27 January 2016
This doesn’t sound like the Jesus we
know and love . . . He sounds kind of exclusive here, talking about people “in
the know” and other people being on the “outside.” And not only that, he says he speaks in
parables “so that [the outsiders] may not
be converted and be forgiven.” Whatever
happened to: “Jesus loves you”?
Of course, Jesus the Lord of Love and
Prince of Peace is still there. Jesus does love us and everybody. And yet,
he throws a curve-ball in here: why would Jesus make it difficult—if not
impossible—for some people to know and enter the Kingdom of God? That just doesn’t sound like Jesus. But, in another sense, it’s exactly what Jesus would say.
After all, he speaks in
parables. And this is a parable within a
parable: the “Parable of the Outsiders” (let’s call it) hidden within the “Parable
of the Sower and the Seed.” And the
Parable of the Sower and the Seed gives us the answer to our questions why Jesus talks about “outsiders” and why
he speaks in riddles “so that they
may not be converted and be forgiven.”
The “outsiders” are those whose
hearts and souls are like “ground choked by thorns.” “Worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the
craving for other things” makes Jesus and
the Kingdom foreign to them. And so,
whatever Jesus says to them is going
to sound like a riddle to their ears.
Jesus says: “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” Well, the “outsiders” don’t have the ears . .
. they refuse to listen to Jesus, and so they put themselves “on the outside.”
And we might object (or others might)
and say that Jesus would still
welcome them, and not work to keep
them out. And, no doubt, that’s true. Jesus calls everybody to himself. But he
and the Kingdom have to be freely accepted
and sought after—with all humility,
trust, and faith in Christ. There’s no
other way to enter the Kingdom, and God will not compromise the very nature of
the Kingdom . . . even if it means that those whose hearts and minds are filled
with thorns and rocks are left . . . unconverted and unforgiven.
God will not compromise on his
expectations of humanity—the expectation to love God and love our neighbor; the
expectation to meet him with the same humility, love and faith he shows
us. Our God expects good things from us—for his glory and for our good. Jesus will
never compromise on whatever is for the
good for his people. And that sounds like the Jesus we know and
love; the Jesus who speaks words of wisdom, and leaves the choice to follow him
. . . up to us.
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