A reflection on the Gospel of Saint Luke, chapter thirteen, verses twenty-two through thirty.
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
Through today’s Gospel, Christ teaches us about the importance of the kingdom of God and how diligently we should work to enter that heavenly kingdom, which is the life goal of every believer. After teaching about the kingdom of God through parables like a tree growing from a mustard seed and like leaven that leavens the dough that is prepared to make bread, Jesus told the people in front of him and us today about the difficulty that may be in entering that kingdom of God.
Entering the kingdom of heaven is not easy
In the first part of today’s Gospel we see the answer to a question asked by a man on the occasion of his journey to Jerusalem, teaching in towns and villages. Jesus is using this opportunity to teach an important truth that entering the kingdom of heaven is not an easy task. Today’s gospel is a message for many of us who live in a mindset that we don’t need to take life so seriously. After saying, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate,” Christ says very clearly, “Many will try to enter in, but they will not be able.” Christ is telling us very clearly and precisely that entering the kingdom of heaven is not so easy, and if our life is aimed at heaven, we should work hard for it. It is interesting to note that Luke the Evangelist himself, who presents the God of mercy and forgiveness, talks about the certainty of Christ’s words regarding the entry into the kingdom of heaven. He who desires to enter the kingdom of heaven must live a life worthy of it. The word here reminds us that there should be nothing in life that makes it impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven, and that only a life of modesty and humility will make a journey to the kingdom of God and the presence of God possible. Only a life of good deeds and hard work will help us enter the kingdom of God.
When to labor for God’s kingdom?
A second thought in today’s Gospel concerns when we should strive to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus tells us about this from the second part of the twenty-fourth verse. Here Jesus says an important thing that our labor for entering the kingdom of God should not be delayed. Work for the kingdom of God cannot be put off for tomorrow. Our chances of entering the Kingdom of Heaven tomorrow are determined by our lives today, our efforts to do good and avoid evil. All of us who always plan things in advance, often put off divine things until tomorrow. But, in the twenty-fifth verse, Christ says, “When the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you go outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us. Then he will say to you: I do not know where you are from”. These scriptures remind us that those who delay to know Christ, to love God, to do godly works, will have tomorrows far from God, and that delayed love and efforts will not be worth it. Instead of putting off until tomorrow, we must start doing good deeds now; You have to start forgiving and loving; Unnecessarily added, worldly things that do not belong to the kingdom of God, must begin to be abandoned. May we always remember that we should not waste a single opportunity that God allows us in our days and that the narrow door will not remain open to us forever.
There is something that the latecomers in the Gospels say. It is in the twenty-sixth verse. “We have eaten and drunk in your presence and you have taught in our streets”. This verse tells us about a mistake that we often make. Having eaten and drunk in God’s presence, are we ready to receive God within? Have we heard the words of Christ in our lives, have we assimilated them in our lives? Have you lived up to it? Or are we sinners who continue in unrighteousness even in the moments of life when we know his presence? If we are people who have forgotten to accept Christ in our lives, the word of Christ will tell us today; “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.”
The reward of those who do not work for the kingdom of God
The last three verses of today’s Gospel are about what will happen to people who do not strive to know Christ, who do not accept Him in their lives, and who do not strive for the Kingdom of God according to the Gospel that He preached. Seeing and envying the entry into the kingdom of heaven for those who lived according to the word is not the only punishment for those who do not work for the kingdom of God. Their punishment is to see the good things they have left behind in their lives rejected before them, and to drink the tears of rejection while many are in the holiness and bliss of God’s kingdom.
The Gospel ends with a word about the Jewish people, who were specially chosen and given opportunities. “Then there will be the latter who will be the predecessors and the predecessors who will be the successors”. This one word is very important for each of us. When the Jewish people rejected Christ as a people specially chosen by God to know and receive Him, before other nations, they rejected the true promised land of God’s kingdom. This one word should cause a lot of self-reflection for every Christian. Are you and I, the chosen ones, living according to the values of God’s kingdom?
Beloved, let us strive to take to heart every word of today’s Gospel and respond to the great call it gives. Let’s make our lives a little more beautiful so that we can inherit the kingdom of heaven through the narrow gate. Let’s get rid of everything that unnecessarily binds our lives to this earth and incorporate the values of God’s kingdom into our lives. The presence of Christ in us is not only a motivation, but we can become people who have received Him inside, who have assimilated Him in our hearts, and live a life pleasing to God. Let us work to turn every opportunity that God allows us into opportunities for salvation, seeing God’s kingdom in front of us. Let’s start striving today to enter the door to life without putting off good deeds and opportunities for salvation to tomorrow. Don’t waste opportunities, live wisely. Striving to be leaders in the Kingdom of God, together with people who live according to the values of the Gospel, we can start traveling towards the Kingdom of God from this moment. Let us place our steps according to God’s call waiting for us at the door of salvation. May God bless us abundantly. Amen.