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Gospel: Luke 13: 22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.’
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“Lord, how many people will be saved?” An anonymous voice asks the Lord in today’s Gospel.
If Jesus gave a precise number – let’s say, one hundred million, four-hundred thousand, eighteen – then I’d imagine the questioner would stand there, count the number of people in town, and weigh the possibility of being either in or out.
“One hundred million…. That’s a lot of people,” the person might reason. “There’s a pretty good chance I’ll be saved. And if I’m already saved, then why change a thing?”
Mediocrity becomes acceptable.
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This is why the Lord never plays the numbers game. Jesus refuses to tell us how many people will be either in or out of heaven. Will everyone make it? Most people? Some? A few?
We don’t know.
And there’s a good reason for that.
The Lord wants us to act as if the door leading into the kingdom of God is open, but only cracked open, as if we must squeeze, or thrust ourselves inside.
This does not mean that anything we do merits salvation, or that somehow, we can save ourselves. However, what God does not want is for us to take him, his grace, and above all, his sacrifice for granted.
We should live as if we are the only people in the world… and Jesus died just for us.
But knowledge of such an incredible sacrifice demands a response, a personal response, a loving response that leaves us forever changed.
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How has faith in Jesus changed my life?
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“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” An anonymous person wonders.
God does not give us a clear yes or no. Rather, a command: “Strive.”
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,” he says.
What might it look like for me to strive for heaven today?
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Image credits: (1) The Narrow Gate, Makaila Kruse, Missio Dei (2) Adobe Stock (3) Safeguarding the Eternal, WordPress