Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 13:23
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
23. are there few that be saved? ] The question may naturally have arisen from the last teachings respecting the small beginnings of the Kingdom of God. There is nothing to shew whether it was suggested by speculative curiosity, or by despondent pity. But without directly rebuking such questions, our Lord, as in other instances, strove to place the questioners in a wiser frame of mind (Deu 29:29). The answer is a direct discouragement to all pitiless, and especially to all self-righteous, eschatologies. It is a solemn assertion of the necessity for earnest, personal endeavour. Thus to all idle attempts to define the certainties of the future, our Lord says, Consider the question with reference to yourself, not with reference to others. Look at it in the spirit of the publican, not in the spirit of the Pharisee. The wisdom and necessity of the answer may be seen from 2 Esdras 8., where the question is discussed, and where it is assumed that few only will be saved, “The most High hath made this world for many, but the world to come for few” ( 2Es 8:1). “There are many more of them which perish than of them which shall be saved; like as a wave is greater than a drop” ( 2Es 9:15-16). “Let the multitude perish then” ( 2Es 9:22). Part, at least, of the Book of Esdras is probably post-Christian.
that be saved ] Literally, “ who are being saved, ” i.e. who are in the way of salvation. The same word occurs in Act 2:47, and is the opposite to apollumenoi, ‘those that are perishing,’ 1Co 1:18; 2Co 2:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then said one – Who this was does not appear. It is probable that he was not one of the disciples, but one of the Jews, who came either to perplex him, or to involve him in a controversy with the Pharisees.
Are there few that be saved? – It was the prevalent opinion among the Jews that few would enter heaven. As but two of all the hosts that came out of Egypt entered into the land of Canaan, so some of them maintained that a proportionally small number would enter into heaven (Lightfoot). On this subject the man wished the opinion of Jesus. It was a question of idle curiosity. The answer to it would have done little good. It was far more important for the man to secure his own salvation, than to indulge in such idle inquiries and vain speculations. Our Lord therefore advised him, as he does all, to strive to enter into heaven.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 13:23-24
Lord, are there few that be saved?
—
Unpractical questions about religion
The man that asked this question has long been dead, but the character lives, and it is not among the rarest exhibitions that we see. We carry to the Bible, if not the very same question he put to the Saviour, yet questions as unpractical and irrelevant, or if not in every sense irrelevant, yet premature and of minor importance; and so it is when you have the opportunity of conversing with clergymen and others, for whose theological knowledge and science in the Scriptures you have some respect. Your questions are such as these, What is likely to be the future condition of such as die in infancy? Cannot you trust them in the hands of God? Are you afraid that He will do them injustice? What is the probability of the salvation of the heathen? And why do you wish to estimate that! Is not this one thing clear, that their condition for the present life, and their prospects for the life to come, would both he far better, provided they had the gospel? And is it not manifestly your duty to do all that is in your power to send them the gospel? What, then, do you want more? Why expend all your charity in wondering, and wishing, and hoping, and pitying? Let it rather flow forth in its appropriate channel, in action. Do something. Promote foreign missions. That is the way to care for the heathens. Another is curious to know if we shall recognize each other in heaven. That is taking it for granted that we shall get there. Let us make sure of heaven, before we agitate the question of recognition. And then let us be satisfied with this, if our heavenly Father sees that it will be conducive to the happiness of the children whom He has adopted from earth that they should recognize each other and recollect the relations and renew the intimacies of life, it will be so, and if not, it will be otherwise. There are those who investigate the Scriptures primarily for some historical purpose, or to resolve some prophetical question. Others consult these oracles but as critics; and still others, only as cavillers, anxious to see how much they can discover to find fault with. They wonder what this passage means, or how it is possible to reconcile this part of the Bible with that, or what could have induced our Saviour to express Himself as He is reported to have done on certain occasions which they will specify; and the conclusion to which they come, perhaps, after all, is that this is a very strange and unintelligible volume; they can make nothing out of it. Ah! and is it so that they can make nothing out of it? Can they not make out of it what their duty is? Do they not but too plainly perceive that it is something, which they have no disposition to do, and is not this the secret of their fault-finding? (W. Nevins, D. D.)
Silence of Scripture on irrelevant questions
Thus, a Government sends forth a colonist; hut gives him just information enough to enable him to perform his particular work. A general charges an inferior officer with a special duty; but here, too, there is silence as to whatever does not belong to this duty. To enlarge the official directions given in either case, so as to include all the knowledge the superior may possess, would perplex the agent and withdraw his attention from that which concerned his work to that which did not concern it. And if we are to expect such silence in a parents dealings with a child, and in a Governments dealing with a subaltern, how much more reason have we to expect it in the dealings of God with man! God knows all things, and endures from eternity to eternity! Man comes into the world knowing nothing, lives at the best a life which endures for a few years, and in this short life is charged with the momentous work of preparing for the eternity to come. Silence, then, on all irrelevant questions is what we would expect in the revelation of an all-wise God, and of the irrelevancy He is the sole Judge.
Prying into the secret things of God reproved
I. THE QUESTION PROPOSED.
II. THE ANSWER GIVEN TO IT.
I. The question is put in very general, and seemingly inoffensive, terms; yet probably a great deal of Jewish pride and uncharitableness couched under it. This busy mans inquiry proceeded from an ill-natured hope of being confirmed in the national persuasion, that God was not the God of the Gentiles; but had reserved future happiness for the Israelites alone. But supposing there was no ground for imputation either of ill-will or vanity; still all such questions–for this is a leading one to many others–are useless and irreverent. Since, then, God is just, He will make none miserable farther than they deserve; since He is good, He will both pardon and reward in such degree as is fit; and since He is wise, what appears disorder and confusion to our short sight will appear in the end perfect regularity and proportion. But why was our nature formed so liable to fall short of it, in the sad degree that we often do?
