Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me

 

 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

 

- Matthew 25:31-46 

In our present cycle of readings, we have been reading through Jesus' discourse on the end times (beginning with the reading last Saturday).  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants ad delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained give more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

 

 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory."  My study Bible has several notes on today's passage.  Overall, today's reading is what my study Bible calls the majestic climax of Christ's discourse.  The subject of today's reading is not simply a parable, but rather a prophecy of the universal judgment which will indeed come.  Since the Cross is now close to Jesus (He is in Jerusalem, and it is the final week of His earthly life), He raises those who listen to the sight of the glory of the Son of Man on His judgment seat with the whole world before Him.  Note the irony:  that it is He who will soon face an unjust judgment and unjust punishment.  But Christ's standard of judgment is uncalculated mercy toward others, as my study Bible notes.  The works which are produced by faith are given the emphasis here, for saving faith always produces righteous works.  What we do reflects our true inner state, as Christ has taught (Matthew 12:33, 15:18-20).  

"All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."  My study Bible tells us that Christ uses sheep to illustrate the righteous, for they follow His voice and are gentle and productive.  Goats indicate the unrighteous, for they do not follow the shepherd, and they walk along cliffs, which are representative of sin.

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'"  To inherit is a term used with regard to sons and daughter as opposed to strangers or servants; in this way Christ is indicating that the righteous become children of God by adoption, and therefore heirs (Galatians 4:4-7).  

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"  The least, my study Bible explains, refers to all the poor and needy.  But poor and needy comes in many forms, not only material; these needs described here are both physical and spiritual, and we can also think of the many forms that implies.  Therefore the hungry and the thirsty are not only those who need food and drink, but also those who hunger and thirst for the hope of the gospel, and all the support, guidance, help, communion, and treasure therein.  To se Christ in everyone is the fulfillment of what He called the second great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39).

 

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."  My study Bible notes that Christ says the fire was prepared for the devil.  It says that this shows that God did not create hell for human beings; rather, people choose to separate from God through their coldness of heart.

So Jesus places compassionate behavior at the center of His judgment.  It's important to understand that compassion is a genuine movement of the heart.  It's not enough to be charitable in an impersonal or even political sense.  If we look at the anointing of Christ by a women identified as Mary of Bethany in John's Gospel, we can see who was really concerned about the bottom line in a "rationalist" way, and that was Judas, who criticized her for her "waste" of an expensive ointment or perfume of the ancient world in oil form (John 12:1-7).  It was Mary's depth of  compassion for Christ that informed the loving act of anointing that she did, the gift of great love in that jar of fragrant oil that became an anointing for His burial.  It is she that Jesus praises and favors, and Judas who receives the correction, although Judas is the one voicing an apparently feigned concern for the poor.  It is Judas who scolds and criticizes that Mary has forgotten the poor in her extravagant act.  But it is Mary who acts from love and compassion, and not Judas.  This should be a great lesson to us about the emphasis on the heart, for acts of charity such as Jesus describes do not come from coldness and calculation.  We can just look around ourselves, and as Mary understood what was happening in the life of Christ, and what was coming at Jerusalem, we can respond with our own compassion to the need that we see.  As my study Bible comments, to be "poor and needy" comes in many forms.  So many people just need an encouraging word, even if their circumstances are truly materially poor and needy.  There is no measure of what hope can do to help a person get up in the morning and keep trying, the difference it can make to feeling defeated and utterly depressed, or to look forward to something in life that might get better.  Many years ago, I volunteered in a food pantry to which the poor came from all parts of my city.  I sat at a table processing forms, and so I was available for people to talk to.  Many poured out their hardship, whatever was on their minds:  their fear, their overwhelming problems, the hardship and obstacles they were encountering.  I could not solve their problems, but aside from trying to piece together where help might come from, I listened and God gave me a word of hope for each one, of encouragement where there wasn't any.  I found the beauty in those people and the goodness in them as they struggled, so God gave me a great gift in simply being there and listening.  To have trouble is one thing, but to have trouble and feel entirely alone is another.  Sometimes we will find that, besides the material help people need, just the time and attention that gives people the respect and concern due their personal humanity is really more powerful than the rest.  It does more to feed their soul to meet a challenge, to try again, to keep going, and it is an affirmation that they too are loved by God and by neighbor, as Jesus has taught.  In Jesus' command to love neighbor as oneself, we find a profound teaching of dignity in that each has the capacity to be a child of God by adoption.  Jesus speaks of loving our neighbor, and we have to consider what that means aside from the personal and familial.  So today, as we are ready to enter into the season of celebration of Christ' nativity, His birth into the world as a human being, let us consider His brilliant teaching on what it is to love neighbor as oneself.  It takes our heart to do that, a kind of communication that goes beyond rational rules and memos and pointing fingers at others who seem to come up short because it is love that speaks from them and from their hearts.  The world has tried many political systems of wealth distribution over the past century, and the radical reforms in so many places resulted in horrific hardship, famine, concentration camps, hidden prisons into which people disappeared, and mass murder on a literal scale of millions.  Let us remember how much we can do with time and kindness, and the affirmation that each one is a creation of God, beloved of Christ.  In His summing up of final judgment, Jesus does not charge us with the task of reforming the world, but with our own responsibility for the compassion we can bear and through which we can act, a compassion that should grow with our faith, for we can love as we know we are loved (1 John 4:19).

