8. The Narrowness and Breadth of the Kingdom (Luke 13:18-30)
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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The Kingdom is a paradox. Jesus teaches that it
is both small and great, both narrow and broad. In this lesson we'll
examine several of Jesus' parables designed to help us understand
the true nature of the Kingdom, in its size, in its exclusivity, and
in its universal reach.
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Fractio Panis "the breaking of
bread"), Greek Chapel, Catacomb of St. Priscilla, fresco,
third century, on the arch over the altar tomb upon which
the sacrament of the Eucharist was performed. It probably
represents the eschatological banquet in the Kingdom of God.
Larger image. |
We begin with two brief and familiar parables.
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven (or Yeast) are
comparisons.
"Then Jesus asked, 'What is the
kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?'" (Luke 13:18)
A comparison is not an allegory. In a
comparison, one point is compared; in an allegory each element in
one scene fits an element in the other. A few of Jesus' parables
have allegorical elements, such as the Parable of the Tenants (Luke
20:9-19). But the parables we are studying in this lesson are not
allegories but simple comparisons.
The first parable compares the Kingdom to a
mustard seed.
"It is like a mustard seed, which a
man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and
the birds of the air perched in its branches." (Luke 13:19)
A mustard seed, parallels in the other Synoptic
Gospels tell us,1 was considered by the Jews as the smallest of seeds. Later, Jesus
uses the mustard seed to describe the tiniest amount of faith (Luke
17:6). "Mustard" is usually identified as Sinapis nigra,
"black mustard," which grows to a shrub about 4 feet high, but
occasionally can grow to 15 feet high and would qualify as a "tree."
Three varieties of mustard were grown in gardens because of their
aromatic seeds.2 Jesus mentions the growth, but the main emphasis seems to be on the
beginning (very small) and the end (very large). Small beginnings,
large endings.
But there's one more detail to consider:
"The birds of the air perched in its
branches." (Luke 13:19b)
Probably all that means is that the tree was
large enough to sustain life around it. It isn't just a marginal
tree, but one which provides support for wildlife. Some think that
the birds of the air represent the Gentile nations seeking refuge
with Israel.3 That may be so (as a secondary allegory). But I think "the birds of
the air perched in its branches" is the way Jesus rounded out his
story, in words echoing Daniel and Ezekiel.4
Note that in the Parable of the Sower, the
birds, pecking at seed along the path, stand for the devil, "who
comes and takes away the word from their hearts" (Luke 8:5, 12). But
here the birds are not enemies but welcomed guests. Jesus' use of
examples is flexible. Just because an item was used for evil in one
parable doesn't mean it has to have the same significance in
another.
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Sir John Everett Millais, (Pre-Raphaelite painter,
1829-1896), "The Leaven" (1864), relief print, 140 x 108 mm,
from illustrations to The Parables of Our Lord,
engraved by the Dalziel Brothers.
Larger
image. |
The Parable of the Leaven has a similar idea.
"Again he asked, 'What shall I compare
the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed
into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the
dough.'" (Luke 13:20-21)
Jesus provides another comparison to explain
the Kingdom of God. He compares it to a small lump of yeasty dough
that is kneaded into a large amount of flour until it is
homogenized. In the West we can purchase sealed packets of dry yeast
for baking. But in Jesus' day, they would save a little bit of one
day's dough, and keep it moist until the next morning when they
would mix it into the dough for next day's bread.
If you've never baked a loaf of bread, you may
not understand the radical difference that yeast makes. You take
flour, water, a bit of oil and salt and knead it together with some
softened yeast. It is pretty compact at this point, and if you were
to bake it now, the bread would be heavy and hard. I've made some
pretty awful bread in my day, to the point that my wife accuses me
of giving my son what I claimed was bread but was really a stone
(compare Matthew 7:9).
As the yeast begins to metabolize the sugars in
the dough, it forms carbon dioxide that puffs into tiny gas pockets
all throughout the dough. The gas can't escape because of the
elastic gluten in the flour, so these pockets of gas stay in the
loaf. When the loaf finally goes into the oven, the gas expands even
more as the temperature rises, until the dough finally bakes,
holding the shape of those tiny gas pockets, now filled with air.
