Perhaps Jesus sensed this kind of presumption in the man who questioned Him. Instead of discussing numbers, He speaks directly to the man himself: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” In other words, you have work to do! In addition, He warns the man that only those who are “strong enough” will make it through the “narrow gate.” What did He mean? As Jesus regularly taught, only those willing to lose their lives, to take up their crosses, to die to themselves in order to be His disciples will be able to pass through the “narrow” gate of Jesus Himself. Salvation will not be achieved by entering the wide gate of Jewish ethnicity. It will not come through proximity to Jesus—being a Catholic, getting all the sacraments, never missing Mass. It will only come through knowing Jesus and believing in Him, obeying Him as the Messiah, God’s own Son, and our only hope of redemption.
Jesus ends His conversation with a conundrum: “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” The Jews considered the Gentiles to certainly be those who aren’t saved, yet Jesus’ description of people from all over the world (not just Jews from Israel) proved that “the last,” the Gentiles, would precede many Jews (“the first” to be called) into the kingdom. Interestingly, St. Paul confirms this when he explained that “a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:25-26). This describes what happened when the Jews rejected the Gospel; it was then preached to the Gentiles, who received it with joy. However, after this period of hardening (and no one knows how long this will last), St. Paul sees the hope of Israel finally recognizing her Messiah and finding salvation (see CCC 674). “Some are first who will be last.”
Had the man in this story asked the right question, the one all of us should ask—“Lord, how can I be saved?”—Jesus’ answer would have been simple: “Follow Me.”
Possible response: Lord Jesus, help me guard against presumption. I know it’s the door to pride, judgment, and complacency.
First Reading (Read Isa 66:18-21)
This is one of the Old Testament prophecies of the gathering of “nations of every language” into God’s kingdom to which Jesus referred in our Gospel. God announces, through the prophet, Isaiah, that someday people far beyond the boundaries of Israel will see His glory. This prophecy began to be fulfilled in the Incarnation. Jesus came to be a revelation of God’s merciful love, first to the house of Israel, and then to all people. Recall that even in His own day, Gentiles were attracted to Him (see Mt 15:21-28; Jn 12:20-23). On the Day of Pentecost, the Church began her preaching mission as Jesus had instructed the apostles: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20).
Isaiah’s prophecy envisions a glorious reconstitution of the new Israel, the people of God, which is the Church. It includes both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus. Its dwelling place will be “Jerusalem, My holy mountain,” which we understand to be heaven. This is the future reality that Jesus did not want His questioner in our Gospel to miss out on. Neither do we.
Possible response: Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing this promise to fulfillment in Your worldwide Church. Keep alive a missionary spirit in all of us to take the Gospel to all people everywhere.
Psalm (Read Ps 117:1-2)
We should now be seeing how far off the mark our Gospel’s questioner was when he was thinking about “only a few” to be saved. It was always God’s intention that Israel, His chosen people, would “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.” Here, the psalmist exhorts all the nations to “praise the Lord,” the God of the Jews first, then of everyone. Because of “His kindness towards us,” God wants all, not a few, to be saved (see 1 Tim 2:4).