II. Part of the text, to which I now proceed, REFUSE TO GRATIFY THE QUERISTS CURIOSITY, AND RETURN AN ANSWER ENTIRELY PRACTICAL that it was not the business of mankind to pry into what God had hid, but mind what He had revealed, and to master another kind of difficulty, that of fulfilling His commands; that multitudes indeed, who professed religion, would finally appear to have professed it in vain; but this was a matter not to raise idle speculations upon. One fatal mistake of believers in religion hath always been an absurd notion that their steady faith in it, their zeal to support and spread that faith, their punctilious observance of certain forms, their constant practice of some precepts, and their periodical pretences of sorrow for having wilfully lived in the neglect of the rest; that one or other of these things would be accepted, instead of true piety and virtue. Immediately after the text He declares, that neither acknowledgment of His authority, nor attendance on His teaching, nor anything else, shall avail the workers of iniquity. They who have not been thus forewarned go on indeed with great ease; but it is not in religion that they go on. Doubtless common decency and outward regularity are very valuable things–would God more attention were paid to them! But still with these there may be little true sense of duty to God, or even man; little care that the heart and affections be such as they ought; nay, much indulgence of very criminal actions, either concealed from the world or approved by it. In short, almost everything may be right in the opinion of those around us, perhaps in our own: and almost everything wrong in the eyes of our Maker. That most men act wickedly is no more an objection against religion, than that most men act unwisely is against common prudence. That so many fail by taking a wrong course is only a warning to make sure of taking the right. And if in that several duties are painful, it is not Christianity that hath made them so. All its peculiar precepts are easy in themselves, and assistances to the practice of the rest. (T. Secker.)
The number of the saved
A natural question to any one who thinks seriously of the destiny of human life.
1. Probably prompted in this instance merely by curiosity. This Jew, educated from childhood under a creed in which the most rigid aspects of the doctrine of election were taught, came to Christ in the hope that he might get some authoritative statement of the mystery of predestination from this One whom he regarded as a prophet of God. Christ replies, Strive, &c. Whether there be few or many saved is no business of yours; what you have to do is to make your own calling and election sure; that cannot be accomplished by indulging in idle speculations about other people, but by struggling yourself with your whole energy, to enter into and be within the narrow door that leads to salvation. Not easy work, but difficult; not a question about your opinions, but a question of action. Agonize as wrestler, and be content with nothing but admittance.
2. Another sense in which we may put the question. Are there few or many who show in their lives that they are being delivered, because of their faith and love towards Christ, from their sins, and that the gospel they profess is producing in them the Christian spirit–the spirit of love, purity, truth, gentleness, considerateness, kindness, righteousness? This seems to have been the very light in which Jesus Christ Himself viewed the matter of salvation, for He goes on, after this man puts his question, to cast discredit upon the religion of opinions and observances, and to insist upon doing the will of God as being the only security. It is when we put the question in this sense, that we may discover ground for some serious reflections. Are there many whose lives are savingly affected by the religion they profess? Is the Christian spirit being realized in Christian society? Are there few or many of whom you can confidently assert that there is a deliverance from sin actually going on, and of goodness being attained, which is the fruit of their faith and love towards Christ? For my own part, the sad conviction is frequently borne in upon me that, when thus tested, the question admits almost of only one reply. How seldom is it that when we go to Church we expect to be made spiritually better, to be saved from our everyday sins, and to get such convictions and strength as may make us liker and liker the Master in life and character? (N. Macleod.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Are there few that be saved?] A question either of impertinence or curiosity, the answer to which can profit no man. The grand question is, Can I be saved? Yes. How? Strive earnestly to enter in through the strait gate – , agonize – exert every power of body and soul-let your salvation be the grand business of your whole life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour hath told us, Mat 7:14, that strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth to eternal life, and few there be that find it. Upon this this exhortation is founded. , Contend, or strive, to enter in at this strait gate, a word which signifies a labouring against opposition, and the utmost endeavour of the mind and body: not that our own labouring will bring us thither, the eternal life is the gift of God, and without the influence of his grace we can do nothing effectually; but to let us know, that the Lord will give heaven to none but such as labour and strive for it, yea, and also strive lawfully: he tells us that many
will seek to enter, and shall not be able; either seeking in a wrong way, or in an undue time. By this speech of our Saviours he diverts them from that curious question, about the number of those that shall be saved. That was not so much their concern to know, as that they should be some of that number.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Lord, c.one of thosecurious questions by talking of which some flatter themselves theyare religious.
said unto themthemultitude taking no notice of the man or his question, save asfurnishing the occasion of a solemn warning not to trifle with somomentous a matter as “salvation.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said one unto him,…. Not one of his disciples, but one of the company, in some one of the cities or villages he passed through, or as he was in the road to Jerusalem:
are there few that be saved? It is a received opinion among the Jews z, that all Israel shall have a part in the world to come; and this man might put the question to know whether Christ was of this sentiment or not. And by some things he had observed drop from him, and it may be the foregoing parables, which express the small beginnings of his kingdom, and seem to signify, that at first his Gospel should be received but by a few, though it should afterwards spread, he might collect, that his sense was, there would be but a few saved; or this might be a question of mere curiosity and speculation, as it seems to be, by Christ’s treatment of it, who does not give a direct answer to it, but puts him and others upon showing a concern for their own salvation.
