In 2016 the British Olympic and Paralympic teams exceeded all expectations at the games in Rio, and justifiably returned to a hero’s welcome with huge celebrations in Manchester and London. But it turned out that not everyone was entitled to be there. On board the bus of athletes in Manchester were two 21 year olds, Zac Alsop and Jamie Rawsthorne, wearing Olympic tracksuits bought from a high street shop, and plastic gold medals from eBay, which they claimed they had won for fencing.
Sadly, they were rumbled almost immediately as they fell into conversation with real fencing medal winners, and it quickly transpired that they knew nothing about the sport. Fortunately the athletes saw the funny side and no action was taken against them.
Not so fortunate were the people in a famous parable of Jesus about the Kingdom of God, who managed to blag their way uninvited into a wedding banquet. They were quickly spotted by the host and unceremoniously kicked out of the party. The point of the parable was simply this: we are invited by Jesus to enter His Kingdom, but it’s on His terms and not ours. He came as a Saviour, and in order to accept what He offers we must first be willing to humble ourselves and acknowledge our need of salvation.
