It's God's will to gather us close to Him, but it's also His lament that it is often not our will to be gathered.

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 13:31–35, NIV)

It's shocking to hear from Jesus that only a few with find eternal life. Thus, Luke 13:22-30 proves to be one of the most sobering sections of the Gospels for anyone — especially for those of us who think that we're already counted among the "few." Here, Jesus directs us to "Strive" to "Make Every Effort" to "Agonize (from the original Greek "Agonizomai") rather than to just "Try" as we fight to surrender our will to His will in true faith.

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?” 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.’ “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!’ “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 13:22–30, NIV)

"Who will be saved?" The real question cloaked underneath, "Will I be saved?"

Using two very interesting parables, Jesus describes the Kingdom as fast spreading yet completely repulsive. Gain insight into Jesus' metaphors and resolve to never compromise the Kingdom message — no matter how revolting your hearers may consider it.

Organized systems are better than disorganization. But systems never trump Jesus, and for Jesus systems never trump people. Here He heals a woman severely disabled for eighteen years to make His point.

Jesus affirms that we've got the discernment to realize that we need to repent — and to do so quickly. Moreover, He also lets us know that He's done all that He can to exhort us to repent (which of course will include dying on a cross for our sinful indulgences, providing us the Word, and arranging time and space for us to prompted to seek Him). He's emphatic about repentance because it is our deliverance from slavery to sin AND because it's better than the alternative: perishing.

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ” (Luke 12:54–13:9, NIV)