 

 

 

 

 

For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants ad delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained give more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

 

- Matthew 25:14-30 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the end times (beginning with the reading of Saturday the 11th).  In yesterday's reading, He gave them the parable of the Ten Virgins:  "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 

  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants ad delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained give more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"  My study Bible comments on this parable that it illustrates the use of gifts given by God.  It is from this parable that the modern sense of the word "talent" in English gets its definition, but in the ancient world, a talent was a huge sum of money.  It was actually the Greek term (τάλαντον) for a certain measure of weight in pure precious metal such as silver or gold.  Even one talent, my study Bible says, was a great sum of money.  But here, Jesus uses it to represent teh goodness which God has bestowed on each person.  The amount each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7).  God does not show partiality in the ultimate reward, it notes, for all are invited to share the same joy.  The wicked and lazy servant could not evade responsibility for ignoring the talent he was given; idleness, therefore, is as much a rejection of God as outright wickedness.  To bury the talent in the ground is considered an illustration of using one's God-given gifts for earthly pursuits; we might also notice that it is a simulation of burial, of death.  The bankers, my study Bible says, represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely.  Since help was available to him in the Church, it says, the man has no excuse.

What is a talent?  As noted above, in Jesus' time, a talent was a great sum of money.  Let's keep in mind that at that time there was widespread international trade, especially through shipping across the Mediterranean, therefore established measurement equivalents, country by country, for exchange.  In Jesus' parable, we might consider the talent a metaphor for life itself, but that would neglect to notice the differences in amounts given to the various people.  Instead, we can understand this parable through the talents representing abilities, not limited to what we commonly call talents such as for artistic skill or other abilities.  A talent, therefore, is something precious, which we can use to exchange for other things, to make a living, to invest, to develop, to use our efforts to magnify into something else.  In this case, a talent can be something we consider spiritual, such as a talent for prayer, a capacity for faith, and an ability to put to use our energy and intelligence for various works in our own lives.  It's as if God has invested something in us, and then we are responsible through our lives for what we do with God's gifts.  Do we have a capacity to be charitable toward others?  Can we be creative in terms of how we take in Christ's teachings and learn to apply them in our own lives and our own circumstances?  What spiritual gifts does God give us and how do we use them?  The only thing that is truly deadly in this parable is the failure to apply oneself, the failure to try, or even -- in some sense -- the failure to understand God, or "what manner of spirit we are of" (Luke 9:54-56).  The wicked and lazy servant says, "'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid . . .."  He speaks to the Lord as if the Lord is simply a kind of warlord, a corrupt and aggressive worldly conqueror pillaging territory for graft.  He does not know God at all; He does not understand God even as Creator who has sown everything in this world, scattered seed everywhere.  His overwhelming fear of God tells us that He does not know God at all; he is both wicked and lazy because his impulse is false and his laziness means he has made no effort at communion and prayer, at loving God or even coming to know God with heart, soul, spirit,and mind. See John 1:4:8.  Let us also keep in mind that Jesus speaks of "servants" and that He is teaching to the disciples -- and through them to us, who consider ourselves His followers.  Our duty as servants is to work the works of faith; in other words, to live a faithful life (John 6:27-29).  It's not enough to say "I believe" but our faith must be embodied through our lives; we seek God's guidance in how to do so through a prayerful life.  Above all, let us note that a talent, in monetary terms, was a means of exchange.  Therefore so we should consider Christ's life above all as teaching us that the world is to be transfigured.  Are we given hard things in life?  Do we have hardship, or strikes against us?  Perhaps we have special challenges, or "wicked and lazy" people who have given us misery.  Through the Cross, Christ teaches us not simply to cast off anything as simply 'bad' but to transform our lives by seeking Him, through repentance and with God's help.  Everything in this model is exchange, making one thing into another, transforming even what is bad or causes us suffering into occasion for prayer, transcendence, or repentance, for with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  Therefore, the one really "bad" thing in this parable is not to try, not to know God, not to find what is  possible for us with Gods' help and mercy and compassion and grace, and all the assistance of saints and angels and fellow faithful.  This is the only way God judges, it seems to me, if we but look really closely at what Jesus is teaching us here.  Therefore we will not be judged on what we produce in a worldly sense, on a material sense of "success," but rather we will be measured in terms of our spiritual lives, our love for the things of God and the extravagance of that love with which we invest (Luke 21:1-4, John 12:1-8).

