Encuentra el Lugar al Que Perteneces | Crossroads en Español

Hello, my name is Victor and I am the pastor of Crossroads en Español. I am very happy that you are with us because we are in this series called The Exhibition of Jesus. During the last few weeks, we have been exploring some of the boldest and most important statements that Jesus makes about himself. And I want to be clear, these are not just inspiring phrases or beautiful ideas. These are statements about his identity. It is Jesus himself saying who he is. Whether you have followed Jesus for many years, or you are still discovering what you believe in, or you are simply curious and exploring your faith, I think you are exactly where you need to be. And today we are going to talk about a statement that may not be as well known as some of the others we have discussed during this series. But this one is full of meaning. Jesus says, I am the door of the sheep. Jesus said these words as he spoke about the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. At that time, the shepherds guided, protected, and took care of their flocks. At night, the sheep were gathered in a corral, and the only entrance was a door. Many times, the shepherd himself would lie down in this entrance to protect the sheep from any danger that might come. When Jesus says, I am the door, he was revealing that he is the access to salvation, security, and true life. He says, that through me I will enter and I will be saved. He will enter, and he will leave, and he will find pasture. Jesus was not simply pointing to a path. He was saying that he himself is the entrance. And in a world full of voices, options, and different paths, Jesus invites us to go through the only door that leads to the abundant life that God has for each one of us. So, as we enter today's message, I want to invite you to reflect not only on what Jesus said, but also what his words reveal about who he is, and if they are really true. What does this mean to you? Because Jesus did not come only to give us information. Jesus came to invite us to a relationship that can lead us to transformation. Good morning, everyone. My name is Christian Pulisic. I am part of the National Male Team. It is a true honor to be here.

Just kidding. I am Kyle, in case we don't know each other. This is just a t-shirt. Some were deceived a little. We are talking about the idea of the seven self-portraits of the Son of God. These are the images that Jesus himself created to reveal to us who he is. And as you just heard in that video, today we will talk about the door. This comes from John 10. And John 10 brings together two statements of who I am. I am the door, and I am the good shepherd. Surely you have heard more about the good shepherd because it is a warmer and more tender concept, you know? Imagine Jesus as the shepherd, and you are a little sheep. He lifts you up and caresses your head. It is so beautiful. There are figures of precious moments of that. Do you remember the figures of precious moments? A little shepherd. In Christian bookstores from the 90s or 2000s, 90% were these figures. This is the figure of precious moments of the door. I looked for it, and it turns out to be a mouse with a dress, which does not appear in the Bible. Therefore, we are improvising in the factory of precious moments. The reason is that the doors do not cause natural, warm, and diffuse feelings. It is not like the good shepherd. And that happens because when most of us think of a door, we do not imagine being invited to enter. We imagine being left outside. This reminds us that the world has two groups, basically. There are those who are inside, and those who are outside. And we all feel like someone from outside. That is what Jesus takes advantage of with this story. It is a problem because you and I are programmed to belong. It is not a religious case.

The Bible says it, but science confirms it. A recent study was done at MIT, where researchers found that your brain responds to the desire for food and the desire for belonging in the same way. Both are necessary. There is more research that shows that the same center of pain that is activated when you feel physical pain in the brain, is the same that is activated when you lack belonging in your life. In other words, your body does not recognize the difference between pain, food, and belonging. All these things are necessities for life. You must have it. That is why the affirmation of Jesus to be the door, although on the surface it is not the one that evokes those emotional feelings, warm, and tender. It could be the most personal and powerful for you. Jesus says he came for those on the outside, you and me. There is an incredible affirmation of the gospel in this, this promise that you were born to belong. But there is also a very strict warning. Jesus says he is the only door that really leads to the life you want. Today we will take steps towards that door. It is my prayer. Before we continue, let us invite God to this talk. Father, I ask that you speak today. That you open our ears to hear. That you open our eyes to see you as the door, and give us faith and belief to go through it. Amen. Amen. This is my World Cup jersey. It is my gift from Father's Day.

