Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, dear ones.

It’s looking like some sunshine is attempting to overcome the fog. Good deal. I have some important outdoor sign work to pursue, so this is welcome weather.

With two little rambunctious boys to manage, there was no morning walk/jog. Dandy is kind of pouting. But he’ll get over it.

Maybe I’ll stick on a little P.S. to the composition below and add this comment: If Jesus is telling us anything in this passage, He’s declaring in no uncertain terms that WHEN THIS LIFE IS OVER, IT’S NOT OVER. That’s a pretty good way to face the future, not the least of which is TODAY.

Sad—it now looks like the fog and cloud cover are winning over the sunshine. Oh well…whether or not, that’s weather.

Blessings. Dad/Ray.

There had to be a bunch of Jews surrounding Jesus when He was approached by this Gentile military official requesting Jesus to heal his servant. I can’t imagine Jesus breaking forth with this emphatic word of predictive prophecy for the benefit of this Roman centurion. I think it was for the corrective benefit of the highly prejudiced Jews who were listening in on the conversation—maybe wondering why this Jewish Jesus would even be talking to this dirty Gentile.

Whatever prompted this disclosure from Jesus is not as important for us today as is the content and meaning of what He said. This is as much a prophetic utterance as any we will find in this special book, the Bible. Let me take a few moments to process that content.

1. Jesus is clearly making reference to a point in time following everyone (at least almost everyone) dying—a special event with “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Very Jewish) that He describes as a celebration—a “feast.” To be sure, Jesus believes in life after death!
2. People from all over the planet who have reservations for this great event will “take their places” in that setting. There will be people from the Jewish blood line as well as all of Asia and that whole network of continents and nations—“the east.” But Jesus is clearly affirming that it’s not just a Jewish or Eastern event. Reservations are just as available to those of us in “the west.” Man—that’s us—and I wanna be there!
3. But there’s more to this prophecy. Let’s read the next verse: “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 12). Man—that’s hell!—and I don’t wanna be there! It also confirms once again that not everyone is going to make it into this celebration—heaven is definitely not automatic—it’s a very exclusive place. The “subjects of the kingdom” have to mean those in the blood line of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” who presume that’s enough and that they represent the body of God’s favorite kids. But there is no evidence that there is anything particularly pure and holy about that blood line. Even “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” need the blood of the Savior to atone for their sin.
4. However we handle this information, two bottom-line facts stand out in my mind.
   Bottom line 1: A state of conscious existence follows natural death that is totally out of our control, and about which argument, opinion, or resistance are absolutely futile.
   Bottom line 2: What we go after here determines where we go hereafter. If I want God now—I get Him then, as well as all He “has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). If, however, I don’t want Him now—I don’t get Him then, nor any of the benefits He “has prepared for them that love Him.”

This may be another good time to try to clarify an important truth that seems to confuse a lot of people. I might put it this way: THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF DOING THAT CAN EARN A TICKET TO HEAVEN, BUT THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF NOT DOING THAT WILL ACHIEVE HEAVEN EITHER. A legalistic DOING of the Word is not the ticket or the payment thereof, but the heart-level DOING of the Word demonstrates possession of the ticket. Without that demonstration there is no ticket. Jesus clarifies it this way: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ (or uses Christian lingo), will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who DOES the will of my Father who is in heaven” (v. 21).

I guess it’s really just simple math—one plus Jesus equals eternal life.