“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Luke 13:24 NKJV
Jesus' journey to Jerusalem can correspond to a spiritual journey, which involves the reader and configures him in the itinerant mandate to announce the Gospel. During the journey, someone asks Jesus this question: “Lord, are there few who are saved?” (v. 23). This person was probably interested in a topical issue: were only Jews saved, or sympathizers, or even pagans who showed benevolence? However, Jesus did not answer the question directly, but diverted attention away from useless curiosity. In fact, he clearly proclaims what is urgent for everyone: “strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Matthew 7:13-14). The question, even from a different perspective, still lives in many hearts today: will salvation be reserved for the few or will God's mercy open the gates of heaven to many? We are easily led away from the things that really interest our life in the present and in the future. Let it be clear that there is no allusion to the Catholic jubilee and to the crossing of any particular earthly gate. The Master is alluding to something completely different, and I would like us to concentrate on His words.
What is this narrow gate? The city gates were closed on Saturdays to prevent any movement and no cargo could pass through. However, it happened that a child or an animal got lost in the countryside on a Friday evening, and someone had to rescue it even on a Saturday. Which passage to use? The narrow gate, located on the side, allowed people to enter and leave the city with the gates closed; no commercial cargo could have passed through it. It was so narrow that a camel, the most common beast of burden, could hardly pass through it. That little door was just like the eye of a needle mentioned by Jesus when speaking of the difficulty for a rich man to gain access to salvation (Luke 18:25). The shape of the eye probably referred to the narrow door. To get through it, the camel had to be unloaded, made to kneel down and then forced by its owner to go through the narrow door. Naturally it's easier to push a camel through that little door, as small as the eye of a needle, than to convince a rich man to leave all his wealth, his ego, his pride, outside the narrow door to the kingdom of heaven. That camel could allude to our condition, to that burden that aggravates our existence and from which we must necessarily free ourselves. In fact, the narrow door is the choice to walk every day along the paths of justice, mercy and faithfulness to God.
The image of the door should be quite familiar to the listeners. Jesus' next words make us consider two different ways of facing salvation: the way of those who claim to possess it because of some privilege of birth or some merit, and the way of those who, instead, seek it day by day with humility, following in Jesus' footsteps, and daily laying our burdens at his feet. The possibility of not finding access at the most important moment remains a tragic prospect. For this reason, those who value his words cannot fail to take another indication into account: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). He is the door of salvation, which leads to eternal pastures. He is the only mediator and through him men have access to the Father. If entering through the narrow door may not appear easy, it is certainly within everyone's reach. We are thus urged to fight to enter through the narrow door, to actively cross that threshold, instead of remaining to look at it, to think about it or to complain. Let's not ask who gets to go in. Let's fight to get in! After that, it will be our job to encourage others to fight to get in too, before it's too late. If the front door remains narrow, there is still room beyond it.
Weekly Bible Reading Plan #14
March 31, Judges 11-12; Luke 6:1-26
April 01, Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49
April 02, Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30
April 03, Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50
April 04, Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25
April 05, 1 Samuel 1-3; Luke 8:26-56
April 06, 1 Samuel 4-6; Luke 9:1-17
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