SUNDAY’S GOSPEL – Luke 13:22-30.
Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 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.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 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. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
POINTERS FOR PRAYER
- The question put to Jesus is one that many still ask: “Will many be saved?” In his answer Jesus is not concerned about numbers but warns his listeners about complacency. Just as his listeners could not regard the mere fact of being Jews as sufficient for salvation, neither can we regard being Christians as enough. That entitlement will come from our acceptance of Jesus. For any relationship to be alive – either with God or with another human person – the real question is“Is my heart in this relationship?”What does your experience tell you of this?
- “Strive to enter by the narrow door”. Jesus himself is on his journey to Jerusalem, purposeful and determined. True followers of him will also be purposeful and determined. That is true in any journey, career, or relationship if there is to be growth or progress. What it is like for you when you fail to do this? What is it like for you when the effort is there?
The Bible and what is happening in Gaza
It is hard not to overstate what is happening in Gaza: the destruction of the territory, the starvation and attempted genocide of the people. All this is done in the name of biblically inspired “nationalism”. As such, it has made many people very, very uncomfortable with overt nationalist passages in the readings from the Bible. This is so much the case that an Israeli Jesuit of Jewish background, David Neuhaus, has written a short article with a trenchant title: “Reading the Bible after the Destruction of Gaza.” In the words of Neuhaus: This causes the Bible to be frowned upon by those who fight for freedom, equality, and fraternity.
To people perhaps not so familiar with the Bible, today’s first reading from Isaiah must come as something of a surprise. It offers a vision of all nations coming to worship the one, true God. The reading comes from the last part of Isaiah, usually called Third Isaiah, written after the return from the great Exile in Babylon. In spite of that setting, the reading breathes a broader, more universal air.
This slightly exotic text is a reminder that in the Bible there are not one but two narratives of salvation. The first one, perhaps more familiar, is unapologetically nationalist, often harshly expressed. It is the story of the ancient Israelites, later the Jewish people. The second one, perhaps less apparent, offers a different story, the story of all the nations and their inclusion in God’s plan of salvation.