And as the bread rises, the size increases many
fold. When I bake bread, I use a large pottery bowl and place the
kneaded dough in the bottom of the bowl. By the time it has risen,
the dough is nearly overflowing the bowl.
What's the point of the parable? A small amount
of yeast will leaven a large amount of dough. The tiny lump of yeast
will produce a large loaf of bread. Small beginnings, large endings.
Occasionally people get confused about this
parable. They reason that since leaven is used negatively sometimes
(Luke 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9), that it must be
negative in the Parable of the Leaven. As we've seen in the Parable
of the Mustard Seed, that assumption isn't warranted.
The primary idea of both parables is that what
is small now -- because of the Kingdom's influence -- will someday be very great.
If you're like me, sometimes you get
discouraged. What you've worked so hard to do seems so small and
insignificant -- so futile, so hopeless, so tiny. The disciples may
have felt that way about the Kingdom of God. Here's an itinerant
carpenter-preacher speaking in villages in a minor Roman province.
Not very impressive when you look at the big picture. But within a
single generation after Christ's death, Christianity had spread all
over the Roman empire and beyond -- India to the East, Ethiopia to
the South, and Britannia to the West.
Just because the Kingdom didn't seem very great
as yet, Jesus is saying in these parables, doesn't mean that it will
stay small. The Kingdom of God begins as small and insignificant,
but grows to become large and powerful. Mustard seeds versus trees,
tiny leaven-lumps versus large bread loaves, fresh and fragrant from
rising, and ready for the oven.
What is it that you are facing that discourages
you? What is the mountain that seems insurmountable? There's a trite
but true old saying, "Little is much if God is in it." There's a
very interesting command in Zechariah 4:10: "Don't despise the day
of small things."5 Too often we, like Jesus' first disciples, are tempted to give up
when we see the tiny, struggling beginnings, and think that's all
there will be.
So Jesus' parable about the mustard seed and
the tree is a parable for me and you, too. Tiny leaven, big loaf is
intended for us, as well. My disciple friend, let Jesus speak
encouragement and faith to you this day. Don't quit. Don't judge
your efforts or Jesus' power by what you can see right now. The
seeds we sow today will grow great crops in season. "For we walk by
faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, KJV).
In fact, the entire Bible is filled with the
paradox illustrated by these parables:
"Having believed, you were marked in
him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit
guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those
who are God's possession -- to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians
1:13-14)
"So will it be with the resurrection
of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is
raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised
in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body." (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
"Those who sow in tears will
reap with songs of joy." (Psalm 126:5)
"I consider that our present
sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that
will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)
"For our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)
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Q1. (Luke 13:19-21) What is the
point of the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven?
How would this be encouraging to Jesus' disciples who had
expected an instant Messianic Kingdom? How might it be
encouraging to people experiencing smallness or poverty in
their lives?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1021
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When I read our next passage, the Parable of
the Narrow Door, I sense Jesus' sadness -- sadness that only a few
will be saved, sadness that many will not enter the door, sadness
that many of his people will be excluded from the feast, sadness
that Jerusalem resists his love and desire to gather them to the
Father. Sadness.
As Jesus is teaching his way through the land,
someone raises an important question.
"Then Jesus went through the towns and
villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked
him, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?'" (Luke
13:22-23)
We hear the same question debated in our own
day. There's an old joke about St. Peter showing newcomers around
heaven. When the tour comes near a huddled group of people, St.
Peter puts his finger to his lips. "Quiet," he says. "Don't disturb
them. Those are the Baptists -- and they think they're the only ones
here." (I happen to be a Baptist.)
Some groups are so tight that they actually
think that other Christian denominations won't get to heaven. Others
see God's love as so forgiving that they can't imagine how anyone
can ultimately be lost. For them, hell isn't possible.
Actually, my dear friends, none of us really
knows the answer to the question, "How many?" or "How few?" The best
we can do on our own is theological speculation. But we'll learn if
we listen to Jesus' response to the question. Jesus gives us an
authoritative answer, though it's not a direct one. Instead of
answering Yes or No, he characteristically tells a story.