And he said unto them; not to the man only that put the question, but to the whole company; though the Persic and Ethiopic versions read, “he said unto him”, as follows.
z Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Curiosity Checked; The Doom of Sinful Professors. |
| |
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
We have here,
I. A question put to our Lord Jesus. Who it was that put it we are not told, whether a friend or a foe; for he both gave a great liberty of questioning him and returned answers to the thoughts and intents of the heart. The question was, Are there few that are saved? v. 23: ei oligoi hoi sozomenoi–“If the saved be few? Master, I have heard thou shouldest say so; is it true?” 1. Perhaps it was a captious question. He put it to him, tempting him, with a design to ensnare him and lessen his reputation. If he should say that many would be saved, they would reproach him as too loose, and making salvation cheap; if few, they would reproach him as precise and strait-laced. The Jewish doctors said that all Israel should have a place in the world to come; and would he dare to contradict that? Those that have sucked in a corrupt nation are ready to make it the standard by which to measure all men’s judgments; and in nothing do men more betray their ignorance, presumption, and partiality, than in judging of the salvation of others. 2. Perhaps it was a curious question, a nice speculation, which he had lately been disputing upon with his companions, and they all agreed to refer it to Christ. Note, Many are more inquisitive respecting who shall be saved, and who not, than respecting what they shall do to be saved. It is commonly asked, “May such and such be saved?” But it is well that we may be saved without knowing this. 3. Perhaps it was an admiring question. He had taken notice how strict the law of Christ was, and how bad the world was, and, comparing these together, cries out, “How few are there that will be saved!” Note, We have reason to wonder that of the many to whom the word of salvation is sent there are so few to whom it is indeed a saving word. 4. Perhaps it was an enquiring question: “If there be few that be saved, what then? What influence should this have upon me?” Note, It concerns us all seriously to improve the great truth of the fewness of those that are saved.
II. Christ’s answer to this question, which directs us what use to make of this truth. Our Saviour did not give a direct answer to this enquiry, for he came to guide men’s consciences, not to gratify their curiosity. Ask not, “How many shall be saved?” But, be they more or fewer, “Shall I be one of them?” Not, “What shall become of such and such, and what shall this man do?” But, “What shall I do, and what will become of me?” Now in Christ’s answer observe,
1. A quickening exhortation and direction: Strive to enter in at the strait gate. This is directed not to him only that asked the question, but to all, to us, it is in the plural number: Strive ye. Note, (1.) All that will be saved must enter in at the strait gate, must undergo a change of the whole man, such as amounts to no less than being born again, and must submit to a strict discipline. (2.) Those that would enter in at the strait gate must strive to enter. It is a hard matter to get to heaven, and a point that will not be gained without a great deal of care and pains, of difficulty and diligence. We must strive with God in prayer, wrestle as Jacob, strive against sin and Satan. We must strive in every duty of religion; strive with our own hearts, agonizesthe–“Be in an agony; strive as those that run for a prize; excite and exert ourselves to the \ utmost.”
2. Divers awakening considerations, to enforce this exhortation. O that we may be all awakened and quickened by them! They are such considerations as will serve to answer the question, Are there few that shall be saved?
(1.) Think how many take some pains for salvation and yet perish because they do not take enough, and you will say that there are few that will be saved and that it highly concerns us to strive: Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able; they seek, but they do not strive. Note, The reason why many come short of grace and glory is because they rest in a lazy seeking of that which will not be attained without a laborious striving. They have a good mind to happiness, and a good opinion of holiness, and take some good steps towards both. But their convictions are weak; they do not consider what they know and believe, and, consequently, their desires are cold, and their endeavours feeble, and there is no strength or steadiness in their resolutions; and thus they come short, and lose the prize, because they do not press forward. Christ avers this upon his own word: I say unto you; and we may take it upon his word, for he knows both the counsels of God and the hearts of the children of men.
(2.) Think of the distinguishing day that is coming and the decisions of that day, and you will say there are a few that shall be saved and that we are concerned to strive: The Master of the house will rise up, and shut to the door, v. 25. Christ is the Master of the house, that will take cognizance of all that frequent his house and are retainers to it, will examine comers and goers and those that pass and repass. Now he seems as if he left things at large; but the day is coming when he will rise up, and shut to the door. What door? [1.] A door of distinction. Now, within the temple of the church there are carnal professors who worship in the outer-court, and spiritual professors who worship within the veil; between these the door is now open, and they meet promiscuously in the same external performances. But, when the Master of the house is risen up, the door will be shut between them, that those who are in the outer-court may be kept out, and left to be trodden underfoot by the Gentiles, Rev. xi. 2. As to those that are filthy, shut the door upon them, and let them be filthy still; that those who are within may be kept within, that those who are holy may be holy still. The door is shut to separate between the precious and the vile, that sinners may no longer stand in the congregation of the righteous. Then you shall return, and discern betwixt them. [2.] A door of denial and exclusion. The door of mercy and grace has long stood open to them, but they would not come in by it, would not be beholden to the favour of that door; they hoped to climb up some other way, and to get to heaven by their own merits, and therefore when the Master of the house is risen up he will justly shut that door; let them not expect to enter by it, but let them take their own measures. Thus, when Noah was safe in the ark, God shut the door, to exclude all those that depended upon shelters of their own in the approaching flood.
(3.) Think how many who were very confident that they should be saved will be rejected in the day of trial, and their confidences will deceive them, and you will say that there are few that shall be saved and that we are all concerned to strive. Consider,
[1.] What an assurance they had of admission, and how far their hope carried them, even to heaven’s gate. There they stand and knock, knock as if they had authority, knock as those that belong to the house, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us, for we think we have a right to enter; take us in among the saved ones, for we joined ourselves to them.” Note, Many are ruined by an ill-grounded hope of heaven, which they never distrusted or called in question, and therefore conclude their state is good because they never doubted it. They call Christ, Lord, as if they were his servants; nay, in token of their importunity, they double it, Lord, Lord; they are desirous now to enter in by that door which they had formerly made light of, and would now gladly come in among those serious Christians whom they had secretly despised.
[2.] What grounds they had for this confidence. Let us see what their plea is, v. 26. First, They had been Christ’s guests, had had an intimate converse with him, and had shared in his favours: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, at thy table. Judas ate bread with Christ, dipped with him in the dish. Hypocrites, under the disguise of their external profession, receive the Lord’s supper, and in it partake of the children’s bread, as if they were children. Secondly, They had been Christ’s hearers, had received instruction from him, and were well acquainted with his doctrine and law: “Thou hast taught in our streets–a distinguishing favour, which few had, and surely it might be taken as a pledge of distinguishing favour now; for wouldest thou teach us, and not save us?”
[3.] How their confidence will fail them, and all their pleas be rejected as frivolous. Christ will say to them, I know you not whence you are, v. 25. And again (v. 27), I tell you, I know you not, depart from me. He does not deny that what they pleaded was true; they had eaten and drunk in his presence, by the same token that they had no sooner eaten of his bread than they lifted up the heel against him. He had taught in their streets, by the same token that they had despised his instruction and would not submit to it. And therefore, First, He disowns them: “I know you not; you do not belong to my family.” The Lord knows them that are his, but them that are not he does not know, he has nothing to do with them: “I know you not whence you are. You are not of me, you are not from above, you are not branches of my house, of my vine.” Secondly, He discards them: Depart from me. It is the hell of hell to depart from Christ, the principal part of the misery of the damned. “Depart from my door, here is nothing for you, no, not a drop of water.” Thirdly, He gives them such a character as is the reason of this doom: You are workers of iniquity. This is their ruin, that, under a pretence of piety, they kept up secret haunts of sin, and did the devil’s drudgery in Christ’s livery.
[4.] How terrible their punishment will be (v. 28): There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the utmost degree of grief and indignation; and that which is the cause of it, and contributes to it, is a sight of the happiness of those that are saved: You shall see the patriarchs and prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. Observe here, First, That the Old-Testament saints are in the kingdom of God; those had benefit by the Messiah who died before his coming, for they saw his day at a distance and it reflected comfort upon them. Secondly, That New-Testament sinners will be thrust out of the kingdom of God. It intimates that they will be thrusting in, and will presume upon admission, but in vain; they shall be thrust out with shame, as having no part or lot in the matter. Thirdly, That the sight of the saint’s glory will be a great aggravation of sinner’s misery; they shall thus far see the kingdom of God that they shall see the prophets in it, whom they hated and despised, and themselves, though they thought themselves sure of it, thrust out. This is that at which they will gnash their teeth, Ps. cxii. 10.
(4.) Think who are they that shall be saved, notwithstanding: They shall come from the east and the west; and the last shall be first,Luk 13:29; Luk 13:30. [1.] By what Christ said, it appears that but few shall be saved of those whom we think most likely, and who bid fairest for it. Yet do not say then that the gospel is preached in vain; for, though Israel be not gathered, Christ will be glorious. There shall come many from all parts of the Gentile world that shall be admitted into the kingdom of grace in this world, and of glory in the other. Plainly thus, when we come to heaven, we shall meet a great many there whom we little thought to have met there, and miss a great many thence whom we verily expected to have found there. [2.] Those who sit down in the kingdom of God are such as had taken pains to get thither, for they came from far–from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south; they had passed through different climates, had broken through many difficulties and discouragements. This shows that they who would enter into that kingdom must strive, as the queen of Sheba, who came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. They who travel now in the service of God and religion shall shortly sit down to rest in the kingdom of God. [3.] Many who stood fair for heaven came short, and others who seemed cast behind, and thrown quite out of the way, will win and wear this prize, and therefore it concerns us to strive to enter. Let us be provoked, as Paul desires the Jews might be, to a holy emulation, by the zest an forwardness of the Gentiles, Rom. xi. 14. Shall I be outstripped by my juniors? Shall I, who started first, and stood nearest, miss of heaven, when others, less likely, enter into it? If it be got by striving, why should not I strive?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Are they few that be saved? ( ;). Note use of as an interrogative which can be explained as ellipsis or as = (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1024). This was an academic theological problem with the rabbis, the number of the elect.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Then said one unto him, Lord,” (eipen de tis auto kurie) “Then someone said to him, Lord,” or a certain one, perhaps a Jew along the way, based on Luk 13:28.
2) “Are there few that be saved?”(ei oligoi hoi sozomenoi) “Are there only a few who are saved?” who are delivered, liberated, or set free from the bondage of fear and sin, saved from eternal condemnation? Mat 7:14; Mat 20:16; Rev 7:9.
3) “And he said unto them.” (ho de ei pen pros autos) “Then he said directly to them,” to the Jews, in response to their question, expressing His desire that they all be saved, 2Pe 3:9; Mat 11:28; Joh 6:37; Rev 22:17.
