Luke 13:24

θύρας. The πύλης of the Rec[274] probably comes from Matthew 7:13.

[274] Rec. The Textus Receptus.

24. πρὸς αὐτούς. He does not directly answer the individual questioner, but lays down a general principle for the benefit of all.

ἀγωνίζεσθε. The word implies the strong efforts of a contest. 1 Timothy 6:12.

διὰ τῆς στενῆς θύρας. ‘Through the narrow door’; reading θύρας (אBDL) for πύλης. Matthew 7:13. The “strait” of the A.V[280] meant ‘narrow’ (from strictus). We find the same conception—derived from Scripture—in the Mahometan notion of the arch of Al Seirat, narrow as a razor’s edge, over which the good pass into Paradise; and in 2Es 7:7, “The entrance [of the city] is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left a deep water.”

[280] A.V. Authorised Version.

ζητήσουσιν εἰσελθεῖν καὶ οὐκ ἰσχύσουσιν. They shall fail because they only seek and do not strive, nor do they look for the narrow door. They wish for heaven, but will not abandon earth. Sometimes also because they seek too late (Proverbs 1:28-29; Isaiah 1:15; John 7:34; Hebrews 12:17), but mainly because they seek to enter through other ways by which there is no entrance, since Christ is the only door (John 10:7; John 14:6).