Dad, I hope you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted because I basically asked for it. So, that is my advice. I received other gifts. Gracie gave me this hat. My daughter is incredible. So, if you are worried about her self-esteem, don't worry. It's okay. Maybe too much. That is the problem. I wanted this jersey because I love the World Cup and I wanted to be part of the fan club. By the way, there is an official fan club in the United States. The American Outlaws. You can join for $30. You get a free jersey. You can be in the club. Each nation has these fan clubs. The best, I'm sorry, United States. It's not ours. It just isn't. The best, I think, is Norway. Have you seen these guys? They row together. Listen. How do they do it? How do you know how to do that? And some of you think, you know, the most incredible part of this is that this is the largest

amount of white people I've seen following the rhythm. I didn't. I didn't know that was what it was. Me neither. I'm surprised. I didn't know. I didn't know that was what they were doing. It's incredible. If you're in the Norwegian club, you know when to row. And if you're outside, you don't know. Are you inside or are you outside? That's how we define ourselves, based on the circles in which we are and the circles in which we are not. And it was the same in the days of Jesus. The same when he said the words that we are going to see today, four main verses that we are going to repeat over and over again. You heard them in the video, but I will go over them. John 10, verse 7. Then Jesus said again to them, remember that, they, certainly, I assure you that I am the door of the sheep, all who came before me were thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door, whoever enters through this door, which is me, will be saved, will move with complete freedom,

and there he will find pastures. The thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it in abundance. Puerta can be translated as portal. So you're going to see it both ways depending on the translation you're reading. You can say puerta or portal, it's the same. But to understand this story, we have to go back to the first words. It says, so Jesus said to them, who are they in this story? They are not his disciples. It is not a crowd of anxious listeners. It is not to whom he speaks. And you could assume, because he spoke of sheep, pastures, and all those things that may be in a farm, somewhere, talking to people in a rural area. No, he is in the city when he says this. Who are they? To answer, we must go to John chapter nine. John is a narrative book. It is stories. Many times the story begins one or two chapters earlier and continues. When you look at the markers of chapters and verses, it seems like they are different stories.

No, the markers were added later to help us find the place. But it is a story that begins in John 9. And if you go to John 9, it changes the whole scene. Every word that Jesus says that we just read from John 10. If you want to understand John 9, you must start in John. Eight. To understand John 8, start in John 8. They are geniuses. We will not go to seven. We start in eight because it is too far. It is, let's start in John 8. Jesus responds, I certainly assure you that before Abraham was born, I am. Then they took stones to throw at them. This is the moment when Jesus does what we have been talking about in this series. He says, I am. That is to use the name of God. He is saying, I am God. And when he does that, the crowd that is speaking to him takes stones to throw at them. Who were those people? These are the Pharisees. These are the initiates of the initiates in the club of God. One.

These are the officials. This is the president, vice president, treasurer, secretary of the club of God, the most influential people. And they take stones to throw at them because they think they are committing blasphemy. They say, you are not God. What's next? Next sentence. But Jesus hid and came out of the temple. Next sentence. John 9, verse 1. When he passed, Jesus saw a blind man of birth. Join those two sentences. He came out of the temple. He came out of the temple. And when he passed, he saw this man. Well, if you pay attention to the context, you can learn a lot about the Bible. He is coming out of the temple. What does that mean? He is coming out through one of the four doors. By the context, it was the stairs to the south. He comes out through there and they still exist today. This is an image of the stairs to the south. How do they look right now? There is a door at the top of there. And so we know that the man was somewhere at the top of those stairs at the entrance. Not through the entrance. At the entrance. Jesus passes by him and sees him. Now the temple had these four exterior doors to enter. But once you entered through those doors, there were layers and layers and layers of more doors.

