Open the gates to all who are righteous,
allow the faithful to enter.
Isaiah 26:2

Read: Isaiah 26:1-7, John 10:1-10
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 2 Part 2

Relate: The door opens, and a figure named Goodwill appears. He doesn’t inspect Christian from a comfortable distance. He doesn’t ask for references or require a demonstration of worthiness. He simply asks, “Who is there? What do you want? And when Christian explains, the burden, the city, the road, the detour, all of it, Goodwill’s response is immediate and without qualification. “Come in.” It is not “Come in, just so long as you have done this or that.” It is not “Come in, once you’ve cleaned yourself up a bit.” It is not “Come in, after you have prayed the ABCs.” It is just, “Come in.” The door swings wide, and the pilgrim who has no claim to anything but his own desperate need steps across the threshold.

Goodwill is Christ, and Bunyan is not being subtle about it. What Bunyan captures here that we all so often miss is the complete absence of conditions at the moment of entry. Yes, there is a narrow road ahead. Yes, there are disciplines to be learned and dangers to be navigated. Yes, the wicket gate is only the beginning of the journey. But the welcome at the gate is unconditional in the most literal sense of the word. It is not conditioned on anything Christian has done or will do or intends to do. It is conditioned entirely on the character of the One who opens the door. Goodwill lets him in because that is who Goodwill is. Grace cannot help being gracious. It is definitional.

React: There is a moment in this scene that has stayed with me since the first time I read it, and it is this: when Christian asks whether he can bring his friends and family through the gate with him, Good Will’s answer is a plain and open yes. Everyone who comes will be welcomed. The gate is not small because it is exclusive. It is small because entering it requires a particular kind of intentionality. You must mean to come through it. But for everyone who really means it, who stands there knocking because they have nowhere else to go and nothing left to offer, the door opens. Goodwill opens it himself. Every time.

Respond:

Dear God,
You have welcomed me in. You have opened the door and allowed me to enter. It sounds so simple. It sounds so basic. But those five words, “You have welcomed me in.” They change everything. Thank You.
Amen