What does Luke 13:29 mean?
A man has asked Jesus if few people will be saved. Jesus isn't interested in numbers, though. He wants to make sure the crowd around Him understands how to be saved and that the time for taking that step is limited (Luke 13:1–9, 22–27).Jesus has said that some Jews—descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—will not spend eternity with God. The imagery of reclining at the table describes a formal banquet such as the feast used in Judaism to represent God's eternal blessings. These Jews will not repent of their sins or establish a relationship with Jesus, so they will be separated from true followers (Luke 13:5, 23–28).
Even more shocking, many Gentiles will be part of the kingdom of God. They are the birds who have flocked to the mustard tree—the kingdom of God (Luke 13:18–19).
The sequence of cardinal directions is a "merism:" a figure of speech using contrasting ideas to represent a larger whole. "East and west" and "north and south" are opposites to mean all the space between them: the whole earth. The idea of Gentiles from the east, west, north, and south knowing God is also found in the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 45:6; 49:12; Malachi 1:11).