And each door represented another group that was excluded from being initiated to the other side of the door. And so most people could pass through the exterior doors and enter the interior. But then there was another set of doors. And the only people who could pass through those doors were the Jews. The gentiles, the non-Jewish people, were excluded. But once you passed through that door, there was another door. And the only people who could pass through that door were men. The others were excluded. Only the priests passed through the next door. And after that, only the High Priest once a year. The temple was like an onion. It was like these layers of these rings that only certain people who had access, who had pedigree, who had whatever, the correct curriculum, the correct background, the correct thing, could pass through the next door. But this man that Jesus knows, the blind man, is in the outermost door. Why? Because he was considered impure and could not enter. In Leviticus 21, a verse prohibits the blind from entering parts of the temple. But for when this man was alive, the Pharisees actually added more things to that law. They are written. They can be found in the scrolls of the Dead Sea. In fact, these new regulations made it so that this man could not pass through the door. He was allowed to stay there and ask for alms, but that was all. And for us, that could seem like, man, how could they do that to someone? But at that time, we have to understand, this was simply accepted. In fact, the disciples show that this was accepted. They do something that seems like a mistake to us, but they say this. The disciples asked, Master, so that this man may have been born blind. Who sinned, him or his parents? The initial assumption was that his exclusion, the label of this man as a stranger, this man who was forced to live at the entrance but not pass through it,

that was completely, 100% justified. The disciples assume that he or his parents made a mistake. What is it? And the crazy part is that Jesus responds and says, neither of them. And then he does the craziest thing. He leans to the ground, picks up a little dust, spits on it, rubs it, makes mud, puts the mud in the eyes of the man and says, go wash yourself in the pond of Siloé. The pond of Siloé was a mile away. The blind man must go down the steps, through the crowd, a mile to the pond. And he does. He gets to the pond. He kneels down, picks up water, rubs his eyes, washes all the mud, and then blinks and opens his eyes and the craziest thing happens. For the first time in his life, he can see. He was born blind. He lived decades and can see. Imagine being him. Where would you go if suddenly you could see? He has heard his mother's voice. He has never seen his face. Would you run home to see mom? Would you run home to see dad? Would you run to the ocean? Maybe you've heard the breaking of the waves, but you've never seen the immensity and vastness of the waters themselves. You just heard the sound. Would you go see the ocean? Would you go up to the highest mountain to see your first sunset? Where would you go? What would you see?

How fascinating. Before this man did any of these things, what did he do? John 9, 7. The man went, washed himself, and came back seeing. Seeing. The first thing the blind man of birth does when he can see is come back to the door. Why? Because the man thinks that for the first time in his life he will finally get access. He will go from being a stranger to being a member. Now he can see. Now he can enter. But when these Pharisees arrive, these religious exclusives, they don't welcome him. They don't say, How are you? You can see. Come in. Let me open the door for you. That doesn't happen. Instead, they ask him, How did this happen? Who did this to you? They put the pieces together and focus on a detail of the law called the day of rest. You should not work on the day of rest.

And they say, Well, if Jesus healed you on the day of rest, healing is technically working, and that's not right. And you walked a mile to the pond. That's also work. That's not right. So, in fact, you are no longer allowed to enter through the door. And they expelled him. It is difficult for us to understand in modern circles what this means. Expelling him is an official declaration of his life that now excludes him, that now closes all doors in his face. He is religiously excluded. Not only can he not be at the door, now he cannot enter the synagogue, the local congregation. He is not allowed to be there. And because he was expelled, he lost all his economic status. He left. The economic door is closed. No one will hire him. No one will pay him. No one will give him money as a beggar. Completely lost. And the social door was closed in his face, even his closest relationships.