"He said to them, 'Make every effort
to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try
to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets
up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and
pleading, "Sir, open the door for us."'" (Luke 13:24-25a)
The Parable of the Narrow Door seems to
involve a homeowner holding a banquet (if we can include elements in
the parable from verse 28). There is a narrow door at which guests
are supposed to enter, but the time comes -- perhaps when the banquet
is ready to begin -- that the host gets up and closes the door.
Eventually, there is knocking and pleading from outside the door
from would-be attenders who arrived late. But the host simply says,
"I don't know you. Get away, you rabble."
It's not quite that simple, since the parable
proper only seems to extend from verses 24 to 25; then it merges
into a prophetic portrayal of the heavenly banquet. Let's look at
some of the elements.
Jesus tells the questioners,
"Make every effort to enter through
the narrow door...." (Luke 13:24)
The phrase "make every effort" (NIV) or
"strive" (NRSV, KJV) is Greek agōnizomai, which originally
meant "engage in an athletic contest," and then "to fight,
struggle." The word is used of wrestling in prayer (Colossians
4:12), and "fighting the good fight" (1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy
4:7). Danker translates the phrase in our verse, "strain every nerve
to enter."6
This is no casual entry whenever we're ready.
My wife sometimes says to me, "We have to be on time!" That's
the sense here. We cannot fail to get to this appointment in
time. It is urgent! It is pressing! It is critical!
The goal is the door, Greek thura,
"door, a passage for entering a structure, entrance, doorway, gate."7 In
this case it is probably the door to a house or courtyard that is in
mind. There's no indication that the latecomers can see the host,
but are probably talking through a solid door.
The next word I want to examine is translated
"narrow" (NIV, NRSV) or "strait" (KJV), Greek stenos, in
reference to dimension, "narrow." In Greek literature it is used of
gates, doors, prison cells, and pathways.8 The related verb means "to crowd, cramp, confine, restrict."9
In my mind's eye I see the grand house where
the banquet will take place, but people are only entering through a
small door at the side. The grand front doors are closed, and entry
is only through the side door. Jesus tells his hearers that they
must strain to get through that door. It won't be easy -- perhaps
from the narrowness of the doorway (you have to lose a few pounds to
get through) or from the crush of people trying to get in through
this single door. Whatever the cause, getting in won't be easy, but
we are to make every effort, strain, struggle to get in.
Elsewhere in Jesus' teaching we see the same
kind of straining and difficulty to get into the Kingdom of God.10 Best known is Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount:
"Enter through the narrow gate (Greek
pulē). For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and
narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
(Matthew 7:13-14)
This is a different parable told in a different
setting, for it is speaking of gateways to roads rather than
doorways to houses, but the idea is similar.
In our passage, Jesus says,
"Many, I tell you, will try to enter
and will not be able to." (Luke 13:24)
Why can't they get in? Is the way barred? No,
but we know from Jesus' other teaching that entry into the Kingdom
of God requires repentance and change. And many, many want the goal
-- the inheritance of the Kingdom or of heaven -- so long as it costs
them nothing, especially their allegiance and obedience. And so they
try to enter, but do not succeed when they learn the cost.
In Jesus' parable, finally the host "gets up
and closes the door..." (Luke 13:24). Apparently the host is seated
or reclining at the banquet table, but it is time to begin and he
deliberately gets up and shuts the door. No more guests can enter.
The banquet will begin.
Now those who had tried the first time but
failed to enter, come again, see the door closed, and begin pounding
on it. They knock and plead to no avail.
"But he will answer, 'I don't
know you or where you come from.'
Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our
streets.'
But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away
from me, all you evildoers!'" (Luke 13:25b-27)
Through the closed door, the homeowner denies
that he knows those outside, shouting to get inside. "I don't know
you or where you come from."
