The most terrifying words ever put into writing.

Liturgical readings from 10/26/2022

Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?" Then I will declare to them solemnly, "I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers."

There should be major record-scratching happening at this moment for all who read this text from Matthew. I read this passage along with the liturgy for today in Luke which also speaks of the narrow gate. The record scratched so many times for me that I thought I was in an old rap video from the 80s. We have two gospels that speak specifically about entering into the presence of God. Heaven. How do we get there? Who will be saved?

Here we have the creator of the universe. The high priest and lamb of God instructing us on how we can achieve the pinnacle of purpose. The very fiber of our existence. What are we supposed to be doing down here? Jesus skips to the end scene gives us insight and it's terrifying.

Even if you aren't a Christian, maybe you are agnostic, or just a theist, this scripture text should be shocking from a simple "What if?" perspective. If there is a God and he created me with a purpose to know Him, what if it's not just as simple to believe in Him?

The imagery here is that there is a narrow road to achieving this goal. It's a reward and it's everlasting, it's everything, and there are a ton of people standing outside of it watching. Many Christians would claim that God loves us so much that he would never let us suffer. Jesus is our redemption, yet here we have Christians standing outside and God saying to them... "I do not know you." and "I do not know where you are from."

We aren't even talking about hell or damnation or gnashing of teeth yet. We are just talking about rejection. Through pride, some will say to the Lord, "I did what you told me to do." and the Lord will respond, "No, you didn't." No greater hell could exist for me than to be denied by our God.

Let's step back and look at the bigger setup for the scripture readings above. What should we be doing to find the narrow gate? The Bible is full of these references from Jesus. Some are direct and some are given as parables so that we might understand. If Jesus didn’t mean for us to do something, he wouldn’t have said it. 

Ephesians 6: 1-9

Children, obey your parents. Honor your mother and your father. It's one of the commandments. Paul elaborates further by telling us not to provoke our own children to anger, but to teach them and raise them up in the Lord. We move down the line of submission with additional examples. Paul speaks to us about serving our masters. We serve our employers, our civic and national leaders, we serve our pastors. All interactions of servitude give us the opportunity to work the will of God from our hearts. When we serve any of these earthly masters, we are actually serving our Lord. The flip side of the coin has Paul giving the same burdens of responsibility to the authorities here on earth. Act and lead in love, knowing that they have a Master in heaven, and with Him, there is no partiality. Remember this part in a moment as we jump to the reveal in the Gospel reading. 

The last are first and the first will be last. The Beatitudes.

The reading in Ephesians continues to emphasize humility. Loving all others as a servant. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and Peter begins to protest the actions of his master. Jesus says to him,

"What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand."

Luke 13: 22-30

Here, we find someone asking on behalf of the whole world. A person who gets to sneak in a question that many of us have been pondering our whole life. "Lord, will only a few people be saved?"

Jesus describes the narrow gate. This is the same reference and gate in Matthew. Here is the scary part of the text. We aren't talking about non-Christians or people that have not found salvation. Jesus is speaking about his believers. Many of these people are followers of Christ. Here is how we can know the difference in the text.

In Matthew, he says that the gate and road to destruction are broad, and those that enter through it are many. Here we have Jesus describing the unsaved, and the unrepentant. There are a lot of people on this road. He follows this up by saying,

"How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those that find it are few."

Ok, I'm a little worried.

Let's jump back to Luke again. The narrow gate is now detailed even further from another perspective. This is the same gate referenced in Matthew. Jesus says,

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."

Now, I am terrified.

The "many" here are not from the larger pool of nonbelievers and Christians combined. Those unsaved people are over on the broad road. Jesus has already described the end of that road. It leads to destruction. The people at the narrow gate are the "few" that find it from Matthew. Many of these few will attempt to enter the gate, but will not be strong enough. The gate is locked and many stand outside.

These are the people that are referenced in Ephesians. They are the people that serve themselves before serving others. They do not show love to the least. They follow Christ in word but not deed. These are the Pharisees that stand before God and plead their case.

"I gave my tithe!"

"I read my Bible every day!"

"I fasted and followed the law!"

There will be people at the gate that believe in their hearts that Christ is their savior. They will believe that He is God in the flesh. They will cry out to their King. They will have knelt down at the foot of the cross but they will not have carried their own cross.

And the Lord will say to them,

"I do not know where you are from."

These people standing at the narrow gate. The place where Jesus told them to find. They will say,

"We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.

God replies again. His words shake me to the core.

"I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!"

And some in disbelief, pride, and anger will wail and grind their teeth in agony when they see all of the people that they walked by in life. The people that they turned away from as servants to serve themselves and their own needs. I pray to God, to keep these words in my heart every day. Make me your servant oh Lord. Teach me patience and submission so that I may enter through the narrow gate.

These are the most terrifying words that have ever been written.