Today's Gospel in Art - Try your best to enter by the narrow door

The Last Judgement, by Stefan Lochner 1435 Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne

Source: Christian Art,

Gospel of 27th October 2021 - Luke 13:22-30

Through towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, 'Sir, will there be only a few saved?' He said to them, 'Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.'

'Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, "Lord, open to us" but he will answer, "I do not know where you come from." Then you will find yourself saying, "We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets" but he will reply, "I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!"

'Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

'Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.'

Reflection on the Painting

In today's reading Jesus says that we should enter the Kingdom of Heaven 'through the narrow door'. This narrow door is beautifully depicted on the left in our painting by Stefan Lochner from 1435. The ones who 'try to enter and don't succeed' are shown on the bottom right of the painting. The panel is further divided in an upper and lower register. The upper half is dominated by Jesus in the middle, shown with open cloak revealing the spear wound to His chest. His right arm is raised, blessing the the dead who are to be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven through the narrow door. His left hand is lowered as he condemns the sinners to eternal punishment. The hovering angels around Him are holding the instruments of His Passion. Our Lady and Saint John are kneeling in a prayerful pose. Two thirds of the space in the lower half is occupied by the damned. Fewer are saved. Saint Peter is standing to the right of the narrow gate of Heaven, welcoming the souls, whilst a choir of angels is playing music. Plenty to look at in this painting.

Each time we come across this reading, we are tempted to think, 'If I put in enough effort, I will be saved; and if I don't, I won't be saved'. But this is only part of the story. Of course our salvation is also largely dependent on grace, mercy and forgiveness. But yes, striving to enter by the narrow door should hopefully go a long way. The phrase immediately following Jesus' mention of the narrow door says that 'many will try to enter and will not succeed'. Again, with our 21st-century minds, we immediately start thinking in percentages. How many will be saved? 10% or 30% (as in our painting), or more? It is interesting to note that a survey taken a few years ago showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans said that they believed they would go to heaven. Only one half of one percent said they were hell-bound. Whilst the expectation to go to heaven may be attributed to a sense of optimism, the incredibly low percentage of people fearing they might end up in hell is very interesting.

All Jesus tells us is that it is about 'many' versus 'few', and vice versa. It is something to reflect upon and see what conclusions we want to draw for our own spiritual lives. The only thing I would like to add is that therefore we can't judge spiritual truth by popularity or majority opinion, but that truth always has to be steeped in Scripture and Church Tradition itself.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/972
Christian Art - www.christian.art/