Luke 13:23

23 Someone asked him, "Sir, will just a few people be saved?" Jesus answered them,

Luke 13:23 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 13:23

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 ^F26, 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.

Luke 13:23 In-Context

21 It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

22 Jesus went through towns and villages, teaching the people and making his way toward Jerusalem.

23 Someone asked him, "Sir, will just a few people be saved?" Jesus answered them,

24 "Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able.

25 The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock on the door and say, "Open the door for us, sir!' he will answer you, "I don't know where you come from!'