to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, and then take up his cross and follow Him, he went away sorrowful. There have been many like him since, who likewise, have found the terms of discipleship too drastic. There are so many, in fact, unwilling to pay the price, that in all the age only a “little flock” qualify for joint-heirship in the Kingdom with the Master. Only one here and there is willing to suffer and die with Jesus in order to live and reign with Him.

This glorious privilege of discipleship does not last forever. It was a special favor that was restricted to the Jewish nation for a while, but not long, for Jesus declared that their house was left unto them desolate. Then the Lord turned to the Gentiles, but only until the required number—the “fullness of the Gentiles” be come in. (Rom. 11:25) Jesus indicates that many will awake to the great privilege which had been offered to them when it’s too late. The disappointment of these is symbolically described as “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”—Verse 28

This weeping and gnashing of teeth is not to take place in a creedal hell of torment as tradition has taught. Thank God for that! And thank God, also, for the fact that the closing of the narrow wav of sacrifice does not mean the end of His mercy for sinners. It represents merely the close of the opportunity to suffer with Christ now and to reign with Him in His Kingdom. All mankind will receive the blessings to be administered by that Kingdom, but they will not be invited to walk the narrow way into death. On the contrary they will have the happy Privilege of walking up the “highway” to life.—Isaiah 35:8-10

The great disappointment on the part of those who claimed admittance to the chief favors of the Jewish age is expressed when they “see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” in the Kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out. This would indicate that Jesus had in mind the Jews of His day, which, when awakened from the sleep of death in the Millennium, will find it difficult to realize that they, the once favored people of God, have lost the chief favor.—Romans 11:7

They are represented as making the claim of having known and co-operated with the Messiah; but whatever their service may have been it had not been acceptable—they had not been willing to pay the price of true discipleship. They see the prophets in the Kingdom having a part in dispensing its blessings—an earthly part: “princes in all the earth”—but even this is denied those to whom Jesus first offered Himself, and by whom He was rejected.

That these are “cast out” of the Kingdom does not necessarily mean that they have lost the opportunity for everlasting life. The lesson applies to the personnel of the Kingdom; that is, those who have a place of service in either its heavenly or earthly phase. The disciples of Jesus will reign with Him in the spiritual phase; the ancient prophets will be “princes” in the earthly phase, but those who gnash their teeth in disappointment do so because they are “cast out” from both phases, yet they may still gain life by responding to the invitation, “Come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”—Rev. 22:17

QUESTIONS:

Why was Jesus asked the question, “Lord, are there few that be saved?”

Why is it so difficult to enter the “strait” gate?

Does the closing of this gate signify the end of all opportunity for salvation?

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