If you read the story of the Pharisees, they go to their parents and say, explain this to us. What happened here? And their parents wash their hands for fear of being excluded. They say, we don't know. He's an adult. Ask him. Good job, parents. Thank you. What great parents. He is totally blocked al cien por ciento de todo lo que es importante en su vida. Has tenido alguna vez un momento de sentir que por fin llegaste? Como si finalmente hubieras hecho lo que debías, logrado lo que querías, obtenido lo que abrirá la puerta, sea cual sea la puerta que quieras cruzar. Y dices, finalmente voy a llegar. Solo para cruzar la puerta y ver que hay otra puerta y sigue cerrada para ti. ¿Alguna vez te ascendieron a ese nivel que querías alcanzar? Trabajaste en ello durante años y finalmente obtienes el ascenso y entras por esa puerta. ¿Qué descubres?

Hay otra puerta. Dentro de esa sala se toman las decisiones reales y no puedes entrar. Tal vez estás en la universidad y entras a un grupo. Por fin te aceptan. Ya formas parte. Y lo que descubres al entrar es que también hay grupitos. Y no estás en ellos. Vas al grupo de mamás. Haces amigas. Y es genial. Descubres que en el grupo hay un círculo no oficial de mamás que importan y deciden cosas que marcan el tono, el ritmo y la cultura y no estás incluida. Ni siquiera importa qué nivel de vida alcances. La alta dirección. Finalmente llegas a la alta dirección. Y descubres que ser el jefe es tal vez la posición más aislada, excluida en toda la empresa porque ¿sabes quién no es invitado a la mesa donde se forman las amistades y alianzas? El jefe. Mira, la cruda realidad de la vida.

Es que ninguno de nosotros, sin importar quién seas y qué logres, lo que diga tu currículum, la puerta de tu oficina, nada, ninguno de nosotros siente que de verdad encaja por completo. ¿Por qué? Uno de los grandes pensadores de los últimos cien años, no solo cristianos, pensadores en general, es C.S. Lewis. Vivió en Inglaterra y estuvo en su apogeo en los años 30, 40, 50, escribió mucho, habló mucho y tenía este concepto que llamó el círculo interno. Dijo que el círculo interno es el grupo no oficial dentro de cada otro grupo. Cada iglesia, cada vecindario, cada negocio, cada club tiene un círculo interno. Y Lewis dijo que el fenómeno

del círculo interno funciona así. Entras y descubres que el círculo interno existe y si de alguna manera puedes entrar en ese círculo interno, lo que descubres es otro círculo interno dentro de ese. Es como el templo. Quieres la vida, quieres acercarte, pero descubres después de cada puerta que atraviesas hay otra en el camino y por lo tanto nunca sientes que llegas hasta ahí. ...to the end, inside. Luis said that danger is not the existence of the circle itself. The circle is neutral, made of life. That's all. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. That's how things work. You know that's how it works. You can't change it. He said that the real danger is what you and I will do to get access. Look, at a fundamental level, we know that every door we want to go through, whatever it is, there's a price to pay to get in. And at some point, the desire to belong is so rooted in us that if we don't feel like we belong, we're willing to pay the price, whatever it is. It's hard for us to have integrity. We'll erase the lines a little. It's hard for us to ignore what we know is wrong.

We look the other way. And Luis says that over time, these micro-compromises change who we are. In the inner circle, he said that of all passions, the desire to belong to the inner circle is the one that most easily leads a person who is not yet really bad, to do very bad things. Look at this hunger. That we all have to belong can be the most destructive desire of our lives. More than money. More destructive than the desire for power. More than sex. Because we have to, we have to, we have to satisfy it. Nothing else in life causes competition, corruption, and commitment more efficiently and effectively than this desire to belong. For this blind man, the moment he returns to the door he desperately wants to enter and is rejected, this is the most vulnerable moment of all man's life. More vulnerable than the years that passed without being able to see. Why? Because at this moment, he thinks about what he was tempted to do. He thinks about what could have happened. He would have had one of two reactions. The same ones we have when we feel excluded. Some, when we feel excluded, we say, I'm going to knock down that door. We have a fight response. I'm going to go to the door and I'm going to knock. I'm going to hit. I'm going to make my body be the way it should be. That my bank account and my appearance be the way they should be.