That seems a bit harsh. But I see these people
as name-droppers trying to crash a party. They may have met the host
once, or worked in the building next door, or have a cousin who was
friends with the host's son, but they don't have any real
relationship themselves. They try to create a bogus relationship:
"We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets" (Luke
13:26), but the host denies any relationship that obligates him to
open the door, and shoos them away. "Away from me, all you
evildoers" (Luke 13:27). We see similar ideas in the Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 7:21-23) and Jesus' Parable of the Ten Virgins
(Matthew 25:1-18). It sounds like a person who is fed up with the
excuses of party-crashers and tells them to "get lost." Then the
host leaves the door where the latecomers are clamoring, and returns
to his guests.
Now Jesus shifts from the Parable of the Narrow
Door to the familiar scene of the eschatological banquet, which
we'll also consider in
Lesson 10. ("Eschatological" means "referring
to the end times.")
"There will be weeping there, and
gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
People will come from east and west and north and south, and will
take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there
are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be
last." (Luke 13:28-30)
We see this banquet first prophesied in
Isaiah:
"On this mountain the Lord
Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine --
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will ... swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth."
(Isaiah 25:6-8a)
Notice that it is a banquet "for all peoples" -- that is, not just Jews, but also the Gentiles. Jesus makes this
point as well:
"People will come from east and west
and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the
kingdom of God." (Luke 13:29)
Jesus alludes to this Great Banquet on
several other occasions:
- Praising the faith of the Centurion (Matthew 8:11-12)
- The Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24;
Matthew 22:2-14)
- At the Last Supper (Mark 14:25; Matthew 26:29)
It is finally referred to in the Book of
Revelation as "The Marriage Supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:20).
One of the paradoxes of this banquet is that the guests are honored
inside at the same time as sinners suffer judgment and
anguish outside.
Jesus' description of the Great Banquet in Luke
13:28-30 teaches something important about the Kingdom. It is
extremely broad in its invitation list, but extremely narrow in the
guests that will strive to enter its narrow door.
The Gentiles, whom the Jews considered "last,"
may well be given first place in this banquet, while the Jews, who
considered themselves "first" in God's estimation, may find
themselves last -- perhaps even outside the Kingdom, unless they
repent and respond to Jesus' call.
Jesus' message is plain: Repent and enter the
Kingdom of God while you can, because there will come a time when it
is too late to respond. This is a time-critical decision. Paul says,
"I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is
the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Jesus says that we must try very hard to
enter now; there is no guarantee of another opportunity. I think of
Paul witnessing to Felix, Governor of Caesarea. Felix is afraid of
judgment, and dismisses Paul until a "convenient time" to talk
again. And, mercifully, there are other times to talk. But one day,
two years later, Felix is abruptly transferred out of Caesarea and
his opportunity to be saved is gone. He never sees Paul again (Acts
24:24-27).
There is a door of salvation before you and
your family, your neighbors and your friends. It is a narrow door,
but it is still open to you. And Jesus calls you -- no, commands you
-- "Strive, struggle to enter through the narrow door." Do it now,
don't wait. It is a time-sensitive command. For the day will come
when the door will be abruptly shut, and unless you are inside God's
household, God's Kingdom, it will be forever too late.
God's Kingdom is like that: difficult to enter,
but glorious. Small now, but one day great beyond all description.
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Q4. (Luke 13:18-20) According to
these parables in this lesson, in what ways is the Kingdom
small? In what ways does the Kingdom grow? In what ways is
the Kingdom door narrow? In what way is the Kingdom banquet,
on the one hand, large and diverse, and on the other,
selective?
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Prayer
Father, as I study these verses, I sense your
urgency and the anguish. You don't want anyone to perish but all to
reach repentance. You are calling, inviting, wooing, commanding --
doing everything in your power to draw men and women to yourself and to
your salvation. Forgive me for my complacency. Oh God, rekindle that
sense of urgency and anguished love within me today. In Jesus' name,
I pray. Amen.
"What is the kingdom of God like? What
shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took
and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds
of the air perched in its branches." (Luke 13:18-19, NIV)
"Make every effort to enter through
the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and
will not be able to." (Luke 13:24, NIV)
Discipleship Lessons
on Jesus and the Kingdom Bible Study
Copyright © 1985-2012, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
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