This essay first appeared in our weekly Scripture reflection newsletter on August 23, 2025.
Is 66:18-21; Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:23-30
You can find the readings for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time here.
Does Jesus know you?
At first blush, that question might seem ridiculous. Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity and shares in the knowledge of the Father and the Spirit and therefore knows all things. Of course he knows you. As the First Reading, from Isaiah, says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I know their works and their thoughts.’” And in Psalm 139, the Psalmist says, “Lord, you have searched me and known me./ You know when I sit down and when I rise up;/ you discern my thoughts from far away./ You search out my path and my lying down/ and are acquainted with all my ways./ Even before a word is on my tongue,/ O Lord, you know it completely.”
So yes, Jesus knows you, intimately.
But I’m asking this in a slightly different way. Because in today’s Gospel, many people who ask for entrance into the reign of God are told by Jesus, “I do not know where you are from.” Often, this reading is used to show what theologians call the “reversal” in the reign of God: those who expect to enter are turned away and those who thought themselves excluded are included. There is a sense of Jesus turning away those who say they’re Christian, but don’t put their words into practice. As he says elsewhere, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21). He doesn’t know people who don’t walk the walk.
Jesus isn’t bothered by the “stench.” He’s not afraid to look inside of the parts of us that we feel are rotten.
But I’d like to pose two questions: First, have you made yourself known to Jesus? As I said, Jesus knows you well. But there is also an invitation to make yourself known to Jesus in the spiritual life. Are you honest with Jesus in your prayer? Do you share your life with him? Are you honest about your sadnesses and frustrations and fears? And are you equally honest with what is going well in your life? Do you tell Jesus how grateful you are?
Now again, we might think, “Well, Jesus knows all this, so why do I need to say it?” Well, think of it like a friendship. (This is an insight from the Jesuit spiritual writer William A. Barry, S.J.) Let’s say someone in your family has died. A few weeks later, you go out to dinner with a close friend, and they ask how you are. Now, they already know how you are: you’re sad. But they still want to hear it, because they care about you, and their question helps you to share your innermost feelings with them. It helps you, and it deepens your relationship. It’s something similar with God, with Jesus. Open your heart to him. Let him come to know you.
And don’t be afraid to show him the unpleasant parts. You know, in the story of the Raising of Lazarus, when Jesus comes to Bethany and asks Martha where their dead brother has been laid to rest, she says, “Come and see” (Jn 11:1-40). And when Jesus comes to Lazarus’s tomb and asks for the stone to be rolled away, Martha says, “There will be a stench.” But Jesus isn’t bothered. He’s not afraid to look inside of the parts of us that we feel are rotten. So can you, too, say to Jesus, “Come and see”? So: have you made yourself known to Jesus?
Can you get to know Jesus in people who are often ignored?
The second question is just as important: Do you know Jesus? Because if a person says, “I don’t know you,” it also means that you’ve not made the effort to know him or her. So, at the most basic level, have you read the Gospels? Have you read New Testament commentaries? Do you know Jesus as he has been revealed in the Gospels? Do you encounter him in the Eucharist?
Finally, do you meet Jesus in other people? Remember that the Body of Christ is not just the Eucharist; it’s also the People of God. And where does Jesus say we will find him most of all? In Matthew’s Gospel, we’re told very clearly: the poor, the sick, the hungry, the homeless, the migrant and refugee (Mt 25:31–46). Just the kind of people who will be let into the reign of God in the great reversal. The last shall be first, as Jesus said. So, can you get to know Jesus in these ways too? In these people, who are often ignored?
At the end of our lives, what we most desire is entrance into heaven. And what we most want to hear is not simply, “Okay, you checked all these boxes and can come in,” but “Welcome, my friend.”