I'm going to knock and I'm going to enter through that door. We have this fight response. And then others of us, many times because we've fought and it didn't work, our response is withdrawal. More and more with the passage of time. We just give up. We stop trying to be the vibrant, connected, and impactful person that God designed. We just give up. And we are isolated. This happens to many men. Many fall into the trap. We give up. You ask us who our best friends are and we say, my neighbor Tim. I forgot his last name. And then, Johnny's dad from my son's team. I don't know his name, but he's my best friend. You know, your best friend, what? It's because we withdrew. We decided to give up belonging. Now, no matter where you are, whether you're the fighter or the person who withdrew and is isolated, both responses are motivated by the same fear. The fear of never belonging. And when Jesus comes, he says, I am the door. He comes against that fear.

The one that drives you crazy. The one that wants to corrupt your life. The one that wants you to believe a lie and take your life. And surprisingly, we'll never know if the blind man fought or withdrew. Because in this vulnerable moment of his life, Jesus himself performs an unexpected miracle. One that I would say is more powerful and profound than healing his blindness. Because in this moment when man is faint, God himself will seek him. This is how the story begins in John 9, 36. Jesus found out that he had been expelled. And when he found him, he asked him, Do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, Lord? Tell me, so that I may believe in him. Well, you have seen him, answered Jesus. He is the one who is speaking to you. I believe, Lord, said the man, and he worshiped him. The amazing thing is that after being healed, the Pharisees come and say, What do you think of Jesus? Who is he? And the man answers, I do not know.

I only know that I could not see, and now I see. Perhaps he is a prophet. I am not sure. He gives us a sure answer. But after being healed, he was healed. After God himself goes and finds him when he has been expelled, that is the moment. He was healed. He was healed. He was healed. That is the miracle that has more power in his life and allows him to see for the first time that this is God. He was healed. Because the God I desire is not the one who sits at the door and rejects people. The God who qualifies and sends you down the stairs. The God I want is the one who says, if you come to me, I will let you in. In fact, even when you are expelled, even when you are far away, I am the door that moves towards you. This is the most beautiful part of the portrait. Jesus is the only door that moves that will look for you when you have been excluded. He will look for you when you are far away. He will find you when you retire. He will find you when you give up. He will look for you at the bar. He will find you in the wrong bed. He will find you when you make that tax declaration that does not coincide with reality. He will find you when everyone else has given up on you. He will come and find you and say, why don't you come inside with me? He will find you. He will find you when you are the only one in Norway who does not know how to row. He will find you.

It doesn't matter. Everyone looks at you strangely. He says, no, I am on your side. I am on your side. He goes and finds the man. And then we can understand John 10. Then it says, Jesus said to them again, the Pharisees, he says, He points to them with his finger and with an angry voice, he says, I certainly assure you that I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. He says, you are the thieves. You steal people's lives by keeping them away from God. You are creating religious exclusion systems where some good people come in, and all the others, the bad ones, are left out. He says that this is not the heart of God. He is furious. When he says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, he does not speak of Satan. He refers to these people, to this group of Pharisees who have left people out, who steal, kill, and destroy by excluding. It is not the only time that Jesus speaks like this to them. Matthew 23 is an intense reading. Jesus says to the Pharisees, Being a Pharisee is bad. He says, I have seven problems with you. One of you is Matthew 23, verse 13. He says, There are of you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites. You close the door of the kingdom of heaven before the people. You yourselves do not enter, nor let those who are trying to enter in.

