WWUTT 2418 Enter the Kingdom Through the Narrow Door (Luke 13:18-30)

The Kingdom of God in the Mustard Seed and Leaven Parables

Jesus gives two parables about the kingdom of God, being like a grain of a mustard seed that grows and becomes a tree, or being like leaven that is hid in flour, and then he also talks about how many will get into the kingdom when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Find all our videos and other ministry resources at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Luke, we've been in chapter 13 this week, and we come to a couple of parables that Jesus teaches on the kingdom of God, followed by a lesson that Jesus gives on the narrow door, which is meant to follow the lesson that's in the parables.

So let me begin reading here in verse 18, and I'll go through verse 30, hear the word of the Lord. Jesus said, therefore, What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

And again he said, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

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. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us, then he will answer you, I do not know where you come from.

Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil. 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.

And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Now, yesterday, when we were reading about the miracle that Jesus did on the Sabbath, straightening the crooked woman who was disabled because of an evil spirit, there was a change in the narrative there that I forgot to mention.

Remember that at the start of chapter 12, Jesus had been teaching his disciples and all the crowds were present. And that continued from the start of chapter 12 until chapter 13, verse nine. Sometimes Jesus would address the disciples with something in particular.

Sometimes he would address the crowds. But all that we had read there was in the same setting. We've had a scene change that happened at verse 10, because then it says, as he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

So you still have a lot of people that are listening to Jesus. His disciples are with him. There are others that have come into the synagogue to listen to him. And that's how that woman ends up there, that Jesus calls over to him and heals.

And it's probably still in that setting of the synagogue that Jesus shares this couple of parables. I wanted to include that with the lesson yesterday and just ran out of time. But it goes with the next teaching that Jesus gives as he's journeying to Jerusalem.

So these parables fit well between the miracle that Jesus just did and then the teaching on the narrow door that he is going to give. You've probably seen this pattern through chapter 12 and 13 of Jesus either teaching something or performing a miracle, and then there's a parable in between.

The Mustard Seed and the Growth of the Kingdom

So here we get the couple of parables in verses 18 to 21, the mustard seed and the leaven, and then the lesson on the narrow door in verses 22 to 30. So back to verse 18, Jesus said, what is the kingdom of God like?

Most of the parables are pointing to the kingdom of God. It's an illustration to help you understand a kingdom that you can't perceive with human senses necessarily. Like in Luke chapter 17, we're not there yet.

But later, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. And Jesus answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, look, here it is or there.

For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. So because it's not something that you can perceive with your five physical senses, Jesus gives these parables to illustrate what the kingdom of God is like.

And as he has said to the disciples about understanding the parables to you, it has been given to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to them, it has not been given. It's hidden from them in parables, whereas it's illustrated to the disciples, the learners of Christ to understand the kingdom through these parables.

So Jesus says in verse 18, once again, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? And then we have two illustrations. It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

You're probably familiar with the mustard seed analogy. There's another place where Jesus says, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you are able to move mountains. So we know the seed being probably the smallest seed in the region of Judah.

And so that small seed becomes this huge tree. That's the illustrations going on there with the first parable. And then the second verse 20, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.

Now, these parables come right after the miracle that Jesus did, and the parables lead into the next lesson that Jesus is going to give about the narrow door. So let's consider the parables in the middle and then understand exactly what's being said by the parables as well.

So when Jesus heals the woman with a disabling spirit, the people rejoiced. Verse 17 is Jesus said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame. Because remember, the Pharisees there were like, hey, there are six days of the week that you can come in here and get healing, but don't do it on the Sabbath.

And Jesus shamed them by saying, you will untie your ox or your donkey and go away to water it. How much more value does this daughter of Abraham have that I should heal her and straighten her up and cast this evil spirit out of her?

So the people rejoiced at the adversaries being put to shame, and they praise God for all the glorious things that were being done by him. So as these people are celebrating, Jesus gives them this illustration.

This is still in the context of the teaching that he's been doing there in the synagogue. So far, we haven't heard about what Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. We've only seen this miracle that he's performed.

So as he's teaching there, he says, what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? So then you have the parable of the mustard seed in the parable of the leaven. Now with the lesson that's coming up, you have this question about how many people will enter into the kingdom of God.

