Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. Luke 16:16
The operable word here is “everyone.” The Pharisees would say, “Everyone wants to get in? Well that’s just too bad because everyone’s not going to get in, not if we have anything to say about it.” And of course we know that they don’t have anything to say about it, but they thought they did, at least until Jesus came along. That’s why they wanted to get rid of Him.
“Everyone” was a bad word for the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day. It meant people without pedigree. People who didn’t even try to raise their standards. Dirty people, sick people, crazy people, illiterate people, poor people, ignorant people, Samaritans, “dogs,” unclean people, homeless people, beggars, cripples, the dregs of humanity.
But doesn’t that make the kingdom of God a wonderful diverse place, inclusive of everybody? Isn’t that the way it should be? In fact, isn’t that what makes it great?
In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Revelation,” she paints a picture of a southern white woman of means who has a hard time accepting anyone she viewed as below her, suddenly seeing a vision of a pathway reaching up toward heaven, and on it “there were whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself, and Claud [her husband], had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right. She leaned forward to observe them closer. They were marching behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away.”
This Easter when you think of Christ dying for everybody, make sure it’s everybody. Don’t leave anyone out.
John Fischer The Catch 
I think you are right on the mark, John. And I like to think of myself as someone who is not resistant to God’s diverse inclusiveness. And yet I wonder: Who am I going to be surprised about, and what I am going to need to have God remove from me, so that I can fully embrace His superabundant love for all of His creation?
Thank you for the challenging reminder, John.
Christ died for everyone! Alleluia!
Amen! Great message! Only…let’s not not be to hard on the Pharisees. Most Christians wouldn’t recognize a good Pharisee if they saw one. Many were humble and gracious like the saintly Hillel (the grandfather of Gamiliel, the teacher of Paul). The Pharisees were the direct forerunners of the rabbis how established modern Judaism. Jesus often argued with them because, of all the sects of Judaism at that time, they were probably the closest to Him. Remember the teacher who acknowledged His choices of the greatest of laws? The Sh’ma (Hear of Israel…) and the V’ahavta ( You shall love the Lord…) are foundational to Judaism. Every Shabbat, in any synagogue, you can hear these verses recited. The worse thing you could say about SOME Pharisees is that the acted very much like some Christians we know. In fact, I wonder if many of us who grew up with a disdain for the Pharisees didn’t model our view of them based on some Christians we knew. Our grace and understanding need to be extended to these people who were much closer to Jesus than we think.
Since we are told that the first will be last and the last first, here’s how I picture heaven.
At the banquet table the highest places of honor will go to all the Africans who ever starved and others neglected and victimized by injustice. And they will be served by presidents and leaders with smiles on there faces, joyful to be serving in God’s kingdom. Roosevelt, Truman, Reagan and Obama carrying trays of food and drinks along with pop icons like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra. Afterwards John Lennon can sweep and mop and Queen Elizabeth can do the dishes. Not because they’re being punished but because they are happy that others are blessed now. Yes, I have a vivid imagination but I think of things like that.
“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!” – Matthew 11:11
I care little for the glittery treasures we are told that are amassed in Heaven, nor am I concerned with either the position or prestige of where my place at the table of the Great Banquet will end up.
Every day I find myself weepily echoing the prayer of the wretched soul laid prostrate beside the standing Pharisee in front of God’s Temple, “O Gracious God! Holy Father! My Abba, my Daddy!!! Please be merciful to me, for I am a sinner. Please, please, please forgive me!!!”
I would be content knowing for certain that I might be one of those “least persons” in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thank You, Jesus, for Your Life, Passion, and Blessed Assurance that You are mine and I am Yours.
Shalom, Peace…