The Greek word to close is to block totally. It is total exclusion, and Jesus hates it. He hates every system of religious exclusion. He hates it completely. And I know how sad it is that many churches can feel like this. Many churches have been like this. Perhaps you have found them before in your life. Places where if you do not fulfill, if you did something wrong, you do not vote, or you speak well, you are not welcome. Jesus says, No. That is not my kingdom. That is to close the door in the face of the people. That is why we work very, very hard at Crossroads to make it a place where you can really belong before you believe. It is a real place for real people. We say all this, and we say it seriously. We say it. I have been visiting our campuses, spending a lot of time with our staff and volunteers, experiencing Crossroads through their eyes, and it has been incredibly encouraging. I want you to know that if you are in a place or seeing online, this is true for the Anywhere team. Our teams are in the places. The Anywhere team exists to help you belong. That is all. This church is a spiritual family, and no one, no one, no one is excluded. If you have come and want to be part of this, you could feel overwhelmed. As if this were so big, how can I belong? Easy. Go to the Welcome Center.

Look for someone with a cap. They will help you. Nothing breaks our hearts more than hearing stories of people who come and find it hard to connect. We want to help you. We want to help you. In fact, your team is full of people who could earn more in a corporate job and accepted to earn less. Why? Because they exist to help you belong. That is the goal. The goal of a church is to help people belong. Jesus hates exclusion. He hates it, hates it, hates it. But we must try something. at the same time, radically exclusive? Notice that he says, I am the door, not I am a door. Many options come for me or any other door that you like for its shape and color. It is not what he says. He says, I am the door, the only one that really leads inside. John 10, 9. I am the door. Whoever enters through this door, that is me, will be saved. He will move with complete freedom, and she will find grass. Look, he is exclusive, but there is a promise to be included and have access to what you most desire.

In the modern world, we are trained to see exclusive negatively and inclusive positively. That causes problems because some things seem inclusive and they are not, and others seem exclusive and in reality they are not. Many of us have seen groups in our culture that seem inclusive, but our experience shows that when you enter, if you leave the line, you start to speak badly, to think badly, to vote badly, to dress badly. You are excluded. It is as if we included you until you stop being exactly like us. Then you are exclusive, you are excluded, but Jesus is the opposite. He says, I am the only entrance, only me. I am not saying this to discourage you or to be cruel. I am saying this to give you clarity. Stop looking elsewhere. I am the entrance. But when you come to me, there is no curriculum review. There is no pedigree review. There is no behavior review.

Just come to me. And when you do, He says, I will give you two things exclusively, security, salvation, freedom, and fullness. Jesus said that you will be safe. Look, He is the only door that offers salvation and security. That is why you long to belong, because you want that feeling of security. One of the problems we have in our modern world, imagining this scene of the sheep and the doors, and the whole situation, the pastor, all that, is that we imagine farms, you know. You are in Lexington. Imagine a horse farm. You are in Columbus, Dayton, near Cincinnati. You probably imagine other types of farms. Maybe a pig farm. I don't know. In Porcopolis, Cincinnati. You have tidy fences. Farms with doors. And we think that is grazing. No, that is agriculture. Farmers cultivating. Pastors grazing. Even today, if you go to the Middle East, what you will find are not fences and structures. You will find herds of sheep and goats in the desert, and a pastor with them. And at night, what that pastor does is take them to a natural enclosure.

The caves work incredibly. And that becomes the enclosure for the night. One of the elders of the Old Testament, a scholar of all times, George Adam Smith, was in the Middle East and saw this. And there is a book called The Good Pastor. And in it, the author tells this story. He says that the man showed him the enclosure where the sheep were taken at night. It consisted of four walls with one entrance. Sir George asked him, Is that where they spend the night? Yes, replied the pastor. And when they are there, they are completely safe. But there is no door, observed Sir George. I am the door, replied the pastor. He was not a Christian man. Nor was he using the language of the New Testament. He spoke from the perspective of an Arab pastor. Sir George looked at him and asked him, What do you mean that you are the door? The pastor replied, I am the door, replied Jesus. When he says, I am the door of the sheep, he says that he lies at the entrance. I am security, I am protection. I will protect you. No one will steal your sense of belonging. No one will steal your place at the table. No one can hurt you.

