Scripture Verses that Caught my attention today: Luke 13:23-30 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 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 you yourselves thrown out. 29 Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Observation: Narrow door? People from all over in kingdom of God? People that think they know God not known by God? People who aren’t in the kingdom are still able to see the kingdom and recognize Abraham and others?
Application: I probably have more questions than answers today. This is the second time that I’ve recently seen the Jesus of Luke’s gospel presenting a vision of someone outside the kingdom able to see Abraham inside the kingdom. The other instance is in Luke 16 in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus which we read in church last week.
It’s interesting that we will purportedly be able to recognize some people in the kingdom of God, whether we’re in the kingdom of God or not. But it’s also interesting that, in the previous sentence, I used the word ‘we’ (within which I naturally include myself) when in the passage above Jesus specifically says ‘you’ when referring to people who think they will be in the kingdom when, in fact, they won’t! Yikes!
This is one of those times when I’m thankful for other passages of Scripture which seem to balance passages like this out. Passages in which Jesus speaks of the divine desire and promise to seek and find those who are lost. Passages that assure that God is always with us.
Still, passages like those above cannot be ignored. But they really don’t scare me anymore. Instead they simply remind me of how deeply we need our God…of how little we can really do apart from our God…and of how little value there is of ever deluding ourselves into thinking otherwise.
Prayer: Lord, at the end of the day there is you and only you upon whom we can depend. Of course, that’s true at the beginning of the day too…and at every moment in between. Help me never to forget such things. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Scripture Readings today included: Zechariah 7-9 and Luke 13)
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