Luke reminds us again that Jesus is headed to Jerusalem and his followers are expecting a major conflict where only a remnant will be left, or saved through it. Israel knows this story. This is not primarily about eternal salvation, though we can certainly glean some insights. It is always dangerous to take things out of context of what Jesus was actually saying to fit our theology.
So far Jesus is holding the gate open for them, calling them all into God's Kingdom way. Jesus turns them from a question about quantity and directs them to a state of urgency, to follow Jesus in this way, at this point in the story, takes urgency and commitment. This is God giving Israel one last chance and it has come not from a prophet, but through God's own son. (Jesus will bring us back to this idea in Luke 20v9-18). After what Jesus would accomplish up at Jerusalem, a time would come when the Kingdom would be given to all the people around them and they would come in and feast at God's table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, yes the Gentiles from east, west, north and south, the very ones they hated so much...and Israel herself would be thrown out...what lament then! In that day there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth because they rejected the cornerstone and gave up their birthright. There is a hint of a message of hope at the end though,those who where first may still get in, last...but Jesus is content to leave them with that hint of hope amid the message of urgency,commitment and striving to enter before its too late, and so to am I.
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