Lord, Will Only A Few Be
Saved?
“’Lord, will only a few be
saved?’…’Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will
attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will
you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will
say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers’.” (Lk 13:23-27)
I don’t know about others, but this passage does
not conjure up “warm, fuzzy feelings.”
What it does: It conjures up feelings of uneasiness, perhaps depression
or even distress. It is a passage that
makes us desire to rush through it and forget it as soon as possible. To basically capsulize the teachings of the
early Church fathers, they—the ones I have read—all say basically that, out of
the totality of humanity, only a few will be saved but that “few” will be
numerous. They very well could be
right. I don’t know. However, I don’t think that is the
point. The point is: How does this
passage benefit me? Just because I think
I have salvation does not mean a thing; I am not the Judge. So, once again, how does this passage benefit
us?
The question is asked of our Lord, “Lord, will
only a few be saved?” The individual who
asked the question was probably asking it for the benefit of the group. If our Lord says “many,” they will feel
comfortable, thinking that they are in the “in” group for following Jesus. However, it He says “few,” they will begin to
fidget and probably fall away, believing they did not have a chance. When our Lord began by saying, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate…,”
I imagine they began to feel uneasy. Being
the ultimate pessimist, the thought occurred to me, “Only the strongest will
enter, and I can’t say I’m one of the strongest.”
Then, to make matters worse, our Lord continues, “Many will attempt to enter but will not be
strong enough.” Strive to enter the
narrow gate; however, you might not—probably, will not--be strong enough.”
Is that not what the many are doing, that are attempting to enter—but
will not be strong enough? Of course,
there is also the optimist: “I can do it; I am, and will be, strong
enough!” Is that optimism, or is it
presumption? Well, that’s the pessimist
in me speaking again, rearing its ugly head.
Of course, it’s optimism—isn’t it?
No, it’s presumption. Hence, I
would rush over this passage and try to cast it from my mind, as though it
existed not. “I believe in Jesus; that’s
good enough.” Or is it? Doesn’t it haunt you? Why isn’t John 3:16 enough? Why isn’t it enough when Jesus said: ““Come
to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden light.”[1] Why did Jesus say that which He said?
St. Basil tells us: “As in earthly life the
departure from right is exceeding broad, so he who goes out of the path which
leads to the kingdom of heaven finds himself in a vast extent of error. But the right way is narrow, the slightest
turning aside being full of danger, whether to the right or to the left, as on
a bridge where he who slips on either side is thrown into the river.”[2]
St. John Chrysostom explains: “What
then is that which our Lord says elsewhere, ‘My yoke is easy, and my burden is
light’? There is indeed no contradiction, but the one was said because of the
nature of temptations, the other with respect to the feeling of those who
overcame them. For whatever is
troublesome to our nature may be considered easy when we undertake it heartily.
Besides also, though the way of
salvation is narrow at its entrance, yet through it we come into a large space,
but on the contrary the broad way leads to destruction.”[3]
None of this is really encouraging;
however, it is part of the Gospel.
Therefore, I think we need to pause and think: How is this beneficial to me; how does it
encourage me?
As mentioned above, if Jesus had
said, “Many will enter,” people would have the tendency to presume that they
would make it. If He had said a few
would enter, then people would have a tendency to despair. Therefore, Jesus said, “Strive to enter
through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will
not be strong enough.”[4]
When Christ tells us to strive, that
eliminates the presumption that the entrance is easy. Then, when He says, “For many, I tell you,
will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough,”[5]
this reminds us that we do not have the strength, nor the wisdom, to enter on
our own. We must keep seeking, keep
asking, and keep knocking.” We are on
the Way, pilgrims on a journey to the Homeland.
It is not an individual journey, but a journey of the Church.
Jesus died for us.
Yes, He did. However, He did not
die to affirm us in our sins; He died to save us from our sins—present time, now.
He takes care of our past sins, but He is now making it where our sins are dissipating. This is why the Liturgy, the Mass, is so
important. Cardinal Ratzinger, in his
book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, informs us, “…[T]he synagogue service
is the divine worship that takes place in the absence of the Temple and in
expectation of its restoration.
Christian worship, for its part, regards the destruction of the Temple
in Jerusalem as final and as theologically necessary. Its place has been taken by the universal
Temple of the risen Christ, whose outstretched arms on the Cross span the
world, in order to draw all men into the embrace of eternal love.”
Jesus’ Passion and death embraces the totality of
love of God and love of neighbor. It
embraces love of God in that He accomplished that which man was created for,
due to His love of His Father, accomplishing it in its fullness. It embraces love of neighbor in that He gave
up His life in order that others may also have Life—not only in the future, but
beginning now. However, He went much further: He does
everything necessary to help us achieve this ultimate love of God and
neighbor. He counsels, encourages,
strengthens, guides, pushes, pulls, carries, etc., in order to make us into His
image. He does this through the Catholic
Church, especially the Sacraments, of which the Eucharist is utmost. We just have to desire it, be willing, and
cooperate with God, the triune God.”
Cardinal Ratzinger also tells us: “…Christian
liturgy is a liturgy of promise fulfilled, of a quest, the religious quest of
human history, reaching its goal. But it
remains a liturgy of hope. It, too,
bears within it the mark of impermanence.
The new Temple, not made by human hands, does exist, but it is also
still under construction. The great
gesture of embrace emanating from the Crucified has not yet reached its goal;
it has only just begun. Christian
liturgy is liturgy on the way, a liturgy of pilgrimage toward the
transfiguration of the world, which will only take place when God is ‘all in
all’.”
This is what the Gospel passage is about. This is the narrow gate, the narrow door,
that we must strive to enter in. But we
cannot do it as an individual; we have to do it as a Body. We are being transformed into the image of
Christ. We are not strong enough, but
God will do it if we conform our wills to His.
We do this when we are “one” with the Church’s teachings, the Church
whom Jesus is the Head.
It is then that we will not become discouraged
over whether many will be saved or a few.
We will just continue to strive to enter out of love for God and
neighbor. We do not have to despair due
to lack of strength, for God is supporting us.
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Mt 11:28–30.
[2] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 7967-7970). Kindle Edition
[3] Ibid., (Kindle Locations 7972-7975)
[4] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 13:24.
[5] Ibid.,
Lk 13:24.
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