This year of 2025 is the Jubilee Year for the Catholic Church, during which they open certain Holy Doors which have been shut & sealed for the past 25 years. Hubby and I had the great opportunity of going through two of the Holy Doors in Rome during our recent visit.
The first Holy Door we visited was at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall.
I did not really know what to expect when it came to the Holy Doors. Would they be big and impressive? Would the Holy Door be that big imposing door directly behind the enormous statue of Paul?
No. It wasn’t.
A sign directed us to the door which was actually off to the side …
Oh wow … it’s quite a humble door.
It reminds me of Jesus who came in humility.
“He [Jesus] had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. … He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities [sins]; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:2-5
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity [sins] of us all.
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
“He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.” – Isaiah 53:6-8
“After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
“For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” – Isaiah 53:11-12
After passing through the Holy Door … we entered into the beautiful church.
As glorious and grand as this beautiful church is, it doesn’t compare to how fabulous Heaven is going to be!
Jesus told us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:1-6
Jesus alone is the Holy Door for accessing entrance into Heaven.
If we want to enter Heaven, Jesus is the one and only door to get into Heaven.
A few days later hubby and I had the opportunity of going through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. A sign on the wall indicated it was this way …
We turned a corner and passed through a simple, plain, normal doorway. Surely this can’t be the Holy Door.
Ahhhh … there it is! Everyone wants to go through this Holy Door!
The thing is, even though it looks as if everyone wants to go through this Holy Door (based on the masses of people and the press of the crowds), it is not necessarily true that everyone wants to go through this door.
Here at St. Peter’s Basilica we were with our tour guide – Franco. When it came time for us to pass through the Holy Door, Franco informed us very gravely that we were about to pass through the Holy Door … and he asked us in all seriousness if any of us had a problem going through the Holy Door and would prefer not to.
None of us objected.
However, this did not keep Franco from repeating his serious question a couple more times. Franco has been leading tours for the past 38 years and he has had quite a number of people in his tours who have been adamantly opposed to going through the Holy Door!
And so it is when it comes to the doorway of Jesus Christ as entrance into Heaven. Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, I am the door … whoever enters through me will be saved.” – John 10:7-9 But not everyone wants to believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to Heaven.
There are quite a number of people who would rather try to access Heaven some other way.
They are adamantly opposed to going through the “doorway” of Jesus Christ!
There was no dillydallying or pausing as we all swept like a “human river” through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Once again, this Holy Door was humble. Just like Jesus, who came in humility to die for our sin.
And here you can see Jesus on the cross, dying for the sin of all humanity. Dying in my place for my sin. Dying in your place for your sin.
On the left panel of the Holy Door, the upper top right scene shows Adam & Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin. In the very beginning, when God first created the world, all was perfect. There was no sin. There was nothing bad at all.
But Adam & Eve chose to rebel against God. They chose to disobey God. And because of their disobedience, sin came into the world. Every person who has been born since Adam & Eve has been born with a sin nature. Everyone is a sinner.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away … there is no one who does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:10-12
Underneath the scene of Adam & Eve being cast out of the Garden you can see a scene of the Good Shepherd who has gone in search of his lost sheep.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus knew that we all are lost in our sin, like little sheep lost out in the wilderness. So Jesus left Heaven and came down to earth.
Jesus paid the penalty for our sin to rescue us out of sin and redeem us. “For just as through the disobedience of one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19
“God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
After passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica … you have the beautiful church.
As grand and spectacular as St. Peter’s Basilica is … Heaven is going to be so much more amazing! Heaven is going to be so much more grand!
If we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior – if we make the choice to pass through the Holy Door of Jesus Christ – we will enter Heaven on the other side.
But if we are adamantly opposed to passing through the Holy Door of Jesus Christ … we will not enter Heaven. At all.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
Perhaps you might be wondering if you have passed through the Holy Door of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you would really like to enter Heaven, but you just aren’t sure how exactly to pass through the doorway of Jesus.
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. … Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.” – Romans 9, 12
You might not be able to travel to Rome during the Jubilee Year to pass through the special Holy Doors which are opened this year. But you can pass through the Holy Door of Jesus Christ right where you are at. You don’t have to travel. You don’t have to do anything other than believe.
Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Repent of your sin and accept Jesus’s payment on your behalf.
You have just passed through the Holy Door of Jesus Christ.
“These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” – John 20:31
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9
It’s going to be amazing on the other side of the doorway! Heaven is going to be amazing!
