The Questioner Who Missed the Point

In Daily Devotional by Sinclair Ferguson

Theme of the Week: Meeting the Confused

Bible Verse: “They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:29 CSB

Scripture Reading: Luke 13:22-30

There is nothing new under the sun. Questioning voices were regularly heard in the crowds that gathered around Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Here comes another:

“Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (v 23).

Jesus never answered questions without answering questioners. We usually find out what he thought of the questioner by the way he responded to the question. This is a case in point.

Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries by and large thought that at least most Jews would be saved—they were, after all, God’s chosen people. But what did Jesus think?

Look at the first way Jesus answers the question.

He doesn’t.

He “answers” the questioner by saying three things for the whole crowd to hear:

  1. That is not the question you should be asking (v 24). What you should be asking is, “Am I going to be saved?” So, make sure you come to me and get through the door that leads into the kingdom of God.
  2. Make sure you “strive to enter” now, while you have the opportunity (v 25). One day it will be too late. The door will be shut.
  3. Don’t confuse having seen me and listened to me with coming to me (v 26). Jesus had already taught in the Sermon on the Mount that belonging to him is not merely having contact with him or even doing miracles in his name. It is being known by him (Matthew 7:21-23). So, the question is not, “Did you know about me and were you in my presence?” It is, “Did you trust me and enter my kingdom?” The question you should be asking, says Jesus, is not “How many will be saved?” but “Am I saved?”

But then Jesus added, “People will come from the east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (13:29). Yes, many will be saved (see the vision in Revelation 7:9). But what good will it do you to know this if you are not saved?

Taken from To Seek and to Save, by Sinclair Ferguson, ©2020 by The Good Book Company, used by kind permission.
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About
Sinclair Ferguson
Sinclair B. Ferguson is the Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is a native of Scotland and was the minister of two churches in Scotland and also served at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C. In addition, he was for many years Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas. He is currently the honorary evening preacher in St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland, Dundee. He has authored around fifty books and contributed to many others.
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Sinclair Ferguson
Sinclair B. Ferguson is the Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is a native of Scotland and was the minister of two churches in Scotland and also served at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C. In addition, he was for many years Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas. He is currently the honorary evening preacher in St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland, Dundee. He has authored around fifty books and contributed to many others.