Saturday before the Nativity of Christ; The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete (249-51).
Nativity Fast.
Galatians 3:8-12; Luke 13:18-29.
Read Luke 13:18-29
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
The Jews who were deeply convinced that the kingdom of God is reserved solely for them were shocked by the answer of Jesus according to which the heavenly banquet was to be understood as an open opportunity for all people “from east and west,” and “from north and south.” The very fact that you are an orthodox Jew does not mean that you will be automatically saved. We all, regardless of our national or denominational background, need to “strive to enter through the narrow door.” The fact that we were baptized, that we belong to the Church, and even the fact that we accepted Jesus as our Saviour is not a “Golden buzz” that will take us directly to the Final. The fact that “we ate and drank” with Jesus, while He “taught in our streets” means that our good intentions, our belonging to the Christian families and culture and our understanding of the Bible, theological education and listening to the homilies do not provide us with an already purchased one way ticket to heaven.
“Weeping and gnashing of teeth” does not come as a result of physical pain, but as a result of realization that we lost our chance to be with “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God.” Being an outsider causes the greatest suffering, for we are created not to be isolated, but to be in relationship with God and our neighbours. The pain of Hell is the pain of lost opportunities, it is the pain of making wrong choices. The word “sin” translated from the Greek word ἁμαρτία (hamartia), used in the Gospels means “to miss the target.” When we make poor choices, we miss the target of our salvation. In order to avoid the sad outcome of “standing outside and knocking,” we need to be among those few who constantly struggle and who “strive to enter through the narrow door.”
Our spiritual unseen warfare is an ongoing process in which we at times are defeated. In fact our life is full of failures and shortcomings. That is why we need God’s assistance. That is why we are in constant need of conversion of our hearts to God. We need to admit our weaknesses, repent and ask for divine assistance. We need to become disciples, so we can leave behind our stereotypes and to be eager to learn something unexpectedly new. We need to become marathon runners who are strong enough to complete the distance and wise enough to save strength to the end of the marathon. In order to achieve the goal of salvation we need faith, humility, repentance, courage, perseverance, but above all God’s grace.