Jesus did not give a direct answer to their question, but turned their attention to the kind of persons that will be saved, rather than the number, However Luk 13:29; Rev 7:9 indicate that there will be many, even an innumerable number.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 13:23
. And one saith to him Although Matthew relates this answer, as if it were immediately connected with other sentences taken out of our Lord’s sermons, yet I rather think that the occasion of its being spoken arose out of the present question. The reason why the question was put appears to have been, that Christ, who declared himself to be the author of life, could with difficulty collect a small number of disciples. It might appear, that a small band of men was to be saved, and that the whole church was going to ruin: for the whole of that nation, among whom the doctrine of Christ made no great progress, and by whom it was universally rejected, had been adopted by God as the heir of life. A similar doubt steals upon us, when we look at the melancholy condition of the world. “‘ The greater part of men pursue a life which is utterly at variance with the Gospel. What is the meaning of this?” For this reason Christ, directing his discourse to all, exhorted them to strive to enter by the narrow gate These words were intended to withdraw his people from a foolish curiosity, by which many are retarded and involved, when they look around to see if any companions are joining them, as if they were unwilling to be saved but in a crowd. When he bids them strive, or labor, he conveys the information, that it is impossible to obtain eternal life without great and appalling difficulties. Let believers, therefore, give their earnest attention to this object, instead of indulging in excessive curiosity about the vast number of those who are going astray.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Are there few that be saved?More accurately, that are being saved, or, that are in the way of salvation. The Greek participle is present, not perfect, and this sense should be borne in mind both here and in 2Co. 2:15still more so, perhaps, in Act. 2:47, where the English version gives, with a singular infelicity, such as should be saved.
We are left to conjecture to what class the questioner belonged, and what feelings prompted the question. Was he thinking of salvation in the higher Christian sense of the term, or of safety from that destruction of which Christ had spoken as coming on the impenitent people? In the mind of the questioner the two things may have been blended together, but the answer clearly points to the former, and we have sufficient evidence that such questions were agitating mens minds in the apocryphal Revelation known as the Second Book of Esdras. This book is probably (in part, at least, certainly, see 2Es. 8:28-29), post-Christian, and has been assigned to the time of Nero, or Domitian, or Trajan; but it reflects with a wonderful fulness the fevered, anxious thoughts that were working among both Jews and Gentiles, and among those none is so prominent as that many are created, but few shall be saved (2Es. 8:1; 2Es. 8:3; 2Es. 8:55). Among the strange cabbalistic fancies of the Rabbis, one was an attempt to fix the number of the saved by the numerical value of the letters of this or that text that prophesied of the Kingdom of Heaven. Assuming the question to be of this nature, its form indicates that it was a speculative inquiry. A man anxious and in earnest would have asked, What must I do to be saved? And, being a speculative question, our Lord put it aside, gave no direct answer, and sought to force the man back on the thought of what was needed that he himself might take his place in that company.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
89. ARE THERE FEW SAVED? HEROD’S MESSAGE TO JESUS, Luk 13:22-35 .
23. Lord The respectful address, and the confidence of the inquirer in our Lord’s ability to furnish an authoritative answer, show that he is a believer. The question was much debated by the Jewish doctors, some maintaining that all Israelites are saved by birthright, others asserting that the saved will be few; just as but two of the original Israelites arrived in Canaan. We may remark that there can be no reasonable doubt that the word saved in such discourses refers, contrary to most Universalist interpretations, to salvation from hell in a future world. Such was its meaning among the debaters of our Lord’s day.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And one said to him, “Lord, are the ones who are being saved few?”
This is the first outright use of the word ‘saved’ in the main body of Luke apart from in a context where it can have a double meaning (i.e. healed – Luk 7:50; Luk 8:36; Luk 8:48; Luk 8:50; Luk 17:19; Luk 18:42), although compare Luk 6:9; Luk 9:24; Luk 9:56 where ‘saving’ to eternal life is clearly in mind (see also Luk 8:12; Luk 17:33; Luk 18:26; Luk 19:10). It does, however, link back to Luk 1:77 where John was to bring ‘the knowledge of salvation’ to His people, to Luk 1:69 where the ‘horn of salvation’ was coming from the house of David, to Luk 2:11 in which was declared the coming of ‘a Saviour’ Who would be ‘the Lord Messiah’, and Luk 2:30 where Simeon declares, ‘My eyes have seen your Salvation’. Thus we have been expecting ‘salvation’ at some stage to come to the fore. Here it probably has the same meaning as inheriting eternal life with all that that involves of being transformed (compare Act 2:47; 1Co 1:18; 2Co 2:15). Their eyes are firmly fixed on the coming of the heavenly Kingdom.
If we compare Isa 49:24-25 LXX with Luk 4:18 salvation is seen as the aim of the Servant for His own, and this ties in with the deliverance of the woman who was Satan’s captive (Luk 13:16). Compare also Isa 51:14; Isa 59:1; Isa 60:16 (LXX). Thus to be ‘being saved’ means to be in a position where they are being delivered spiritually from Satan’s power, and have been given eternal life, are experiencing His saving power in their lives, and are guaranteed the eternal hope of eternity in the presence of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Call To Enter And Be Saved (13:23-24).
