God Recognizes The Repentant

Reflection on Lk. 13:22-30

The one who asked the Lord regarding how many people will be saved, was on the right track. Salvation is the foremost concern of anyone at all times. But he missed the point when he was more concerned about the number of people who will be saved. This was exposed when Jesus did not answer the question. He completely ignored it! Rather, He dwelt on the more important question of "how we can  one be saved?" For indeed, what will the knowledge of our chances of being saved do if we do not know the way to be saved? Numbers would give us an idea of our possibilities but they do not effect what we want to achieve.

The Lord Jesus said that the gate is narrow. The way to salvation is not easy. But if we do the right thing, we can inch our way in no matter how hard it is. Jesus corrected the thinking of some who believed that by being associated with Him, salvation is guaranteed. In our present context, He refers to those who pray, worship on Sundays, do acts of charity, make sacrifices, receive sacraments and others, but are not repentant. This seems incongruent. But it is true. There are people who can do pious things devoid of pious intentions. There are people who can do pious things but are internally not in union with God. We have heard of people who gave donations to charities but you wonder where those money were coming from?  People who join religious activities but do not extend the spirit of those activities to their housemates, friends, and clients. People who know the bible well but fail to put them into action with the right intention! The Pharisees were the perfect example of these things. Jesus called then "hypocrites", meaning "to act out" or "to play a part". Particularly it means "to preach a certain belief but, in fact, not holding those beliefs by oneself."

The surprise will be when they get to meet the Lord for judgment. The Lord will not recognize them. They may remind the Lord about the things they had done or their association with Him, but He will deny even their origin. To be recognized by the Lord, we have to have a repentant heart. Repentance is the "how" of salvation. We are saved when interiorly we are united with God. When everything we do comes from the heart that is sincere and repentant, then we have gained the key to the door of the Kingdom. This gives hope to everyone even those who are long and deep into sin. Responding to the grace of humility and repentance is the apple of God's merciful eyes.

Zacchaeus, a tax collector and known sinner in Jesus' time gained salvation because of his repentance. Matthew, also a tax collector was visited and invited by Jesus to be one of His apostles. He also repented. Peter denied the Lord thrice but repented later. he was made the leader of His Church. Judas Iscariot, if he repented instead of hanging himself, could have gained salvation too! Jesus might have said that the last will be first and the first will be last, but bottom line is, everyone who repents will make it. it does not matter whether you are the last or the first.