Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Luke 13:22-30
Salvation.
The Bible is filled with many images that seek to portray salvation in some way. The return from exile. The coming of the Kingdom of God. The wedding feast of the Lamb. A new creation. The new Jerusalem. Salvation involves being purged – freed – healed of the effects of sin so that we can become all that the Lord intends us to be. We can then rejoice together with Him forever. Salvation begins whenever we first say yes to the Lord’s invitation to believe and repent, and reaches its fulfillment beyond this life in an everlasting feast of love with the Lord.
It’s a wonderful vision! Yet, we notice that not everyone appears to say yes to this vision. We have our own struggles, temptations and sins even as we strive to follow the Lord. Our faith speaks to us of heaven (another name for the new Jerusalem or the wedding feast of the Lamb) and hell (I’ll save purgatory for a post of its own.) Throughout the centuries, artists of all kinds have presented us with their interpretations of heaven and hell, leaving us with various images etched into our memories.
This suggests that salvation isn’t a sure thing. If so, then how many people will be saved? This is a question that naturally comes up for us. We are curious: “Inquiring minds want to know!” More importantly, we want to know what the odds are. Can we be saved?
Will only a few be saved? Is it like professional sports teams, where only a few make the playoffs and only one wins the championship? Is it like the Marines, who not long ago proclaimed that they were seeking “a few good men”?
Or, will many – or everyone – be saved? Is our talk of hell like a parent that warns a child that if the child misbehaves, a monster or bogeyman will get that child? Is hell only a means to motivate us to do good and avoid evil? Is the whole concept of heaven and hell outdated? Is it whatever we make our lives here on earth to be?
When we look at the Bible and Catholic teaching that is rooted in it, we find two seemingly contradictory streams that actually form two ends of a paradox. On the one hand, we read again and again that God wills that all be saved. On the other hand, we read how people, of their own free will, can accept or even reject God’s invitation. How do we understand this paradox?
Some Christians based their thinking on one side of the paradox only: If God is all-powerful, how can His will to save all be denied? By the year 200 AD, we see the emergence of a concept known as universalism. (P.S. If you want to freak out your friends and relatives, you can whip out the Greek term for this belief: apocatastasis!) Universalism held that even hell was temporary. All people and even all the demons would eventually be saved. We can find people even today who would agree – in part or in whole – with this.
Another example of people focusing on the divine will alone is how the idea of predestination has developed among some Christians. They say that God has determined from all eternity who He will save and who He will damn. Your eternal fate is handed to you at conception, like a part in a play. All you can do is play your assigned part.
Others have focused on human free will in this way. In an attempt to save God from being the judge (apparently), they argue that we condemn ourselves by our choice to reject God. We choose heaven or hell. There is some truth in this, but if our fate is all in our own hands, why can’t we choose otherwise, even in heaven or hell?
Still others propose an exact number. Drawing from Revelation 7 and 14, they say that 144,000 will be saved. No more, no less. They don’t seem to notice that in Revelation 7, this number refers to 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, which is then followed by a huge number of people whom no one could count from every nation and race, who are also saved.
The main problem with those who choose either the divine will or human will (but not both) is that they miss the meaning of the Incarnation. Jesus is true God and true man. His divinity does not obliterate His humanity, but perfects it. His humanity does not lessen His divinity. Both natures exist in the person of Jesus Christ. In the same way, God’s will does not obliterate human will when it comes to salvation. We cannot be saved apart from God’s will; but God will not save us without our consent. Both are necessary.
This brings us to our Gospel account for this Sunday. St. Luke pauses briefly to remind his readers that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. This is not an offhand remark. Jesus is on His way to His Passion, Death and Resurrection that, through them, He might offer the fullness of salvation to us. St. Luke reminds us of this to have us realize that what follows is important.
An unidentified person asks Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” It helps to see this question in the context of first century Israel. The Judaism of Jesus’ day was divided into four camps: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots. Something often happens to people who are members of a smaller group within a larger one. They begin to see themselves as the true believers and those of the other camps as somehow corrupted. (If any of this sounds vaguely familiar, it should.) It’s an easy move from this to “only members of our camp will be saved because they are members of our camp; the others are lost”.
This is, in fact, how things developed. The Pharisees applied the purity regulations that the Law of Moses prescribed for priests to themselves so that they could live in the world but yet be separate from others. The Essenes believed that the Jewish religion was so corrupt that they needed to physically distance themselves and set up communities apart from everyone else. The Sadducees, who were largely drawn from the high priestly families, were wealthy and had social status, so they felt above others in that respect. The Zealots, who sought to drive the Romans away, saw everyone in terms of true Jews/patriots (themselves) and traitors (everyone else).
We can see, then, how the question of “will only a few people be saved?” was tied to the question of “which few”… which camp was the right one? Which offered salvation?
Jesus does not, at first glance, answer the question directly. He does not say that only a few will be saved, nor that many will be saved, nor that being saved means belonging to a specific camp within Judaism. Jesus’ response, as in many other instances, answers the question that should have been asked. Jesus’ reply is similar to that which He gave Peter after His Resurrection in John 21. Jesus had just told Peter what manner of death Peter would die, a death that would glorify God. Peter pointed to the Beloved Disciple and asked, “What about him?” Jesus’ response to this was basically, “Is that your business? Your role, like his, is to follow Me.”
Jesus’ response to our salvation question is similar. He offers no numbers or surefire guarantees. He also maintains the paradox. The door that leads to salvation is narrow, Jesus says. Many who think they deserve entrance will not get it. On the other hand, many others who they think do not deserve entrance will get in. It’s all part of the interaction between God’s will and our human wills. Therefore, Jesus tells this questioner, strive to get in. Don’t be sidetracked by questions of how many or how few. Salvation is a gift, God’s gift, but it requires our assent and our perseverance. It will not be easy, just as being freed from a drug addiction or cured from a dangerous disease is not easy. It may take time and striving, even though it is a gift.
Jesus affirms that it is possible for anyone to receive the gift of salvation. He affirms that it is equally possible for anyone to reject this gift of salvation. If such a rejection persists too long, the door will close and the chance for salvation will be lost. Both heaven and hell exist. Both are open to us. Such is the power of God’s desire to save us and the respect God has for our free will. God seeks committed, loving hearts, not robots. May we welcome the grace that is offered to us and choose the Lord!