This appeal, following the description of how the Kingly Rule of God will spread, parallels the descriptions of the Galileans and men of Siloam who perished. Those too ‘perished’, they were unable to enter in. And the warning was then given that they should enter in while they may, ‘except you repent you will all perish similarly’. So is it easy not to enjoy the privilege of entering into the Kingly Rule of God, and it is therefore rather necessary that they ‘strive’ to enter in.
It can be analysed as follows:
a And one said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” (Luk 13:23 a).
b And he said to them, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door.” (23b-24a).
a “For many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.” (Luk 13:24 b).
Note the contrast of ‘a’, ‘few will be saved’, with the parallel ‘many will not be able to enter in’. Central in ‘b’ is the need to enter the narrow gate.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And he said to them, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.”
The Lord refuses to answer their technical question (it was a popular question among some of the learned). Rather than thinking speculatively, they should be thinking personally. The question is, Are they themselves being saved? He therefore tells them to strive (agonise) to enter in by the narrow door, the door into the Kingly Rule of God. The idea has been compared with that in Mat 7:13-14 but it was clearly spoken at a different time, and the emphasis, while similar, is not the same. Matthew is talking about passing through a gate with the purpose of walking in a way, and the emphasis is on the way. Here the emphasis is on the need for a decision to pass through a door. It is clearly a difficult decision, and the door is ‘narrow’ (stenos). Only few can enter at a time, and others are pressing in to get through it. The word ‘stenos’ is associated with the ideas of affliction and sorrow, and this ties in with Luk 9:24. It is a door that is demanding, and yet it must be entered before it is too late, and it takes effort. They must not be satisfied until they have passed through the door. The Kingly Rule of God suffers violence, and the violent are to take it by force (Mat 11:12). This door signifies commencing the hard way of discipleship. It signifies thrusting all else aside and choosing to enter under the Kingly Rule of God. Nothing must be allowed to stop them entering it (what a contrast to our ‘easy believism’). We can compare here Jesus declaration, ‘I am the door, by Me if any man enter in he will be saved’ (Joh 10:9). The idea is the same. Response to the Shepherd King assures salvation. They will, of course, then enjoy the presence of the master of the house, but that is not described here. The concentration is on the decision to enter, and the determined effort that they should put into it.
We should note that then as now salvation was a gift. But Jesus was making them aware of the final cost of the gift. It would initially cost them nothing, all they had to do was press through the door, but it would then demand everything. For it is the door to the Kingly Rule of God, and it involves God becoming King in their lives. It is equally true today. Salvation is yours if you but receive Christ. But beware, for you are welcoming in the Kindler of Fire (Luk 12:49). You are a fool if you think otherwise. Any other Christ than One Who will take possession of you is not the Christ of the Gospels. The striving was because of the thought of what they would have to leave behind. There was no room through that narrow door for their baggage.
We should also note that there is only one door, and that a narrow one. ‘There is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Act 4:12). Not for Jesus one of many doors. There is only one.
But there will come a day when even that door can no longer be passed through. The implication is that it will have been closed. Hope will have gone. And men will seek to enter in and will not be able. His listeners would rightly have in mind the end of the world. Jesus certainly would too, but possibly He also had in mind the dreadful and savage slaughter that would take place during the coming rebellion against Rome and the destruction of Jerusalem (Luk 13:35), when many would then wish that they had listened to Jesus. However, even more certainly He Himself also has in mind the day of His coming to gather His elect (Mat 24:31). Both these would be final events which meant that for those caught out it would be too late. They would find themselves unable to truly repent. They would suffer remorse, not spiritual transformation, and they would be lost. All because they had failed to enter through the door while it was open.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 13:23-24. Lord, are there few that be saved? &c. Our Lord was now travelling by slow journies towards Jerusalem, beingon his way to Jordan, from the north-east parts of Judea. Somewhere on the road, probably soon after he had described the success of the gospel by the parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven, his opinion was asked concerning the number of those who should be saved. The person who proposed the question, seems to have heard the parables above mentioned; if he had, his notions of the kingdom of God, being such as the Jews at that time entertained, he perhaps meant a temporal salvation, by admission into the Messiah’s kingdom: but as no secular kingdom was to be erected by their great deliverer, Jesus answered the question in its spiritual meaning. Or we may suppose that this Jew inquired concerning the eternal salvation of men; for though he could easily believe that all his brethren were to be saved, yet he could not so easily bring himself to believe that salvation was not confined to his own nation: wherefore, having a high opinion of Jesus as a teacher, he proposed his doubts to him. But, in whatever sense we understand this question, our Lord’s answer contains an exhortation, which implies that only a small number of the Jews of that generation would be saved. He said, strive to enter in at the straight gate. By inquiring thus curiously, into the state of others, you seem to be at ease with respect to your own salvation; I must therefore tell you, that, though as Jews you have great advantages, the gate to life is still strait; and that if you would be saved, you must exert yourselves to the utmost. Of this you will be the more convinced, when I assure you, that many of your brethren, who, because they trusted to their privileges as Jews, lived all along securely, shall be for ever excluded from heaven: For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able; that is to say, shall seek to enter in at an improper season, namely by importunate intreaties, after the period of their trial is concluded, and their state finally and irreversibly determined as is evident from the next verse. The word , rendered strive, imports the act of contending, in the most ardent and resolute manner, with antagonists in games, or in war, and may well intimate, that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must, through grace, break and force our way; a representation equally just and awakening! See 1Co 9:25-27. Col 1:29. 1Ti 6:12. 2Ti 4:7 and the Inferences and Reflections.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 13:23 . This questioner was certainly a confessor of Jesus, Luk 13:24 ff. There is nothing besides this that we can define more precisely, except that the question itself might be called forth by the stringency of the claims of Jesus.