Now this is a different setting. Again, this is as Jesus is going through towns and villages, teaching and journeying throughout Jerusalem. So it's probably not anybody that saw Jesus perform this miracle in the synagogue, which would have happened sometime before.

But Luke puts it right here to put this particular lesson in context with the parables that have been shared. This is also about the kingdom of God. For Jesus says in verse 29, people will come from east and west and from north and south and recline at table in the kingdom of God.

And so he's talking about the vast number of people that will come into the kingdom. He doesn't directly answer the question, but what he does say certainly gives an answer to there being a great multitude of people that will enter the kingdom of God.

So now let's look at those parables and understand exactly what's being illustrated. These two parables, post-millennials like to use the post-millennial position in case you're familiar with it, is the idea that the majority of the world is going to be Christian by the time that Jesus returns.

The gospel is literally going to go out to all the world and save the majority of people on the planet. And they'll use these two parables. You'll have the grain of mustard seed. It's something small as the church began there in Jerusalem in 80, 30, and then it grows out and becomes as huge big thing as it is in the world today and is getting even larger.

So they'll use that with regard to the mustard seed. And then the other one I've heard post-millennials use over and over again. The kingdom of God is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leaven.

So just like that whole batch of flour will be leaven, so it will be with the whole world. The gospel will be all over it. There are aspects to that I agree with and parts of that I disagree with, of course, because I'm not post-millennial.

So in verse 18, this is definitely misreading this parable. It's misunderstanding the parable when you take it and apply it to your eschatology like.

That.

This actually does not speak to any eschatological position except to understand that the kingdom of God is going to go through. It is going to grow throughout the earth. And there are many that are going to come into the kingdom of God.

But this kingdom is also going to grow inside of you. Let me show you. So verse 19, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden and it grew and became a tree.

So what we have here, again, is the church starting out small and growing into a great big thing. That is definitely a right interpretation of this parable. And then the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

So you have birds coming from everywhere, right? And that's showing how the Gentiles even will come into the kingdom of God, though Jesus doesn't explicitly say that. So it's not just going to be for children of Israel.

There will be Jews who will become Christians. Obviously, the apostles, including Paul, come to faith in Jesus Christ and they come into the kingdom. And Paul talks more about this in Romans chapter nine as well.

So there are Jews that come into the kingdom. But this will especially go out into the world and bring Gentiles. All the nations, tribe, tongue and nation will come into the kingdom through the hearing of the gospel and putting faith in Jesus Christ.

Birds of the air make nests in its branches. Think back also to the illustration I gave of the cultivated olive tree earlier in the.

Week.

That's in Romans chapter 11. But then this next parable, this this next parable is actually not about how the kingdom of God expands over the whole world. These two parables don't don't point to the same thing.

The first parable is the kingdom of God spreading throughout the earth. But the second parable is how the kingdom of God grows inside of you. Consider it. To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took.

And it could be I've heard this interpreted this way, but I you know, you've probably heard my warning before. Be careful of over interpreting the parables. To me, something beyond what it's meant to be.

But I've heard some interpret the woman as being the church. So is the church has the responsibility of taking the gospel out into the world. The woman took the leaven and hid it in three measures of flour.

And the number three could be in reference to the spirit, soul and body of a person. As the Apostle Paul says,. First Thessalonians chapter five. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So especially because in this parable, the illustration is that she hides the leaven inside in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. And this is the kingdom of God as it grows inside of you.

So the first illustration is the kingdom of God growing throughout the earth. The second illustration is the kingdom of God growing inside you. So when you come to faith in Jesus Christ and you put your faith and trust in him, you become a member of the kingdom of God and you grow in your citizenship, so to speak.

So you come to a greater understanding of what it means to be a citizen in the kingdom of God. And as you grow as a subject to the king, then the word of the kingdom grows inside.

Of you.

It sanctifies you. It grows you in holiness. The Apostle Peter talks about this in in first Peter, chapter two, also in second Peter, chapter one. Pay attention to this word as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

So the more you invest in the word, the more you are filled with the light of the word. And also consider what Paul said to the Philippians, Philippians 3, 20, our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

So we grow in our knowledge of the king and of his kingdom. And in this way, that leaven that is put inside of us grows as we are in pursuit of Christ. So that's the that's the two illustrations there.

