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Jewish belief at the time would have proclaimed that all Jews, except notorious sinners like tax collectors and prostitutes, would inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the message that Jesus consistently articulated was offensive and confusing to many who listened. Oftentimes, we read that the crowds who listened were large but the actual amount of dedicated followers were few and far between. Jesus had a knack for calling out the fence-sitters. You couldn’t bluff Him. He always laid it out in black and white, and was content to let the chips fall where they may according to the will of God. Here in verse 22, we see Him doing just that.
And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Luke 13:22-24 NASB
Obviously, the people who followed had the impression that Jesus was teaching that salvation would be restrictive. Jesus goes on to tell a parable of how some who expected to get into the narrow door will be locked out and how some who weren’t expected to get in will indeed be there with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets. He is setting the table to replace the nationalistic Jewish understanding of salvation with a completely new concept: namely, Himself. In other words, Jesus is the narrow door.
What Jesus was ultimately teaching is that there is a difference between seeking and striving. It is no different in relationships. If I merely seek after my wife, our relationship will be casual and average. If I strive after her, I prioritize her above all other relationships. Striving is intentional, and because salvation was shifting from a nationalistic/land promise to the Person of Christ, Jesus was teaching that only those who truly know Him and trust Him by faith will enter the narrow door. But this wasn’t all Jesus was changing.
At the end of Luke 13, Jesus laments over Jerusalem. The city that was the focal point of the Promised Land in the Old Testament is now a place of death and judgment in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus confirms that in His encounter with the Samaritan woman. Jesus tells her a time is coming when you will worship in spirit and in truth – not in Jerusalem (John 4:21). The writer of Hebrews confirms that believers will no longer go to physical Jerusalem to worship God but to heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22).
Jesus’ lament in Luke 13 reflects the future annihilation of Jerusalem because the glory has departed. Things are changing. When Israel went into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians, it was Galilee that was conquered first. Isaiah prophesies that the people walking in darkness will see a great light.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV
We find in the Gospels that the first place to experience the darkness of exile will be the first place to experience the light of Christ. If you study Matthew and Mark, you will find that Galilee, not Jerusalem, is where Jesus initiates this new age. For example, Mark 1-8 follows Jesus through Galilee where He is joyously welcomed and accepted. This is also where Peter declares that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah. As Jesus makes His way toward Jerusalem throughout the Gospels, it is always referred to as a place of conflict, rejection, and death.
However, not all is lost! A spiritual Jerusalem awaits for the Second Coming of Christ when the New Heaven and New Earth will descend for all eternity and believers will witness the fullness of God forever.