Jesus and his disciples were headed for the City of Jerusalem. Jesus would go there and die on the cross to forgive our sin and save us from death and the devil. Jerusalem was the place of Salvation. And as such, it becomes a good picture of heaven, as in Hebrews 12:22, "You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God." But who will be the citizens of Heaven? As Jesus was going toward Jerusalem, someone asked him a natural question, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" That is, 'will only a small, limited number of people go to heaven?'

Jesus did not soon answer about "how many" will be saved, but he answered about "how" to be saved. "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Jesus called for people to make a commitment: that is, a confession of their faith and a living-out of that faith.

But still today people want to know "if will it be few or not." This question is really important. We need to know, because it can change our feelings and our actions. "Will only a few be saved" has about 4 meanings.
(1) Will I go to heaven? Am I one of the lucky few? The trouble is, sometimes I am not sure. When I think of my sin and unworthiness, I doubt my salvation. Can God love and forgive me enough? In my sin, am I overlooking the narrow door and trying to enter by the broad, easy way (Matthew 7:13) which leads to death? We may worry that we might be those left out side beating on the door saying "Sir, open the door for us." And we worry that God will say to us, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!"
(2) The question sometimes means, "will my family and loved ones be saved." Someone said the door is narrow so that we have to enter individually on the basis of our individual faith. No person can save another by prayer, offerings, or indulgences. I can be sure of my own faith in Jesus, but I don't know the heart of others, but I want to see them again in heaven in the resurrection. In a moment, we will talk about this concern in relation to those family members who are not Christian. Can they go to heaven?
(3) "How few?" might mean that we want it to be small enough to keep out those we hate, like those people we get angry at and tell to go to hell. Those people who we have religiously condemned as a denomination, will they be in heaven? We have to think about our judging others.
And (4), we ask "how strict is God, how forgiving is God?" This means, "how much can I get away with? How confining is the narrow path?" Because like sheep we often stray to taste the green grass on the other side of the fence.

"Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" Jesus did not answer, but there are two extreme answers that people give: "Yes" and "No;" "There will be very few" and "There will be everybody." That everyone will be eventually saved is called "universalism." Since God loves the world and everyone in it, surely he will save those he loves. Since the blood of Jesus shed on the cross has power to forgive the sins of the world, it surely does that and saves everyone, even those who don't know Jesus or even those who don't repent of their sin. If this is so, then we do not need to do evangelism: Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, and even atheists and murders and devil worshipers will go to heaven. If so, then, let's eat, drink and be merry and not worry about tomorrow! God is love. This is very comforting. A lot of people hope it is so, and so live that way. It is also comforting for Christians who have family or loved ones who do not go to church, or who are not Christians, either refusing the faith or not knowing about it. People worry about their loved ones because we want to be together in heaven. So, this "universalism" is a comfort, a hope. Unfortunately, the Bible does not teach this. Jesus does not teach this. Just for your reference, here are five clear Bible passages about this.

The opposite of "universalism" is when people think that only a very, very few will be saved. How many? The famous answer of the Jehovah Witnesses is 144,000 (based on erroneous calculations of Revelation Chapter 7). Some Christian denominations or sects say that they are the only small group that has the spiritual knowledge or revelation to find the narrow door. There are a lot of religious jokes about this, and a lot of religious fighting about this. Church congregations have been split, denominations have been split, Christianity itself has been split into a thousand splinters. Heretics think that only they and their group will be saved. Sometimes we call them "sectarians." Will there only be Lutherans in Heaven? Will there only be Roman Catholics?

I personally believe in my heart that the Lutheran Confessions have the best interpretation of Holy Scripture. If I didn't believe that, I could not and would not have been ordained into the ministry of the Lutheran Church. I think it would be great if all Christians could agree with the Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Church. I don't expect that to happen before Christ returns (the "Parousia"). However, it is not the denomination that saves us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that saves us. The Holy Spirit brings faith into our hearts. And in faith we receive the benefits of Jesus' death on the cross, that is, we receive the forgiveness of sin, salvation and eternal life. No matter what denomination you are in, that is the narrow door. It is too narrow to carry our good deeds. It's too narrow to carry our bad deeds. The door is the cross. It is the open door of the tomb of Jesus. And finally, Jesus invites us in. Luke 11:9, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." And Jesus assures us that there will be many who will come to heaven. All who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior will be saved. Jesus says, Luke 13:29, "People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God."

Amen.