He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Closed Door) # 17

In this verse of Scripture we find the Lord had two goals as He was traveling to Jerusalem.

(1) His ultimate goal was to go to Jerusalem where He would die for the sins of mankind.

Luke told us that in Luke 9:51. We read, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, HE STEDFASTLY SET HIS FACE TO GO TO JERUSALEM,”

That is, He came to die for our sins, and He would not let anything sidetrack Him from this divine mission.

Listen, if any of us knew we were going to die in a certain place, we would go in just the opposite direction. But the Lord knew He was going to die in Jerusalem, and He was determined not to let anything stop him!

He loved us so much that, “He stedfastly set his face” toward Jerusalem and would not allow anything to stop him.

(2) His second goal as He traveled, was to teach in the cities and villages on the way to Jerusalem.

Until He reached Jerusalem, where He would die for the sins of mankind, He shared the spiritual truths people needed to hear everywhere He went. It did not matter if it was a large city or a small village.

These people in these cities and villages were blessed to be taught by the GREATEST, MOST TALENTED, SINCEREST TEACHER that ever lived.

WHAT IS TEACHING? Teaching has simply been defined as imparting knowledge from the teacher to the student.

There are many teaching tools that can be used to impart this knowledge. The Lord Jesus seemed to favor Parables.

The Bible tells us He TAUGHT THEM MANY PARABLES!

Teaching is a noble profession. However we have teachers today in our public schools that do not take teaching seriously.

• For example, you can ask a student at the end of the day, “WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY AT SCHOOL?” Some of these students will think for a few seconds and say, “I did not learn anything!” Why? Because their teacher did not take teaching seriously, and did not teach them anything.

• Sad to say, we also have teachers today in our Sunday school classes that do not take teaching seriously. You can ask some students that come out of these Sunday School classes what they learned, and they will also say, “I did not learn anything!” Why? Because these teachers did not take teaching seriously, and that child did not learn a thing.

But the Lord took teaching seriously, and the Bible said He took advantage of every opportunity to teach in every city and small village, as He was making His journey to Jerusalem to die for the sins of mankind.

Illus: William A. Ward has said:

• The mediocre teacher tells

• The good teacher explains

• The superior teacher demonstrates

• The great teacher inspires

The Lord went through these cities and villages inspiring people to serve God.

Once they heard the teachings of this great teacher, many of their lives were changed and they were never again the same person.

But as He was teaching in one place, someone asked Him a question. Look at verse 23, we read, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?”

The Lord gives us the Parable of the Closed Doors in response to this question.

As we look at this parable, we need to consider two things. First we need to consider -

I. THE CONFIDENCE OF THE JEWS

Jesus surprised his listeners by saying that being a Jew did not give them an open door to the Kingdom of heaven.

Many Jewish Rabbis held that all Israel would be saved, except for a few blatant sinners who excluded themselves! After all, they were specially chosen by God when he established a covenant with them.

Remember the question that motivated the Lord to give us this parable was, “…Lord, are there few that be saved?”

Perhaps a Jew asked this question in such a way as to suggest that only the Jews were going to be saved.

In verses 23-24a, Jesus is saying, "Before you get all immersed in HOW MANY are being saved from God’s final judgment, you'd better MAKE SURE YOU ARE SAVED."

He tells them a few things about salvation. Look at some of the things He tells them to consider.

A. LOOK AT THE WORD “STRAIT”

This is the word “Stenos,” which means narrow.

The "Narrow door" means that the WAY of salvation is NARROW.

There are not many ways to salvation as people today are suggesting. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY!

This NARROW WAY refers to Jesus himself, and His death on the cross for our sins. The only way a person can be saved is through Christ.