Sunday is the Big Game! Super Bowl LIV will be played in Miami to determine the best NFL team of the season. Unfortunately, my Dolphins won’t be competing even though the game will be played on their field. At any rate, 65,326 people will attend and over 100 million are expected to tune in worldwide to watch the showdown between the Chiefs and the Forty-niners.
I’ve never been to a Super Bowl and I doubt I’ll ever get to one with tickets selling at up to $5,000 a pop. Nevertheless the pigskin faithful will fill every seat and watch as Kansas City hopefully seizes the Lombardi Trophy.
Public athletic events are nothing new and several years ago archaeologists found an ancient ticket in Jerusalem as they dug through some ruins. This ticket is a little different than modern ones as it was carved from bone and inscribed with the Greek words for, “Wing Seat No. 10.” Although historians mention both a theatre and a hippodrome in Jerusalem, their exact locations have never been determined.
Nevertheless, the discovery of the boney ticket is intriguing. Was this a season ticket or did it provide a one-time admission? Had it been a gift or was it purchased with hard earned wages? How much did it cost? What particular athletic contest or performance was it for? Who sat in Wing Seat 10 and what snacks did they enjoy? Many questions with no answers.
As I imagined some possibilities, however, I was struck by a reality that spans millennia. Just as no individual was admitted to the Jerusalem event 2000 years ago, no person will enter Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday without a ticket. It won’t matter who you are or who you know, no ticket will mean no admittance.
Nearly every venue today requires some type of ticket. We can either purchase them in advance or pay at the door if still available. But most athletic, musical, theatrical, and other events are ticketed and no one enters without one.
Heaven is the same. Although there is room for all and although God wants His house full, the Bible tells us that no one will be admitted there without a ticket. And the required payment is not in dollars or bones, but blood.
Heaven is a holy place because its Owner is a holy God. No one contaminated with sin can enter just as no one carrying a weapon will be allowed to enter the Miami stadium. Hebrews 9:28 tells us that to remove our sin, blood is required. Thankfully, Jesus has already done that purchasing tickets for us with His own blood. They’re free to us but it cost Him His life.
There are enough tickets for all to attend, but to receive one we have to accept the gift that Jesus died to provide. We each must admit that because of our sin we don’t deserve a ticket and trust that Jesus sacrificed His life to buy us one. As we receive His forgiveness and turn from our sin, God’s Ticket Master spits out a ticket not of bone, but stained with Jesus’ blood.
Thankfully, no one can steal our ticket and the Giver has a record of all who have accepted one. Furthermore, all seating around the throne will be fantastic with a full view of God’s glory and providing plenty of room for us to worship and praise Him.
As we watch Super Bowl LIV Sunday evening, let’s be certain we have accepted God’s ticket, for heaven will last so much longer and be so much more enjoyable than any earthly sporting event. And if we have received our ticket, let’s tell others where and how to get theirs.
Blessings, George