They have to cross me. But here is the key. The idea is not to live your life inside the corral of sheep. No. If you are in a place, you are in a barn. This is a barn. Welcome. I hope you get food, water, shelter and energy. It is not to live inside. It is to go out. To see what happens when you have your sense, your longing for belonging satisfied by Jesus, is that it is supposed that then, as a satisfied person and without more longings, you create belonging for others. You must be the one who was a stranger, integrated and now goes out again. That is what the church is for. That is why we go. That is why we do this. That is why many give and serve here to create this place, this family where anyone can belong. Jesus says that is where you will find pastures. John 10 says, The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it in abundance. That life of pastures is where you will find freedom and fullness. Jesus says that he is the only door that leads to freedom and fullness. And when you begin to create belonging for other people, when you go out again, that is when you will be fulfilled. Listen, my life changed. At the age of 20, it was hard for me to feel that I belonged.

I have said this before, I moved a lot as a child. It was difficult to feel integrated because in each group I found an inner circle. I said, oh, wow, now I have to get in there. And then, oh, there is another one. It just exhausted me. But everything changed when I finally believed that Jesus was the door. That he was finally welcome to the family of God. I had a place at the table, no matter my actions, my judgments, all those things. It changed completely, and I began to make my life try to create belonging for other people. I tell you, it is the most satisfying life you can live. It is. It is. The pastures are not locked in the corral. They find themselves going out to reach other people. The door has a key. It is the last thing. The door has a key. There is a door. And a way to enter. You do not enter by numbering your achievements. You do not enter because your grandmother was such a wonderful Christian woman. There is no pedigree. There is only one way to enter. You must humble yourself. It is the only way. One of the most famous stories of Jesus is that of the rich young man. It comes from Mark 10. This man approaches Jesus. He has all the money in the world, and money opens doors, right? So all the doors have been opened to him.

He pays the price and enters the club. He is part of that exclusive group. He can pay the price. And he comes to Jesus and says, Hey, there is a last door that I do not know how to enter, called eternal life, the kingdom of heaven. How do I enter through that door? This is Jesus' answer. Mark 10, verse 21. Jesus looked at him with love and said to him, One thing is missing. Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me. He says, You are missing something. He tells him to give away everything. Why would Jesus do that? He ran out of money. It is as if he said, We need more bread, more wine. And I, Well, no. He made bread and wine. It was not to make money. He says, You are missing something. And the reason you are missing is because you hold in your hand all the money, all your achievements, and you have to empty all that. Jesus is trying to free man from trying to pay his entrance and earn it. He is trying to empty his hands so that he has the only thing he lacks, humility. You see, all rich, poor, young, old. Jesus says that the only way to enter is to approach the door like a child. Nothing in your hands. Nothing to offer. Matthew 18, 3.

Jesus said, I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he who humbles himself like this child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It is curious that the God who came to us as a child asks that we come to him in the same way. Today you can go to Bethlehem and visit the Church of the Nativity, which is the place where Jesus was probably born. If you go there, there is a hole in the ground that marks the place where the manger was. It does not look like it did at that time, but you can put your hand in this hole and feel the stone where the manger would have been. And this is one of those places where we can say with 99.9% certainty where the manger was. The historical record is very old. In the year 135, Emperor Adrian built a temple to Adonis there, because people worshiped him since the crucifixion of Jesus. They said, this is where it happened, and they began to worship him right there. We can say that this is where it happened. Curiously, when you go to the Church of the Nativity, there is only one door, and it is this one outside. It is a very small door, tiny, the size of a child. The only way to enter for an adult is to bow humbly and pass. It is called the Door of Humility. If you approach Jesus, He does not care about your curriculum. He does not care that you try to gain His step. El dice que la única llave es si tú te humillas, ¿te humillarás? Reconocerás que hay un precio que tú nunca podrás pagar, pero él lo hizo. Él es la puerta que dice, ya pagué tu boleto, ya cubrí tu cuota, está resuelto, está pagado. Vendrás a él como un niño, ¿te humillarás? ¿Te humillarás? Vamos a hacer un momento ahora. Jesús dice que su meta para nosotros es que seamos conformados a su imagen. Y eso incluye la imagen de la puerta. Quiero que cierres tus ojos donde estés. Cierra tus ojos ahora. Y quiero que imagines una puerta. Ahora la pregunta es, ¿en qué lado de la puerta te visualizas a ti mismo? ¿Estás en el interior o estás afuera? Quiero que asumas que la imagen en tu mente es de Dios. Y significa algo.