As to , [162] see on Mat 12:10 .
[162] That in direct questions should be used as the recitative , which would have to be explained by a transition of the oratio obliqua into the oratio directa , even after the learned investigation of Lipsius, Paulin. Rechtfertigungslehre , 1853, p. 30 ff., I must doubt, since we should find this use of much more frequently elsewhere, and since in the isolated places where it occurs it is just the meaning of the doubtful question ( whether indeed ?) which is very appropriate (Mat 12:10 ; Mat 19:3 ; Luk 13:23 ; Luk 22:49 ; Act 1:6 ; Act 7:1 ; Act 19:2 ; Act 21:37 ; Act 22:25 ). On the classical beginnings of this usage, nothing likewise is to be decided other than on the New Testament usage, to wit, with Ast, Lex. Plat . I. p. 601: “ Dubitanter interrogat, ita ut interrogatio videatur directa esse.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Ver. 23. Are there few, &c. ] Few received Christ in the flesh, Joh 1:12 : he wondered at one good Nathanael. They are Methe mispar that look towards heaven. Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto. The most rest on that old popish rule, To follow the crowd.
Are there few? ] A curious question, and therefore not vouchsafed an answer: whereas otherwhere, in things needful to be known, the Scripture often answers the questions and objections of men’s hearts only. “Jesus knowing their thoughts,” &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. ] On , see note, Act 2:47 . Here, the implication of final salvation is obvious.
, the multitude. Similar sayings have occurred in the Sermon on the Mount, but the connexion here is intimate and strict.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 13:23-24 . . .: introduces a direct question as in Mat 12:10 and Luk 22:49 : are those who are being saved few? , to them , not to the questioner merely but to all present, as the reply was of general concern.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Lord. App-98. A.
are there = if (App-118. a) there are.
be = are being.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23.] On , see note, Act 2:47. Here, the implication of final salvation is obvious.
, the multitude. Similar sayings have occurred in the Sermon on the Mount, but the connexion here is intimate and strict.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 13:23. , whether few) The man seems to have thought that out of the pale of Judaism there would be no salvation.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
saved
(See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
are: Mat 7:14, Mat 19:25, Mat 20:16, Mat 22:14
And: Luk 12:13-15, Luk 21:7, Luk 21:8, Mat 24:3-5, Mar 13:4, Mar 13:5, Joh 21:21, Joh 21:22, Act 1:7, Act 1:8
Reciprocal: 2Ki 8:8 – inquire Pro 26:5 – a fool Eze 5:3 – a few Mar 10:26 – Who Luk 18:26 – Who Phi 2:12 – work
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A PUZZLING QUESTION
Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved?
Luk 13:23
This question was put to Jesus by one who met with Him as He was journeying to Jerusalem. Yet it was not the question of that one inquirer alone. It has been asked by the heart, or the mind, or the lips, of men, from generation to generation.
I. A question of the lips.Often it is a question but of the lips alone. Are there few that be saved? asks the frivolous trifler who has chanced for a moment to be within the sound of spiritual things, and utters the first question which a vain curiosity may suggest, or which he has caught from anothers lips; and then he passes on regardless of the answer, careless whether the saved be many or whether they be few, or whether there be, indeed, any salvation at all.
II. A question of the mind.Are there few that be saved? asks the religious controversialist, and he is already well prepared with an answer which is quite satisfactory to himself. Already he has formed his system of opinions according to which he measures and marks out the ways of God. He calls himself a High Churchman, or he calls himself Evangelical; he talks of points of doctrine, discusses disputed questions, baptism, or Church authority, or private judgment, and gets you into conversation that he may judge by your answer whether you belong to his party or not, and he is ready with clever argument and quoted text to prove himself right or to prove you wrong.
III. A question of the heart.But often the question is put in a very different tone. It has become a question of the heart. Lord, are there few that be saved? may be the trembling, earnest, desperate cry of one who is perplexed and bewildered by the dreadful power of evil; who sees that one dark shadow resting upon all; who thinks of the lives which seem to be wasted and aimless, of the purposes which come to nought, of the resolutions which are not fulfilled, of the slumber, the indifference, the sin, in which men throw away the life which God has given them; while here and there are a few whose lives are saved and turned to glorious account, who seem to stand alone in the solitude of their holiness, and to have attained a stature which enables them to breathe a purer air. Lord, are there few that be saved? Are we straitened in Thee, or are we straitened in ourselves? Is our Fathers love, indeed, restrained within such narrow limits? Are there indeed so few to whom it shall be given to have victory and to triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil? Is it not written that the world has been redeemed?
In this way the meaning of our question deepens down according to the depth of character and the earnestness of purpose of him who asks it.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
We are not told just why this question was asked Jesus by the man in the audience. It is reasonable to conclude it was because of the strict teaching he had been doing.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
[Are there few that be saved?] This question, Lord, are there few that be saved? when it was a received opinion amongst the Jews, ‘that all Israel should have their part in the world to come,’ makes it doubtful whether it was propounded captiously, or merely for satisfaction.