 

 

Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!

 

 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 

- Matthew 25:1-13 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been teaching about end times, and His Second Coming.  In yesterday's reading, He said to the disciples, "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 

 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."  Jesus teaches a parable which illustrates what we are to be about while we await His return; that is, the return of the Bridegroom.  My study Bible says that this parable illustrates the need for being spiritually prepared while the bridegroom -- Christ -- is delayed in His return.  The Kingdom is often portrayed as a marriage (Matthew 22:1-14) between Christ and His Church.  This is a marriage which will be consummated at the end of the age, when the Bridegroom returns to escort His Bride, the Church, into the eternal wedding banquet.  This is made very clear in the imagery of the Revelation, and the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-2, 9-10).   My study Bible comments that this parable is primarily about the virtue of charity and almsgiving -- as oil and "mercy" have the same root in Greek, and the words sound identical.  The wise virgins are those who practice charity and mercy in this life, while the foolish are those who squander God's gifts on themselves.  The fact that all of the virgins slumbered and slept gives an indication of death:  in our world, the virtuous will die alongside the wicked, my study Bible says.  But the cry at midnight is the Second Coming, when the wicked will arise together with the righteous for judgment.  The righteous cannot share their oil in the parable, and not from a lack of generosity.  Rather, it shows the impossibility of entering heaven without one's own faith and virtue, and the impossibility of changing one's state of virtue after death (see Luke 16:26).  

 

 The imagery of the Bridegroom is important, and it tells us so much about who we are as faithful.  If Christ is to be united to His Bride, the Church, then we also should understand this union on a smaller scale.  In each of our lives, as we pray, we seek to be in communion, united with the One to whom we pray.  This includes the saints to whom we pray for help and assistance, and the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.   Of course, all of these persons -- the saints and angels, and the whole of the Holy Trinity -- are present in and with Jesus Christ.  Even symbolically, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is in itself a unification of heaven and earth.  And we who are human beings, who seek to live our faith, effectively seek through prayer and worship, and all the ways in which we "remember God" in our lives, this union of our lives with the holy, the guidance by which Christ teaches us to live, the holiness and beauty which may permeate through even the evil and the pain which we experience in a world that is also corrupted with selfishness in all its forms and outcomes.  Even the seeking of that union itself is the opposite of "selfishness," in the sense that if we seek only our own guidance, and nothing beyond ourselves, we are simply stuck within ourselves, like the Pharisee who "prayed with himself" in this parable.  To be unified with the Bridegroom should be our deepest desire.  It is the profound goal of the Church, and part and parcel of Christ's Second Coming.  In the Revelation, the merging of the heavenly New Jerusalem with the Bridegroom means that there is no need for a temple or a church, for Christ is everywhere dwelling with all (Revelation 21:1-4).  But when we pray, when we seek God, when we worship, when we turn for help and guidance for our lives, so we are also seeking the same, in real time, as we live in the here and now, today.  We seek that union, no matter how fleetingly or ephemeral, so that the fullness of the images of the Second Coming are just that:  the fullness of what we seek here and what we learn now through the practice of our faith.  This is not a "pie in the sky" kind of teaching, but rather just the opposite.  It is the power of our true lives in Christ, participating in His life, and merging worldly identity while we bear His image, and seek to live the love He taught us as we make our choices and decisions.  We seek His "righteous judgment" (John 7:24), discernment (Philippians 1:9), and even His discipline and correction (Hebrews 12:3-11).  For each of these are a part of His love, just as is His compassion and mercy (Romans 9:15).  The endurance and victory He asks of us takes place in this world, as we seek the union of all of these things within ourselves, for this is the real work of faith.  This is how we fill our lamps.

