Luke 13:35 “Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”
One of the most difficult things parents have to do is close the door on their children. People have shared with me their stories of rebellion and theft, deceit and drugs, violence and gunpoint, and every other type of unacceptable behavior by their children. And then how they had not choice but to close the door and kick them out.
As you can imagine, those have to be the most difficult times for a parent, perhaps even more difficult than their death. Death at least ends the pain. Kicking them out only prolongs the pain of longing for restoration that might never come. I haven’t been through this, but this is what I have been told.
But sometimes kicking them out and barring their return is the best thing, the necessary thing, the loving thing. But there is no denying how difficult it would be.
Jesus is answering a question about how many will get to heaven and He answers by telling us that there is a narrow way to enter. Many will think they are going to get in, but many will be disappointed. In the illustration story the owner tells those who come too late to the door, “I don’t know you or where you come from.”
This phrase is repeated again in the next verses with the phrase added: “Away from me all you evildoers!” So there is a moral qualification for entry into the Kingdom. Evildoers need not apply.
But aren’t we all evildoers? Don’t we all either violate a known moral mandate or violate our own standards at times? Are we in reality perfect or is that just our sales pitch?
You see, the owner gets to set the standards for entrance into his house. He can refuse whomever he wants. No one can require him to allow them into his domain. No amount of knocking or pleading will change his mind. He is the owner after all. Gnashing of teeth doesn’t impress him.
The way the religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought heaven’s entrance ticket was obtained was incorrect. They thought they could qualify by doing the prescribed duties perfectly. But the LORD never intended the Law to be a qualification manual. It was meant to point out the continued presence of sin and the need for the LORD’s solution to the sin problem.
In our story, those qualified were already present in the house before the door was locked. They had paid attention to the instructions about the park opening hours. They didn’t show up late and expect an exception to the rules. They lived by the owner’s standards.
We can learn from this. He is in charge, not us. He sets the standards and keeps them. We must meet the standards! But we don’t. We fail. But He does on our behalf. He stands in line for us, and when we show up late, because we have a relationship with Him, He lets us be there because He is there.
Jesus holds our place in line. He is fully qualified, and because we trust in Him, we can stand in Him and enter the Owner’s house, heaven.
But it is more than that. We get to live by His standards now. He guides and directs, empowers and propels us to live differently in this world of broken standards. We live holy because He is holy. Our lives get cleaned up, not staying in the same old pigsty. We change to match Him.
Sign up today for a place with Him in line. Trust Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as your qualification for heaven, and receive a new power to live differently in this life.
The Arnold Journey 