Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

Deafening silence blanketed the once chattering crowd as the question burst from the back of the crowd. Eyes widened. Brows furrowed. Concerned gazes collided. No one spoke. No one moved. They barely breathed. Shifting their own unanswered questions to the mental back burner and leaning forward in the tense silence, they waited. Each one urgently eager to hear the answer. Desperately anxious to know the truth. Hoping against hope the next words would be what they wanted to hear. A palatable answer to an unpleasant question. 

Questions weren’t unusual in the crowds following Jesus. He was bombarded daily with them. Honest questions. Clarifying questions. Test questions. Trick questions. Everyone expected questions. They had a few of their own. Just not like this one. This one was startling. It wriggled into their minds and settled in their hearts, making them want to hear this answer above the answers to their own meager questions. They hadn’t thought of it. Wouldn’t have had the nerve to ask it. Would never have shouted it out in the middle of a crowd if they had. Taken completely by surprise, they still wanted to know the answer. Needed to know it. Found their hearts echoing the question asked by the brave soul in the back, “Lord, how many people are truly going to Heaven?” A lot? A little? Anyone? Everyone? What’s the actual criteria and how many of us are on the right track? (Luke 13:22-24)

It was an honest question. They likely hadn’t been there when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. They hadn’t heard His urgent admonition to carefully enter the small gate and keep to the narrow roadway. They didn’t yet understand that there wasn’t room to carry a rucksack of extracurriculars down the road with them. They wouldn’t even fit through the gate loaded down with baggage. No. The road to eternal life would cost them. They’d have to make sacrifices. They’d need to let some things go, lay some things down, cast some things aside, if their intention was to enter through the small door. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Springboarding from His previous message, Jesus gave them the same answer. Use the narrow door. No matter what it costs. No matter what you have to sacrifice. Cast off your pride. Give up your affinity for things of the world. Put aside your social affiliations. Weed out all the insignificant tripe and replace it with a relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s the only way in. There is no other way to gain eternal life. You have to know Him. And He has to know you. Intimately.

 In the ensuing story, Jesus would tell the people that a passing acquaintance wouldn’t work. They couldn’t have had dinner together one time. Attended the same church. Spoken politely in passing. That wouldn’t cut it. They had to have a relationship. They had to know one another. Likes. Dislikes. Loves. Hates. Temptations. Faults. Failures. To find eternal life, they would have to lay aside all the things that held their attention and captivated their hearts, and dedicated the space for Jesus Christ to be the Owner, Leader, Lord of their lives. (Luke 13:25-27)

Many people wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t bring themselves to make the necessary sacrifices. Sitting at the fork in the road meticulously going through their pile of earthly goods, accolades, financial stores and social acceptances, many would choose to hold on to the things only earth gives and sacrifice the things only heaven offers. Others would refuse to part with long-held grudges, deeply rooted bitterness, old hurts, anger and hate. Gathering the things they loved most in their arms, they would choose to enter the wide gate. Step onto the wide path. Their trolley of temporal luggage would roll easily behind them. It would cost them nothing to travel this road. It would gain them nothing, either.  

Few would make the sacrifices necessary to enter the small door. Rifling through their piles of earthly treasures, they would find nothing meaningful enough to trump the promise of His continual presence, His guidance on earth, His acceptance into eternal life. Money hadn’t bought happiness. Success hadn’t brought peace. Status hadn’t given joy. Power hadn’t offered security. Stockpiling past pain, current insecurities, frequent deficiencies and utter fiascos had cost more effort and sapped more strength than they were prepared to give. They’d gained nothing from it but heartache and grief. It was all useless, worthless when weighed against the promise of eternal life. With few tears and rarely a backward glance, they sacrificially laid it all down and freely entered the small door, taking nothing but Jesus with them.  (Luke 14:26-27,33)

He was all they needed. They didn’t even miss the things they’d laid down to walk through the small door. The gain had eclipsed the alleged sacrifice. On the narrow path they had found what their hearts had been forever seeking yet never finding. Heart peace. Deeply flowing, calm, impenetrable. Soul safety. Protection from and ammunition against the frequent barrage of fiery darts, the carefully hidden snares, the tricky traps and the alluring temptations of the evil one. Fullness of joy. Overwhelming gladness. Persistent joy found in the constant presence of Jesus. It all makes one wonder why anyone would choose the wide gate at all. (John 14:27; Isaiah 26:3-4; Ephesians 6:16; Psalm 121:7; Psalm 16:11) 

What makes us hold on to the things that disrupt our peace? What makes us jealously retain the things that cause us unrest? Why do we constantly run after the things of the world when we know from previous experience they can’t possibly give us the things for which our souls long? Why waste your time on a side trip down a wide road certain to end in death when you have the opportunity to travel the narrow road with Jesus? Why hide from Him, run from Him, when you have the opportunity to know Him? Personally. Intimately. And find joy in His presence. 

At the dawn of this new year, perhaps you find yourself standing at the crossroads, forced to once and for all make the choice of entering at the wide gate or the narrow one. Your bulging suitcase of worldly attractions rests by your feet. Your ragged rucksack of unforgiveness, unrest, resentment, and fear hangs from your back. Your hand grips the worn handle of the briefcase holding all your earthly dreams. Your head swivels from one road to the other, weighing the differences. Small. Large. Narrow. Wide. Rocky. Smooth. Life. Death. Many. Few. One thing keeps tripping you up, stalling your decision. Sacrifice. To enter the narrow gate that leads to life, you have to leave all the baggage behind. Everything. Give it all up. It’s the only way to find and know Jesus Christ. And knowing Jesus, truly knowing Him, is the only way to gain eternal life. 

So what will you choose? Will you snatch up your baggage, set your chin, and stride determinedly through the wide gate self-righteously believing you can make the paths merge before reaching your eternal destination? Or are you willing to make the sacrifice? Lay it all down to enter the small door. Give it all up that you might gain Christ. Sacrifice everything that you might know Him, not just about Him. Risk everything to experience the power of His resurrection, the joy of His presence, the peace that surpasses all human comprehension. There’s nothing in that baggage, nothing in the world worth more than your soul. It’s up to you. The choice is yours. Are you ready to make the small door sacrifices? (Philippians 3:7-10; Mark 8:34-38; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 10:32-39)