Is God Narrow Minded?

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The Narrow Door

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
Many people misunderstand this parable for many reasons.  
1. The narrow door means God is stingy and narrow minded.  He makes it hard for people to get to heaven.
2. When we see the words, "Make every effort", it means we get to heaven by trying harder or doing more things for God.  
3.  There are going to be relatively few people that are going to get into heaven.
It is good to note that within Jewish teaching, one school said that only a few Jews will be saved, and another school thought all Jews would be saved.  So the man asks the question, "Are only a few people going to be saved." 
So what does Jesus mean when he says this?
1. The door is narrow because it comes through a person, Jesus.  
2. If one rejects Jesus they will miss the opportunity to be saved.  
3.  Just because the door is narrow does not mean that many can't go through it.  
Remember too that at this point Jesus is speaking to a mainly Jewish audience.  The biggest issue with the Jewish people will be their rejection of Jesus.  Although Jesus claims to be God and proves He is God, the Jewish people can't accept him.  Jesus did not fit the mold they were looking for in a Messiah.  They were looking for a Messiah who would lead them to conquer their enemy, the Romans, and bring them back into power.  
But Jesus taught about the kingdom of God how to enter into it.  The kingdom of God had come through him and to enter the kingdom they needed to go through Him.  But they wanted to build their own kingdom.  Thus the door was narrow because it caused all people to humble themselves and turn to Jesus to be saved.  To turn to Jesus to be saved is to admit you are powerless over sin and cannot earn your way to heaven.  It goes against our human nature, especially pride.  This is why Jesus says, "The first will be last, and the last will be first."  The first are those who think they are something special and deserve to enter the kingdom because of their own merits.  The last are those who turn to Jesus to be saved and realize there is nothing extrinsically good about themselves.  They are saved by a gift from the One who created them has sent His Son to open the door for all people to be saved. 
Will you make every effort to enter the narrow door? Will you humble yourself and realize that Jesus is the only hope you have to be saved?  Though the door is narrow, God desires all people to go through it.  But we go through it by what He has done not by what we have done.   

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