This very matter is disputed amongst the Masters. “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth beyond the statute [without measure; AV]. Resh Lachish saith, ‘This is for him who forsaketh one statute.’ (The Gloss is, ‘He that leaves one statute unobserved shall be condemned in hell.’) But R. Jochanan saith, ‘Their Lord will not have it so as thou sayest concerning them.’ (The Gloss is, ‘He will not have thee judge so concerning Israel.’) For the sense is, Although a man have learned but one statute only, he shall escape hell. It is said, ‘It shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts of it shall be cut off and die, and the third part shall be left.’ Resh Lachish saith, ‘The third part of Shem.’ R. Jochanan saith unto him, ‘Their Lord will not have it so as thou sayest concerning them, for it is the third part of Noah.’ It is said, ‘I will take you one of a city and two of a tribe.’ Resh Lachish saith, ‘These words are to be understood in the very letter.’ R. Jochanan saith unto him, ‘Their Lord will not have it so as thou sayest concerning them, but one of a city shall expiate for the whole city, and two of a family for the whole family. It is said, ‘I will take them for my people’; and it is said, ‘I will bring you into the land.’ He compares their going out of the land of Egypt with their coming in to their own land: now how was their coming in into the land of Canaan? There were only two persons of threescore myriads that entered it. Rabba saith, So also shall it be in the days of the Messiah.’ ” A man would hardly have expected such ingenuity from a Jew as we here meet with in Resh Lachish and Rabba.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 13:23. And one said. This may have been a professed disciple, but scarcely an earnest follower, since the tone of our Lords reply forbids this. It is still more probable that he was a Jew in the multitude.
Lord are they few that be saved. Final salvation is implied. The form of the question implies doubt in the mind of the inquirer; but both question and answer indicate that he had little doubt of his own salvation. He seems to have known of the high requirements set forth by our Lord, and possibly put the question in view of the few who heeded them.
Unto them. The multitude; since the question was put in public, and the answer appropriate for all.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vers. 23-27. Then one said unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And He said unto them, 24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25. When once the Master of the house is risen up, and shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26. Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets. 27. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
The question of Luk 13:23 was to a certain extent a matter of curiosity. In such cases Jesus immediately gives a practical turn to His answer. Comp. Luk 12:41, Joh 3:3; and hence Luke says (Luk 13:23): He said to them. Jesus gives no direct answer to the man; He addresses a warning to the people on the occasion of his question.
The Messianic kingdom is represented under the figure of a palace, into which men do not enter, as might appear natural, by a magnificent portal, but by a narrow gate, low, and scarcely visible, a mere postern. Those invited refuse to pass in thereby; then it is closed, and they in vain supplicate the master of the house to re-open it; it remains closed, and they are, and continue, excluded. The application is blended, to a certain extent, as in Luk 12:58-59, with the figure. , to strive, refers in the parable to the difficulty of passing through the narrow opening; in the application, to the humiliations of penitence, the struggles of conversion. The strait gate represents attachment to the lowly Messiah; the magnificent gateway by which the Jews would have wished to enter, would represent, if it were mentioned, the appearance of the glorious Messiah whom they expected. I declare unto you, says Jesus: They will think it incredible that so great a number of Jews, with the ardent desire to have part in that kingdom, should not succeed in entering it. The word , many, proves the connection between this discourse and the question of Luk 13:23. Only Jesus does not say whether there will be few or many saved; He confines Himself to saying that there will be many lost. This is the one important matter for practical and individual application. It is perfectly consistent with this truth that there should be many saved. The meaning of the expression, will seek to enter in, Luk 13:24, is explained at Luk 13:25 by the cries which are uttered, and the knockings at the gate; and the meaning of the words, but shall not be able, Luk 13:24, is explained by Luk 13:26-27, which describe the futility of those efforts.
It is not possible to connect the , when once, with the preceding phrase; the period would drag intolerably. The principal proposition on which this conjunction depends must therefore be sought in what follows. This might be (not ), Luk 13:25 b: When once the Master has risen…ye shall begin, on your side (),…; or at the end of the same Luk 13:25 : He, on His side (), shall answer and say…; or, finally, and most naturally of all, the apodosis may be placed, as we have put it in our translation, at Luk 13:26, in the words: : then ye shall begin. The word then favours this construction. The decisive act of the Master in rising from His seat to shut the door symbolizes the fact that conversion and pardon are no longer possible ( , when once). What moment is this? Is it that of the rejection and dispersion of Israel? No; for the Jews did not then begin to cry and to knock according to the description of Luk 13:25. Is it the time of the Parousia, when the great Messianic festival shall open? No; for the Jews then living shall be converted and received into the palace. The words, when ye shall see (Luk 13:28), strikingly recall a similar feature in the parable of the wicked rich man,that in which this unhappy one is represented in Hades contemplating from afar the happiness of Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. We are thereby led to apply what follows (when ye shall see Abraham…, Luk 13:23) to the judgment which Jesus pronounces at present on the unbelieving Jews, excluding them in the life to come from all participation in the blessings of salvation. Gess: The house where Jesus waits can be no other than heaven; it is the souls of the dead who remind Him, Luk 13:26, of the relations which He had with them on the earth.
This Luk 13:26 indicates the tendency to rest salvation on certain external religious advantages: Thou wast one of ourselves; we cannot perish. Is there in the words, I know not whence ye are (Luk 13:27), an allusion to the false confidence which the Jews put in their natural descent from Abraham?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Luke did not identify the questioner who could have been a disciple or a member of the ubiquitous crowd. The questioner evidently wanted to know if he or she was correct in concluding from Jesus’ previous teaching (e.g., Mar 10:23-26) that only a few people would experience salvation. For the Jews, and probably for the questioner, salvation meant entering the kingdom as well as entering heaven. The identity of the people to whom Jesus responded is indefinite and unimportant.