So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also to into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

 

- Matthew 20:1-16 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at the and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also to into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."  My study Bible explains that in this parable, the vineyard is life in this world.  The day refers both to the span of a single person's life and also to the whole of human history.  The laborers are all the people in every nation.  Each hour can refer to times in a person's life, whether that be infancy, or youth, adulthood, maturity, or old age.  There is also a second meaning in the span of history:  it can refer to those who were called during the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ.  My study Bible says that God's generosity provides equal reward for both early and late comers.  Jesus teaches that the former should not be proud of their long service nor resent those called at the eleventh hour (and we remember He teaches this parable in response to Peter's statement that the disciples have left all and followed Him, wondering about their reward -- see yesterday's reading, above).  To the latecomers, Christ teaches that it is possible even in a short time or at the end of one's life to recover and inherit everything.  My study Bible adds that in the early Church, this message applied specifically to the Jews (the first-called) and the Gentiles (those called later).  In our time, we can think of it as applied to those raised in the Church and those who find the Church later in life, both of whom receive an equal reward.  The beautiful and renowned paschal sermon of St. John Chrysostom is based on this parable, in which he applied it to the preparations of each person in approaching the paschal Eucharist.  

What does it mean to us that all receive the same benefit, the same reward?  That it makes no difference when you came to this work or this labor, it makes no difference that others come earlier or even later.  It makes no difference how long one has labored, nor even how short.  What does this tell us about the rewards of discipleship, the rewards of the kingdom of heaven?  For one thing (and this is quite obvious from the surface meanings of the parable), we are to understand that the kingdom of heaven is nothing like an earthly kingdom.  There is no rational measure of lengths of time, no adding up or subtracting of hours of labor or time spent working on something.  There is just a fullness of the participation in the kingdom, which comes equally to those who were first and those who were last to enter.  Let us keep in mind that the whole discussion over the past week of readings began with the disciples desiring to know who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven (see last Thursday's reading).  In terms of discipleship, Jesus' parable indicates that the hierarchies of the world make no sense in this kingdom of God.  This begins right from the start with His response to the question regarding who would be greatest, when He began by speaking in terms of power:  "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."  To speak of the "little ones" in the Church is to dignify each with equal consideration, while those who are greatest are the humble.  He will also famously teach (again in response to a question about greatness from the disciples), "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:11-12).  Today's parable, and each of Christ's statements I've quoted, affirm that hierarchies in His kingdom are nothing like the hierarchies and measures of the world.  It is the same as when we consider the abundant love and mercy of God.  Jesus encourages us to think in these same terms as we seek to participate in this Kingdom, when He teaches, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38).  Pressed down, shaken together, and running over are all images not of equal measure, but of tremendous generosity, much more than would be allotted through careful precise measure.  In short, we can assume that the depths and breadths and heights of this Kingdom are far greater and deeper and higher than we can imagine in a worldly sense:  our rewards greater than our effort, our sins forgiven beyond parsimonious measure, even a small time of participation rewarded with "life abundantly" (John 10:10).  We are reminded of the exchange in the final chapter of John's Gospel, in which Peter is repeated told by Christ what is his mission as disciple (see John 21:15-19).  But then Peter asks Jesus about John ("the disciple whom Jesus loved"), saying, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."  Each has his own work of discipleship, each reward is the same, each is called in the specific way the Lord calls.  In today's reading, Jesus says, "So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."  To participate in this Kingdom, there is only our understanding through Christ, of the immeasurable love of God, the deep desire to save, and the depth of relatedness for each one who serves.  For the lives we have, for the service God asks of us, for the love we can experience through this participation, let us drop every other consideration and on this day be truly thankful for God's blessing.

 

 

What is the kingdom of God like?

 Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."  And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and from the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

- Luke 13:18-30

Yesterday, we read that Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work;  therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day."  The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"  And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for the glorious things that were done by Him.

 Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."   The parable of the mustard seed is meant to give us a picture of the "kingdom of God."  My study bible says that in Palestine, the mustard plant grows to a height of about ten feet.  Both the mustard seed and the leaven are also interpreted as representing the disciples.  According to Theophylact, they began as just a few men, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  But the kingdom of God isn't only among us, it is also within us.  These images stand also for faith entering a person's soul, which causes an inward growth of virtue.  This soul, says my study bible, "will become godlike and can receive even angels" (the birds of the air who nest in the tree's branches.)

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."  In Matthew's Gospel, the narrow gate is contrasted with the broad way that leads to destruction.  This description of two ways is part of a widespread tradition in Judaism and in early Christian writings.  But Luke sets this saying about the narrow gate one must enter in order to be saved as part of a more eschatological teaching, given as Jesus is approaching Jerusalem for His Passion.  Jesus speaks of Judgment and the end of the age.  My study bible says that because we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), entering the Kingdom is the more difficult way.

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'" My study bible says that neither verbal confessions (Lord, Lord) nor sacramental experience (We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets) avail anything unless we also do the works of faith, living our faith.  See also Luke 6:46-49.

"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and from the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."  My study bible quotes Theophylact, who sees the first who becomes the last not only as faithless Jews but also those in the Church, who "from infancy have put on Christ and have been taught the Word, but who become last by transgressing against it."  The teaching that they will come from the east and from the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God refers to the Gospel going out to all the world, and those entering in who live it.

What does it mean to really live our faith?  If those who enter by the narrow gate does not necessarily include nominal faithful, who go to services and confess the faith, then who does it include?  How is it that the Pharisees and scribes are so often described by Jesus as those who are hypocrites -- and repeatedly given His warnings about the woes to come to them?  This is in fact connected to the parables of the Kingdom, given earlier in today's reading.  What is the kingdom of God?  How does it work?  How do we enter into it?  The parables are meant to give us a sense of what it is.  A mustard seed is tiny, but grows into a tree, capable of giving a home to even the birds of the air.  Jesus will later give an image of faith as a mustard seed (17:6).  The first parable of all, that of the Sower, is the image of Christ sowing seeds.  The seeds give yield depending on the soil and and the endurance and patience necessary for bearing fruit.  (See Luke 8:4-15.)   All of these parables of the Kingdom teach us about something growing within us.  Particularly the parable of the Leaven, in today's reading, gives us an image of something that not only grows but comes to permeate even that which is not like it, thus changing the substance of the whole.  And there we're given an even deeper clue about the reality of this Kingdom and how it works within us.  Jesus' narrow gate is that which is entered by those for whom this Kingdom, this way of life, becomes the fullness of the way we live life.  That is, it's not just window dressing.  It's not just about appearances we make that put us in a good light. It permeates to the heart, it allows us to wrestle inside with everything we think and know that struggles against it.  To actively live our faith is to have it truly dwell within us in such a deep and permeating way that our choices reflect that faith.  To do the works of faith can be as simple as choosing to say a prayer for someone who needs it, or perhaps even for an enemy.  It means fulfilling and living Christ's teachings.  It means striving to conform to the image He gives us, and even including that mystical reality that is at work in its mysterious and secret ways like the leaven within the whole of the dough.  Jesus is not just another lawgiver:  the mustard seed and the leaven work within us and among us in ways known to God.  We simply come to know their effects.  It's a very mysterious reality that goes on in the heart; we cannot predict it nor can we even picture what "perfect" is.  That is something else we have to discover through living our faith and allowing the Kingdom to do its work in us.  So it was with the explosive growth of the early Church in the world as well.  To truly enter the narrow gate is to allow this depth of work within us, so that what we know and believe becomes not just a set of "good deeds," but more, a way of life and a way of living -- a growing fullness of meaning and purpose that permeates all that we think, say, and do in its continuing challenge.  There is a goal worthy of being called a "narrow gate."

