The Narrow Door

“Strive to enter through the narrow door.”

This is Jesus’ cryptic response to a rather simple question in Luke 13:23-24: “Will those who are saved be few?” You may have noticed that in the gospels (and in your own prayer life) Jesus often responds like this. We ask a question that, unbeknownst to us, is narrow, and he responds by revealing truths that we hadn’t even dreamt of seeking.

In this case, Jesus doesn’t just want them to rejoice in the multitude that will find salvation, or to heed his warning lest they find themselves on the outside (although his answer encompasses both points). Jesus wants them to see him, and his salvation, in a deeper way.

He does this by opening up a familiar image for them in Luke 13:24-30—the image of the Great Flood. When the waters came down, the way for salvation was narrow, for there was only one door into the ark, nd the ark was the only safe harbor. God sealed up Noah and his family in the ark, but everyone who rejected God’s warning had no refuge.

Jesus uses the Flood story for two reasons. First, he wants them to see that belonging to Israel would not be enough to gain salvation. The animals that came on board the ark found safety, but the people who ignored God’s message didn’t. In the same way, even foreigners who come from every direction will find safety (Lk. 13:29), but the Jews who reject God’s ultimate messenger will be left outside, banging on the door.

Jesus’ second reason touches us more directly. He wants us to see that Jesus himself is the way to salvation. He isn’t just the messenger—he is the ark himself. He’s the one who longs to gather his people “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Lk. 13:34). Jesus is our refuge.

When you encounter storms in your life, seek shelter in him. Bring him your illnesses, your sorrows, your fears, or whatever else threatens you. But if it seems like the storms keep raging despite your pleas, take heart. He hasn’t abandoned you. Instead, look for the ways that Jesus would draw you to safety in himself. He is our shelter, and in him we have a security that no storm or sorrow can break.

Justin

Scripture Reflections

On Sunday we heard Luke 4:1-13, which records Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The temptations likely don’t seem tempting to us—only “command this stone to become bread” even really makes sense—but that isn’t because we aren’t tempted by the same things. Most temptation looks a bit odd when pulled into the light and reported this factually. There is a seduction we feel in the midst of temptation that loses its power when the actual temptation is named out loud in a clinical fashion, and when named out loud, temptation usually seems a little strange. “Why on earth would anyone want to do that?”

A little thoughtfulness and imagination reveal that Jesus was tempted in ways that are common to us all. In each instance, he was offered something legitimate. Material comfort and provision, proof of the Father’s love, power and influence—not only were these legitimate desires, Jesus actually deserved all of them! We all desire these things in some degree, and we all assume that we deserve them in some sense.

The temptation is not usually even the thing itself. The real temptation is how and when we acquire it, and Jesus’ responses to temptation reveal our own sinfulness. There is nothing wrong with the desire for material comfort and provision, but does it rank higher than the word of God in our daily life? A little self-reflection likely reveals that we depend far more on what we eat and our finances than God’s word. There is nothing wrong with wanting God to demonstrate his love for us, but do we set the terms for what it means for him to love us? Again, self-reflection likely reveals how frequently we put him to the test by assuming that, if God loves us, a certain area of life must be fulfilled or fixed. And there is nothing wrong with wanting a voice and influence amongst our family and friends or in our workplaces, but do we bend the knee to the devil to get it? In other words, do we seek to achieve it using the world’s methods of selfishness, pride, slander, and dishonesty? Self-reflection reveals how frequently we take matters into our own hands and operate with the devil’s tools in seeking influence.

The way of Christ could not be more clear. He does not deny that the thing is legitimate, and he does not debate the devil (that would be a fool’s errand!). He simply refuses the bait, buttressing his refusal with Scripture. The posture we see is of one utterly convinced that the Father will give him what he needs at exactly the right moment. And that is what we are called to; this is what faith looks like in action. The way of Jesus is to approach every situation with the deep conviction that God will provide what we need, in his timing. To take matters into our own hands and grasp for things as if God won’t provide them is sin, because it is an act of coveting and a failure of faith.

The only remedy for our continual grasping, our failure of faith and our covetousness, is the life of Jesus. He conquered the temptations common to us all and offers his very life to us, so that in him, we might be able to wait in faith for the Father to provide everything. There is no need for us to grasp in covetous doubt, “For all things are yours, whether … the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.” (I Cor. 3:22-23)

Steven+

Ash Wednesday

At some point, Christmas overtook Easter as the biggest celebration for the church. We all now spend far more money and energy celebrating the birth of Jesus than we do the resurrection, but this wasn’t always the case. In fact, it took several centuries for the celebration of Jesus’ birth even to become normal and widespread in the church. But from the beginning of Christianity, the church celebrated the resurrection of Jesus as its principal feast of the year.

Lent, the 40-day period of preparation for Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday, grew out of Biblical examples. Noah, Moses, the Israelites, and Elijah all waited in periods of fasting or preparation (for 40 days or 40 years) before encountering God and receiving new blessings and ministries. Great encounters with God, great blessings from God, and great ministries in the name of God are all appropriately preceded by a period of fasting and preparation. It isn’t that God needs our preparation before he can show up—he can do what he wants, whenever he wants! But we need the preparation, so that we are ready for him! Moses needed 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness before he was prepared to encounter God in the burning bush, and the Israelites needed 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before they were prepared to enter the promised land. The fact that Jesus submitted to this pattern—40 days of fasting before beginning his ministry—should demonstrate to us that we would be wise to follow it as well.

This doesn’t fit a culture saturated with instant gratification, but our souls need preparation before celebrating the resurrection. They need yearly seasons like Lent to call us back to the things that matter. They need periods of fasting and contrition, where recurring sin is dealt with, distractions are set aside, and our energy is devoted to works of mercy, so that we are ready to meet God again. Some of these seasons need to be painfully long—40 days long!—so that the preparation sinks deep enough into the hard places of our hearts, softening the soil before God arrives.

As we move toward Easter, I encourage you to take seriously the idea that we are preparing for an encounter with the risen Lord. This is what the celebration of Easter is about, after all! Prepare through fasting, prayer, Bible-reading, repentance, and works of mercy. These are the spiritual disciplines appropriate to seasons of preparation. Pray expectantly that God would reveal himself to you anew this year, calling you deeper into his love for and mission to the world, and spend the next six weeks preparing as if he will answer this prayer!

Steven+