Si estás afuera, quiero que pares y consideres por qué. ¿Es porque incluso después de años y años de creer en Jesús, algo dentro de ti siente que no eres suficiente? ¿Es porque crees que Él revisará tu currículum? Él sabe que dices que has orado por otros, pero no lo has hecho realmente. ¿Qué es? Si es eso, dile cómo te sientes. Su respuesta, por cierto, será que no hay precio. Pasa por la puerta. Dile que deseas entrar. Tal vez estás en un lugar en tu vida donde nunca has creído en Él. Has luchado porque Dios te ha parecido como esos fariseos, estos que excluyen, estos jueces. Pero hoy viste algo diferente. Si ese eres tú, puedes decir lo que dijo el ciego. Simplemente di, yo creo. Haz de eso tu oración a Dios ahora. Ahora, si has imaginado la puerta y te visualizas en el interior, pregúntale a Dios si hay alguien afuera a quien Él quiere que vayas para hacerle sentir que pertenecen. Pídele que ponga su imagen en tu mente ahora. Tal vez un vecino, un colega, un familiar con quien perdiste contacto. Y comprometete a salir ahora mismo a que deseas ser conformado a su imagen, a que quieres ser la puerta que se mueve, que va hacia ellos. Déjame orar. Dios, gracias por estas imágenes que explican quién eres. Podemos verte. Podemos verte. Dios, ayúdanos a todos a pasar por la puerta. Ayúdanos a encontrar el 100% de nuestra necesidad de pertenencia en Ti. Y Señor, envíanos. Que seamos la iglesia que sale, que crea espacios de pertenencia para los más excluidos de los excluidos.

Gente como nosotros. Señor, gracias por Tu obra. Te amamos. Amén. Durante las pasadas semanas hemos visto algunas de las declaraciones más importantes que Jesús hace acerca de quién es Él. No lo que otras personas dicen de Él. No lo que la cultura dice de Él. No lo que dice Instagram. Ni siquiera la religión dice de Él. Hemos visto lo que Jesús mismo dice acerca de quién es Jesús. Y a lo largo de esta serie, una cosa ha quedado muy clara. Jesús no nos dejó mucho espacio para convertirlo en quien nosotros queremos que Él sea. Él hace declaraciones audaces y específicas, personales, que exigen una respuesta. Así que la pregunta no es, ¿Quién dice Jesús que es? La pregunta es, ¿Voy a permitir que Él sea eso para mí? ¿El camino cuando estoy perdido? ¿La luz cuando todo esté oscuro? ¿El pastor cuando me sienta solo? Mi oración es que esta serie no solo te dé más información acerca de Jesús, sino que te ayude a conocerlo más profundamente, a confiar en Él más plenamente y seguirlo más de cerca. Y nos encantaría saber de ti. ¿Qué piensas acerca de este mensaje? ¿Qué te ha impactado durante esta serie? ¿Con qué preguntas sigues luchando? ¿Qué a lo mejor Dios te ha estado revelando en este tiempo? Tal vez tengas un testimonio que quieras compartir o una idea o una petición de oración. Nos encantaría escuchar acerca de ti. Así que envíanos un correo electrónico a hola.crossroads.net De verdad nos encantaría saber de ti.

Así que Dios te bendiga y esperamos conocerte pronto. Y nos vemos la próxima semana.