13:26,27
In Matthew 7:21-23 we read of Jesus saying that some people who cast out demons, prophesied and performed miracles in Jesus’ name will not be allowed into the kingdom of heaven. Luke refers to those who claimed to have “ate and drank” with Jesus. What is clear is that entering the kingdom is not “easy”. Jesus is quite prepared to make severe judgements when necessary. As the church we often fail to present this side of Jesus, and when we do present “hard conditions” we have a habit of presenting the wrong ones. Jesus welcomed prostitutes, tax collectors, murderers and “sinners” into the kingdom. So what is the “narrow door”? It is a repentant heart, acknowledging our need of forgiveness and transformation, and our inability to do any of this for ourselves. If we are self-righteous, or independent (rather than God dependent) then we are excluded. as we are if we are unrepentant. The latter is actually perhaps the most pertinent today, whereas being self-righteous was the main problem in Jesus’ day. Today we talk readily about accepting anyone without any recognition of sin, what it is and what it does. Jesus welcomed anyone who came in faith and repentance, and we should do the same, but if we deny the repentance bit we are misrepresenting Jesus and the gospel, and we are denying people the true power of the gospel.
13:28-30
Jesus was not making a radical departure from the Jewish faith, for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in the kingdom, as are all the Old Testament prophets. Moreover, people from all across the world, north, south, east and west, will come into the kingdom. Many who are last will be first, and the first last. So we see the wide openness of the kingdom, and the restrictedness of the kingdom. We need to make sure that first, we ourselves are in the kingdom, that we are repentant and Jesus-dependant, and that we present the true nature of the kingdom to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment