31 October 2018 - a measured gate

Today's Readings (Audio)

"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.

Indeed no one is strong enough to make it through the narrow gate on his own. Does this mean that the number of the elect is very small? Apparently not.

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.

The point of the narrow gate is to warn those who think they can make it on their own, the prideful ones who seem themselves as VIPs, those who assume the door will just open for them as they approach. The answer of Jesus is meant to remind us that we can't expect to simply walk through this gate. It is narrow. Our baggage isn't going to fit. We won't get our big screen TVs or even our iPhones through with us. In fact the gate is so narrow that it precisely Jesus-sized. He himself is the gate. He himself is the blueprint of what passes through the gate. It isn't enough to simply say that we know him.

'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!'

To pass through the narrow gate we must be united with him. 

I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture (see John 10:9).

Are we ready to abandon all pretense and to seek Jesus himself as our only merit and our only righteousness? This is the narrowness Jesus tells us we will find. It is actually as broad as the embrace of Jesus, broad enough for the entire world, if only the world will embrace him in turn.

We can test how we are doing by looking at our relationships. How readily do we obey when it is time to obey? Do we obey with good zeal or grudgingly? Do we show genuine concern for those entrusted to our training and instruction or do we do the minimum to fulfill our obligations? Are we bullies or servant-leaders? If we fail, that isn't a reason to beat ourselves up. Rather, we should turn to Jesus, embrace him, and let go more and more of anything that pulls us away from that embrace.

The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.