 

 

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing

 

 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 

- Matthew 24:45-51 

 

In our recent readings (chapter 24 of Matthew's Gospel), Jesus has been describing to the disciples the end times, teaching about what is to come (beginning with Saturday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." 

 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave His disciples (and by extension, all who consider themselves His followers) instructions that, regarding the end times, the byword for the faithful is to watch and be ready (see verses 42-44).  This means that in order to be prepared for His return, we are to continue in virtue and in obeying His commandments.  Today's reading gives us a parable illustrating His warnings.  We are like servants left in charge of a household while the master is away.  If you were to go away from your home, leaving others in charge of it in your absence, what would you like to find when you return?  Jesus describes a great household, akin to His Church, one in which there are many servants and in which the responsibility is great of those left in charge in the master's absence.  He describes 'lawless' behavior, in which the servant responsible begins to beat his fellow servants, abusing them, and to eat and drink with drunkards (those who care not for responsibility).  We have already read Jesus' great condemnation of the hypocrites among the religious leaders of His time (see chapter 23).  Among those who are His disciples and followers, the abusers and those who forget the responsibility of His commandments will be counted among the hypocrites.  "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" describe the state of those cast out of God's kingdom.

 

 In John's Gospel, Jesus adds one commandment to all the rest, the new commandment which He leaves with His followers.  He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34).  Earlier in Matthew's Gospel, as Jesus was quizzed in the temple by the leaders, He was asked by a scribe what the greatest commandment was in the Law.  He gave two, saying, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  So we are left, essentially, with three great commandments we are to follow:  to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind; to love our neighbor as oneself; and to love one another as Christ has loved us.   These are the commandments given to the disciples, and through them, to us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus.  And, by inference, we can assume from today's parable that it is these commandments left to the servant while the master is away that the servant fails to fulfill -- that in Christ's warning parable to us, we are taught we are to be about.  It is these three powerful commandments which sum up Old and New Testaments, and everything else we know of worship and practice and living our faith is basically a fulfillment of these.  So while He is gone, His Church, and indeed, His world, is left to us to sustain, to tend, to care for, and uphold in all things which are good in His absence.  He expects us, as good servants, to understand as best we can and grow in that understanding, to tend to His household, to care for our fellow servants, to love God as He has taught and to love our neighbor as one created like ourselves, and to love one another as He has loved us.  We ask ourselves, how has Christ loved us?  He has not failed to correct, to warn, to give good commands and teachings.  That is also part of love.  He has on many occasions expressed His compassion, and that compassion reflects and teaches us also the compassion of God.  But most of all, He is a Good Shepherd, instructing day by day with all patience, tending, guiding, and loving with  warmth and love that radiates from the pages of Scripture with a kind of glow we detect when we are in need, when we meet Him here, when we find Him as He continually seeks out each one of us (Matthew 18:12-13).  So, how do we love like Christ?  Note that love also has the components of goodness and truth and beauty:  goodness in the teachings of Christ which sustain and nurture growth and health, truth in that we are given the straight talk and nothing is sugar-coated or false, and beauty in the compassion and grace embedded in them all.  Christ does not feed us with fantasies, but with the bread of life, the real things we need.  Let us strive to be like Him and not forget what we are to be about as good servants upon whom His household depends until the time of His return.

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect

 

 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will by no means pass away.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

 

- Matthew 24:32-44 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been telling His disciples about the end times.  In yesterday's reading, He taught them, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you all beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.  Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 

 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will by no means pass away."  My study Bible says that this generation refers to all believers at all times; that is, to the generation of the Church, and not merely to those alive at the time of Christ.  

 

 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."  According to St. John Chrysostom, cited by my study Bible here, Christ tells of the angels being unaware of the exact day of His return "so that men should not seek to learn what angels do not know," and to forbid them not only from learning the day, but from even inquiring about it.  According to Mark 13:32, it adds, as well as in the Matthew text of St. Chrysostom, Jesus declares that the Son also does not know the day of His own return.  St. Chrysostom teaches that this is not to be understood literally, but rather is a figure of speech which means that Christ, although He revealed all the signs that will accompany His return, will not reveal the exact day to anyone -- and that believers should not be so brazen as to inquire of Him.