The last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'   So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to use who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

- Matthew 20:1-16

Yesterday we read that, after turning away the rich young ruler, Jesus taught His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children of lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'   So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to use who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."  Jesus illustrates work for the Kingdom with this parable.  The vineyard is life in this world.  The day may be both the span of a single person's life and also the whole of human history.   Laborers are those who are from every nation.  My study bible says that each hour could refer to times in a person's life, such as infancy, youth, adulthood, maturity, or old age.  There is also a second meaning in terms of spiritual history, referring to those called during the different covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ.   This parable puts salvation history into perspective for the disciples, as it gives a picture of all those who labor for the Kingdom in the world.  There is equal reward for both the early and late comers.  The former should not be proud of their long service nor resent those who are called at the eleventh hour.  For the latecomers, the parable teaches that it is possible even in a short time or at a very late stage in one's life to recover and inherit all.  This kingdom doesn't work as a worldly kingdom does, and time and space make no difference to it.  For the early Church, this was seen as an image applying to Jews (the first called) and the Gentiles (those called later).  Today, says my study bible, it can apply to those raised in the Church and those who find the Church later in life.  They will both receive an equal reward.  In his paschal sermon (read each Easter in the Orthodox church), St.  John Chrysostom applied this parable to the preparations of each person in approaching the Paschal Eucharist.

The standards that apply to the Kingdom aren't those of worldly life.  What we consider to be equal or fair isn't really the same kind of 'setting' for the Kingdom.  Those who labor their whole lives long in service to this King may receive exactly the same reward as one who comes to this work late in life, even at the end of life.  Those who were the early founders in this work, who came to it at a time in the world when faith really meant taking on an entirely different understanding of life and faith than that which existed in one's culture or time and place, share an equally essential role as those who've come long after and benefited from the establishment of the Church and all that has come before it.  Time and space matter little, as in the communion of saints all are not only united but in communication with one another.  And hierarchy matters very little at all:  the great saints are there and praying for all, and they may be called on for intercession, for all of us who are "the least of these" in terms of our spiritual understanding or development.  The Kingdom sets down its own standards for citizenship and participation, and there is really only one King, only one Teacher, who lays down what is what and sets the tone and circumstances for all of us.  This defines the "good."  (When the landowner in the parable asks, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" we understand that the 'evil eye' refers to envy.)  And that's where we start, with the one truly essential relationship that sets down standards of love and what is "good" for all the rest.  This is a kind of equality that takes into consideration not just "how much" but "how deep."  It measures us in every dimension, but it is the heart where all resides and that determines everything else.  It is truly the "kingdom within us," because it is the reality of the heart.  The heart is where one will find the kingdom of heaven (and also, sadly, and paradoxically, hell -- the place without God).  In its immediate telling, this parable may be a teaching for the apostles, those who come first in the Church as its pillars in the world.  Jesus is preparing to make His way to Jerusalem, and He has been teaching the about life in His Church.  That the 'first may be last and the last may be first' is a teaching of the greatest humility, and also gives them the perspective on their places in the Kingdom.  Our usual understanding of wealth and accumulation just doesn't apply.  This is a reality that permeates the places within us where time and space are simply relative terms, where a long deceased loved one still is present, for example, or where we meet Christ or are given the Holy Spirit's promptings.  This is a place where love declares its reasons, and wisdom its paradoxical truths -- where we are not measured by the standards of the world and its measurements, but by something much deeper and more profound in its understanding.

What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?   It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."

And again He said, "To whom shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

- Luke 13:18-30

Yesterday, we read that Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day."  The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"  And when He said those things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?   It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."    My study bible says that the mustard plant grows to a height of about 10 feet in Palestine.   According to ancient commentaries, some have seen this as an example of the handful of apostles who would evangelize the world.  Also a mustard seed can stand for faith entering a person's soul, and reaping an inward growth of virtue.  My study bible says, "This soul will become godlike and even receive angels" (birds of the air making a home and supported by its branches).

