The First Will Be Last

God's Exceptional Choice  Gocalls's Abraham's Family The Faith of Abraham Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)  Luke 13:23-30 The Message 23-25 A bystander said, "Master, will only a few be saved?" He said, "Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you'll sit down to God's salvation banquet just because you've been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day, you're going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you'll find the door locked and the Master saying, 'Sorry, you're not on my guest list.' 26-27 "You'll protest, 'But we've known you all our lives!' only to be interrupted with his abrupt, 'Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don't know the first thing about me.' 28-30 "That's when you'll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You'll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God's kingdom. You'll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God's kingdom. And all the time, you'll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last." For Reflection These passages are well known. The question, "will only a few be saved?" is the foundation of many Christian beliefs. Jesus' time for teaching was short and he was growing closer to emanating death. The door to God's wisdom was closing slowly. For the questioners, it was like getting to an elevator just after the nick of time. The latecomers will protest but to little avail. They will end up on the outside looking in. They had a chance to be or become something other than selfish, unjust people. But they refused to accept God's call. Maybe v30 sounds a hopeful note in this context. Perhaps being "last" (the word that gives us our terms "eschaton" and "eschatology," the study of "last things") is not the same as being excluded entirely, even if one is not "first."  Pray Pray that you will attend God's call with all of your might. Pray that others will see the light and repent. Forward to a friend Sign up for our mailing list!