21st May 2024
The open door
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
John 10:9 (NIV)
I have been binge-watching Casualty 24/7. I find the whole process so interesting. The staff at the hospital do their best to get every patient looked at and treated in a reasonable time frame, but often they are unable to get to everyone as quickly as they need to; this is what they call a breach. It is not that they are not trying, the inflow is much too high of the sick and injured and things back up. Often the waiting time is extreme; we have all been there. It is heartbreaking to wait for hours only to see those who came after you getting in first, but their need was greater. They cannot turn them away; the door must stay open, and the people keep seeking their help. I thank God for such dedicated people who put aside their own comfort for ours. I thank God for inspiring these people with such a passion to heal and care for us sick and injured.
None of us wake up in the morning and say to ourselves: ‘You know, I think I will get deadly sick today or have a great fall.’ We do not plan to cause a breach anywhere when it comes to our health. Yet we do get ourselves into a mess do we not? With the fall of mankind, we are born into a sick world, and born into sin. Oh yes, we do make mistakes, wrong choices we know we should not, and then we receive the consequences of our choices. In Romans 7:24-25 the question is asked: ‘Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?’ The answer to this question is Jesus Christ! Jesus is not only our Saviour and Lord; he is also our healer of both body and soul.
As I thought about open doors. I was reminded how the huge stone before the door of the tomb where Jesus laid had been rolled away (Mark 16:3-4; Luke 24:2). Why, I thought at first. Jesus could walk through walls and enter a locked room as he did before the disciples (John 20:26). Jesus did not need the stone to move to get out, or even enter our world. I talked before about how Jesus entered our lives. He did not need our help, now did he? Nothing could keep him away from loving us and keeping us apart. So, why was the stone rolled away? It was rolled away to let us in. Jesus opened the door for mankind to enter in his world, just as he entered into ours. When Jesus died the veil separating us from God had been torn in two, opening the way, opening the door to the Holy of Holies (Matthew 27:51). Jesus is the open door (John 10:7, 9).
Seeing our great sickness, Jesus invites us in to receive healing. It is a never-ending flow of casualties walking through his open door, but Jesus has the compassion and desire to heal us all.
Prayer
Merciful Lord, we come before you, broken and needing your healing. We have confidence in your love for us, and we place ourselves into your competent and loving hands. In Jesus’s name, Amen
Study by Anne Gillam
About the writer:
Anne Gillam is a retired Pastor in Grace Communion International, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.
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