Entering Through the Narrow Door

Now what Jesus says next, this next lesson, again, Luke includes it in this context on the teaching of the kingdom. Jesus went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

This this had started back in chapter nine when Jesus had set his face to journey to Jerusalem. Luke 9, 51, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Now there's 24 chapters in Luke.

So it's interesting that Luke spends most of his time, most of the writing of this gospel is focusing on when Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem and then there in Jerusalem, where he would be crucified and risen again.

So that's that's most of this gospel. And it's a span of, you know, a few months or something like that, as Jesus is going to Jerusalem. So as as he is journeying through the towns and villages and he is teaching, somebody says to him, Lord, will those who are saved be few?

Now, again, the person asking this question, probably not aware of the miracle that he had performed in the synagogue, may not have even heard the parables that Jesus had taught there in the synagogue.

But Luke includes it here in this context. And it was pretty well understood among the Jews that they had instant access into the kingdom of God, but everybody else in the world would be excluded. So the vast majority of people on the planet would not get into the kingdom of God.

And in the Jewish mindset, that was all the Jews get in and the Gentiles are going to be left out unless they bless Israel. So how many people are going to bless Israel and therefore how many people are going to get into the kingdom of God is is the number of saved?

Is that going to be few? Jesus doesn't directly answer the question, but instead he says this, strive to enter through the narrow door. Don't you be thinking about and concerning yourself with the numbers of everybody else?

What do you need to be doing? You need to be focusing on Christ, who is the narrow door, strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able when once the master of the house has arisen and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door saying, Lord, open to us, then he will answer you.

I do not know where you come from. Now, this illustration, this parable that he's giving here is very similar to the parable that he gave in Chapter 12 about the the servants being ready for the master's return.

The master comes, knocks on the door, the servants open the door, he comes in and serves the servants and then eats and drinks with them, dines with them at table. So this is it's almost a continuation of that parable where the masters come in and now he shut the door.

So who didn't make it in to be part of this party? They're knocking on the door and saying, Lord, let us in. And he answers, I don't know where you come from. I don't know you. I don't know why you're knocking on this door.

You're not part of this gathering. Verse 26, then you will begin to say, and he directs it right back to the hearer. You will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets.

So this might be directed to that Jew who will say, hey, I hung out with you while you.

Were here.

Maybe that Jew didn't believe, but he was in proximity of Jesus. He ate the loaves that Jesus broke and fed the crowds with. He maybe had another miracle done to him. He sat in the synagogue and listened to the teaching.

But did he believe? Did he put his trust in Jesus Christ? Did he continue to listen to the Pharisees and go after his works, obeying the law, or even keeping all the extra laws that the Pharisees imposed, thinking that doing all of that was what would get me into the kingdom?

I hung out with you while you were here. Why not let me in? But Jesus will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil. 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. Now, just like the parable that we read in Luke 12, just like this one kind of picks up from that one a little bit.

When we get to Jesus talking about the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man in hell and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, this is in Luke chapter 16. This is going to be a continuation or sorry, that lesson will be a continuation of this as well.

For Jesus says you'll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. The rich man sees Abraham in the kingdom, in paradise, and Abraham will even say if they're not willing to listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone should rise from the dead.

So Abraham points to the other prophets as well. In verse 29 here, Jesus says people will come from east and west and from north and south and recline at table in the kingdom of God. So what he's saying in response to this question is there are a lot of people that are going to get into the kingdom.

As we read about in Revelation chapter six, it's a number so big that it cannot be counted. Now, I wouldn't argue to say that it's going to be the majority of the world as a post-millennial will argue.

Christianity has certainly grown on the planet. There are more Christians alive today than there probably have ever been in human history. But just as Christianity will grow, so will evil. There will be plenty of false teaching that will grow.

If you're talking about the number of people on the planet who are Christians being over two billion, statistically, that might be how it comes out to be. You've got a billion Protestants and a billion Roman Catholics, and then maybe a few extras that would, you know, Eastern Orthodox or something like that, it would also claim to be Christian.

So however many, the number of people on the planet come out to be as far as followers of Jesus Christ are concerned. But even though that's statistically the number, when you're just talking about statistics, the number of people who are actually Christians is way, way less than that.

So there are going to be many who will proclaim just as being said here. There are going to be many who are going to say, Lord, we were with you. We were with you. We were in your presence when you taught in our streets.