And again He said, "To whom shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  The leaven has similar properties to the mustard seed as an analogy of the Kingdom.  It eventually is "worked into" all, changing the whole composition of the flour mixture, like the work of the apostles in the world.  Similarly, it works inside of us, seemingly "hidden" and working within, until the whole is leavened.  Interestingly, the Greek verb for "to leaven" shares the root of the word given to us as "enzyme."  This gives us another picture of the work of the Kingdom, which changes and transforms.  Looking at Wikipedia, a definition for enzymes states that they "are responsible for thousands of metabolic processes that sustain life."  A catalyst that is necessary to sustain life (in the sense of Jesus' "life in abundance") is another good way to describe the Kingdom.

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."  Jesus is journeying toward Jerusalem, toward the Passion.  All is being prepared for His exit (exodus) and for the Holy Spirit, the true force behind the examples of the Kingdom given above.  Here, the image is about the urgency of seeking the Kingdom, the Way of Christ.  My study bible says that the description of "two ways" was widespread in Judaism (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:17-19, 12:28, 15:24) and in early Christian writings such as the Didache or Barnabas.  Here, in Luke, as Jesus is journeying toward Jerusalem, the outlook is eschatological, looking toward the end of the age that is initiated here.  It notes, "Because we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), entering the Kingdom is the more difficult way."

"When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'"  My study bible says, "Neither verbal confessions (Lord, Lord, v. 25) nor sacramental experiences (We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets, v. 26) avail anything unless we also do the works of faith (see 6:46-49)."

"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."  Cyril of Alexandria says that those coming from the east and west, and north and south indicate Gentiles, from all the world, coming in faith to rest with the saints (Commentary on Luke, Homily 99).  My study bible cites Theophylact as seeing the first who becomes last as not only faithless Jews, but also those in the Church who "from infancy have put on Christ and have been taught the Word, but who become last by transgressing against it."

Jesus' warnings at this stage grow very stark; they are a reminder of the age that is being initiated here in His ministry.  As He is walking now toward Jerusalem, and therefore in some real sense toward Judgment, He strikes a sharp tone of warning.  His aim is for salvation; that is His mission in the world.  He wants us to take His words seriously, to understand the full seriousness of His teaching, of the work of the Spirit in the world, the work of the Kingdom.  And that's why, effectively, these (seemingly) two themes are linked.  The work of the Kingdom in the world is the work of the Spirit that is to be given, the fire which is to be given to all the world after Jesus is "baptized" with the Passion.  He's emphasizing two ways in order to make clear the importance of the work of the Kingdom, our response to the Holy Spirit when it comes.  This is the reality of Judgment, how we respond to the work of the Kingdom, the working energies of the Holy Spirit in the world.  In addition to the Gospel we now read, Luke the Evangelist has also written the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the beginning of the Church, the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, the Kingdom at work.  From the beginning of that work, it is clear that Jesus commands the apostles to wait until the Spirit is given before departing from Jerusalem.  They must wait for the "baptism of the Spirit" promised by John the Baptist.  In that baptism (see Acts 2), we receive two "images" of the Spirit:  one is the sound of wind, as in the analogy given by Jesus to Nicodemus in John's Gospel (John 3:8 - "The wind blows where it wishes . . .")  and also the image of fire as given so often in Luke's Gospel (see Acts 2:3, "tongues of fire").  This fire divides or cleaves to sit upon each of them, but its Source is one, a unity.  And it is this fire that tests all things, all people.  It seasons all of us.  It is the leaven at work in the world, the mustard seed that starts small and is able to shelter the birds or angels of the air, so that God's message "nests" in each of us.  Let us consider the opportunity, let us consider the great grace immeasurably poured out in this baptism of fire.  Let us consider the energy at work in us if we but accept the gift.  So much depends on it.