Today’s reading sees Jesus heading resolutely towards Jerusalem knowing the tragedy that lay ahead. The tragedy for Jesus was not his own suffering primarily, but that those who called themselves the people of God, would reject him. They would instead throw themselves onto a trajectory that would lead to war with the Romans, the destruction of the city and temple and their expulsion from the land. Their ‘house,’ as Jesus says, would be “left desolate” but the carnage of the war to come was not the worst part of the consequence that Jesus laments here. The tragedy that Jesus laments is not that they would be shut out of their land, but that, by rejecting him, they would be shut out of God’s Kingdom forever. Many Jews eventually accepted Jesus as their saviour and king, but most would not. And it will be the same with humanity at large because, while God has opened a door, not everyone will want to enter it (until it’s too late). This is what Jesus laments. In the end we will all get what we want, unless of course we yield to what God wants for us. C. S. Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done’. All that are in Hell, choose it.” Making “every effort” to enter the narrow door doesn’t denote any qualification to enter. It means that we mustn’t lose sight of the door. It means that we should hold onto Jesus, because he is our only hope.
Thank God that your destiny is secure in Christ. Listen to his voice.
Read Luke 13:22-35