There's going to be a lot of Americans that will be standing there at those gates and will say, we were with you. We were Christians. We lived in the United States of America. In God we trust was on our currency.

They'll probably even say, hey, I went to church. I sang God bless America. I sang the battle hymn of the Republic. So I'm here. I was here when you were here. So why don't I get in? And Jesus will say, even to them, I tell you, I do not know where you come from.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil. I lived in the state of Texas for three years. There are people there in Texas who think they're Christians just because they're Texan. It's a pretty common thing in the United States of America.

But the vast majority of people in the United States are not believers, are not Christian. It's a cultural Christianity that exists in a lot of America. And the majority of the country doesn't even follow the cultural Christianity either.

But that's when you think of America being a Christian nation, as it will sometimes be called. The majority of those people, though, still are not Christians. A lot of the people that I interact with when I go out and do evangelism can't even quote to me John 316, though they might say that they are Christians.

They'll say something like their version of John 316 will be, well, whoever asks me into their heart will be saved. You know, I'll try to quote John 316 like that. So there's so many people that live around us who are not actually Christian, even though the message of the gospel does go out.

The name of Christ is proclaimed even among Muslims. The name of Christ is proclaimed and Muslims are what a billion people on the planet are Muslim and and growing, and they have it in their Koran. Jesus, the name of Jesus, is mentioned more often than Mohammed, even on their sacred relics around the Dome of the Rock.

It is inscribed on the Dome of the Rock that God has no son, which is a direct confession that they don't believe that Jesus is God. So they will proclaim Christ. The name of Christ is certainly gone out into the world, but the vast majority of the world won't actually know him.

The lesson on the narrow door that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 clearly indicates that many will go the broad way to their destruction, but few will find the narrow way and enter into life.

So the people in heaven will indeed be a vast number. It will be huge. It will surprise us, even as it surprised John when he saw a number that could not be counted. But at the same time, it's still Jesus is still the narrow gate and few will find it, as he said.

So the many that are going to come into the kingdom, the shocking thing about what Jesus is saying here in this lesson on the narrow door, the many that come into the kingdom will be from the east and west and from the north and south, and they will recline at table in the kingdom of God, whereas those of you who think that you get access because you know Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you're not going to get into the kingdom, but you yourselves will be cast out.

So hence why Jesus summarizes that in verse 30, saying some who are last will be first and some who are first will be last. Those who think that they have first access to the kingdom are not going to get in at.

All.

But those that you think will never get into the kingdom, they're going to be there at the throne praising God. So I've heard many ministers say, and you've probably heard this before, too, but we're going to be surprised at some of the people that didn't get there.

When we get there in heaven, we look for so and so, and that person isn't there. And it's going to surprise us. It'll shock us that they were actually among those to whom Jesus said, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.

I never knew you. And then there are others that are going to get into the kingdom that will probably surprise us that we didn't know we're going to get there. Especially, you know, folks that might end up in the news and we look at their evil and we go, oh yeah, that that person's definitely worthy of judgment and yet did not know the rest of the story that this person was convicted over their sin and came to Christ and will be in the kingdom of God with us when we're glorifying in our savior for eternity.

So the surprise is going to go both ways. But praise God for his mercy and grace toward us that the number will indeed be great. And you and I have access into this kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the only way to eternal life.

As Charles Spurgeon said, there are millions of roads to hell, but only one road to heaven. And that is through Christ our savior. So let us be bold to share that message of the gospel that others may come to faith in Christ and live.

The Call to Faithful Gospel Witness

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here in Luke chapter 13, this parable of the mustard seed in the leaven, the lesson on the narrow door. I pray that we will see the kingdom of God grow in the midst of us.

We will see more churches planted. We'll see more people come to Christ. And may we be diligent to be out there sharing the gospel. We don't make more Christians. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that will turn the sinner to Jesus Christ.

But we need to be faithful with the mission to share the gospel with others for the sake of the faith of God's elect, as the apostle Paul said in Titus 1 .1. And then God, we also desire that our understanding of Christ and his kingdom would grow inside of us as well, that we would be grown in holiness to be made more like Christ.

Add to your number and use us in this divine plan that you have to grow the kingdom of God. May we be faithful to the call. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.