Universal Christianity

Reflection on Luke 13:22-30

The Jews of old had a neat division of the entire human race into two categories: Jews and the rest. Jews were the chosen race. All others were not chosen. Jews were chosen because of the promises God made to their ancestor, Abraham. Those promises passed on to Abraham’s descendants, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve sons of Jacob, out of whom, came the twelve tribes of Israel. "Israel" was Jacob's other name. As far as the Jews were concerned, only they, the chosen race, would have a place with their ancestor, Abraham, in the kingdom of God.

You can imagine their shock when Jesus told them that others too, “men from east and west, north and south, will come to feast in the kingdom of God" with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets, while they, the Jews, would be turned outside. In other words, people of other races, whom the Jews called gentiles or pagans, would be admitted into the kingdom of God, and the Jews turned outside.

One factor would determine who got admitted and who got turned outside: faith. The gentiles would be admitted because of their faith in the one sent by God, his Son, Jesus Christ. The Jews, on the other hand, would be turned outside because of their rejection of him. Of course, those Jews who believed in Jesus - and there were many of them, including his Twelve Apostles – would be admitted too. But the Jewish nation, as a nation, Israel, rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. It has continued to do so to this very day .

The prophecy of Jesus has been fully realized in the Church, which is the beginning of the kingdom of God right here on earth. The Church is made up literally of people from east and west, north and south, people of all races, colour, languages and cultures. That is why the Church is Catholic, meaning universal. What all those people have in common is their faith in Jesus Christ. And it is by their faith that they most resemble Abraham, who was the man of faith par excellence. It is that faith that makes them the real descendants of Abraham.

That was why St Paul taught that, after the coming of Christ, descent from Abrabam would no longer be reckoned merely on biological grounds or observance of the Jewish Law. Rather, descent f from Abraham would be based on faith. In the words of St. Paul, “That is why the promise is to faith, so that it comes as as a free gift and is secure for all the descendants, not only those who rely on the Law but all those others who rely on the faith of Abraham, the ancestor of us all” (Romans 4: 16).

We Christians constitute the kingdom of God that is here on earth. We shall remain in that till that kingdom and attain its fulfillment in heaven only if we continue in our faith in Jesus Christ. But, as St. James clearly taught, that faith is not exclusive of good deeds. In fact, it is manifested in good deeds. In his words, “… faith: if good deeds do not go with it, it is quite dead” (James 2: 17). Even Abraham's faith was manifested in his deeds. Alain, in the words of St. James, “Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” (James 2:21).

Therefore, we are justified, that is, saved, purely by faith in Jesus Christ, as I have just described it, not by human considerations like race, tribe, nationality, colour, language, culture or gender. Justification, salvation is available to all who put their faith in Christ universally!