LUKE 19:1–10
Jesus Christ is the hope of all men, and therefore also of non-Christians, of the heathen, of the theoretically or practically ungodly. How could we limit the positive sign of life in the midst of the times to Christians? The main concern of the ongoing of the history of the prophecy of Jesus Christ which fills our time is with non-Christians. Their existence is a reminder of the darkness which resists it. It is for their sake that it must go forward, that Jesus Christ as the living Word of God is still on the way to-day. Their conversion from ignorance to knowledge, from unbelief to faith, from bondage to freedom, from night to day, is the goal of His prophetic work so far as it has a temporal goal. He wills to seek and to save those who are lost, who without Him, without the light of life, without the Word of the covenant, will necessarily perish, v. 10. He is for them specifically this light, this Word. He is their hope … Christians have many reasons to see this. In days past were they not themselves non-Christians, or sleeping and even dead Christians, and therefore in fact and at bottom non-Christians? Is it not the case that they were not for Him as He was for them? Have they not every cause to be grateful that in spite of this, without their response of love, even when they were enemies (Rom 5:10), He was for them, their hope, and the Holy Spirit was obviously promised to them in this way? (IV, 3, p. 364 f. The Promise of the Spirit.)
Barth, K., Bromiley, G. W., & Torrance, T. F. (2004). Church dogmatics, Volume V: Index, with Aids for the Preacher (448). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