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left."  Accompanying Christ's return will be a sudden revelation of judgment; these two events are inseparable one from the other.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation, my study Bible says.  This separation of the saints from the wicked will occur at the coming of the Son of Man, and not at a time before His second coming.  

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  My study Bible says that the Lord's purpose in this discourse is not to make people experts on end-time prophecy.  Instead, it is so that they may watch and be ready, which is to continue in virtue and obeying Christ's commandments.  This warning is also illustrated in the parable of the returning master (which will be in the reading to follow; verses 44-51).

 In Jesus' talk of end times, He emphasizes surprise.  First He remarks that absolutely no one but the Father knows the day or the hour, the time of Christ's return.  But then He tells us that life will go on with people unsuspecting about what is to happen.  Certainly it seems that only those who understand His teachings will have any sense of this impending time; we're to watch for the greening of the shoots of the tree, so to speak.  That is, the signs of which He's spoken, which portend His return.  Most of the things He discusses are with us always, such as famines and pestilences, or warfare and earthquakes.  It may be that the time just feels more pressing.  Moreover, Jesus' teachings on end times are combined with the destruction that was to come in Jerusalem, as He clearly predicts the destruction of the temple that came with the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.  So our sense of Christ's return is combined with the extremely violent upheaval of the past, a destruction that marked the end of a great era and the beginning of a new which we might call modern history.  But when He returns, certainly -- as we remarked in yesterday's reading and commentary -- that will mark a new era indeed, which time itself seems to change and the world will shift in its realities, and this will be accompanied by Judgment.  That marks a complete shift in the realities of the world, where two women are illustration here as those who work side by side when one is taken and the other remains.  The same is true of the illustration of two men working in a field, where one is taken and the other is left.  What we consider normal relations will be entirely disrupted, a judgment will come that changes all things we understand.  In this we can seemingly take assurance, and so we are told to "watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."  And this remains His byword to us, to "watch."  We must keep alert and watchful, to obey His commandments, to follow as His disciples, to continue in the ways He has taught us even as we wait for Him to come.  It is in this way that we remain ready and vigilant, and those who watch will be the only ones who have possibly a sense that His return is coming, that judgment comes soon.  So in all things, we are prepared through one thing:  a focus on discipleship, on the cultivation of virtue, the following of His commands and teachings, and to understand that it is how we walk through this world that is most important.  Faith is important, but it is faith that is truly lived that He is looking for, faith in which we are told to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12); that is, with all care and sincerity, taking choices seriously for the value they are worth in the eyes of Christ.  Keep in mind that this is in the midst of a world of which we're told that "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now" (Romans 8:22), and so what we are expecting is to be born into the fullness of the return of Christ, and this is the great and important emphasis here.   And it is important that we understand the return of Christ in this context; that the meanings within our lives are made all the more powerful and poignant through His teaching about His return, for we expect an even greater fullness of life.  This is why we are to watch and anticipate, because it is all linked to the life in abundance that Christ promises, and to miss what He offers in His teachings is to miss this promise of the fullness in His return.  But Christ warns us to be ready, to live our lives as He is taught, for the fullness of that life that awaits transfiguration is prepared and rooted there, in living faith.  In living His faith and commandments, in participating in His life, He teaches us how to live His love, and this is the ground of being.

And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other

 

 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you all beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

 

- Matthew 24:15-31 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

 

"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes."   My study Bible remarks that Daniel's prophecy of the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11) was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Roman general Titus entered the Most Holy Place and had a statue of himself erected in the temple before having the temple destroyed.  The Lord's phrase when you see indicates that many of the disciples would still be alive at that time.  The words whoever reads, let him understand, my study Bible says, are commonly understood to be inserted by Matthew into Christ's speech as an encouragement to his early Christian flock who may have witnessed this event.  His warnings that begin here an emphasize an urgent need to flee, and to do so with all haste, even without possessions.

 

"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!"  Jesus gives a clear sign of the calamity and horror to come.  In Luke's Gospel, Christ gives a blessing to the barren women as an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer, and whom they cannot save (see Luke 23:29).  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"

And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you all beforehand."  My study Bible comments that the severity of winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation.  In patristic tradition there is also a spiritual interpretation, which sees the Sabbath as symbolizing idleness with regard to virtue, and winter as indicating fruitlessness with regard to charity.  Therefore, the person who departs life in that kind of spiritual state will suffer judgment.  

 

"For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together."  My study Bible asks the question, in what manner will Christ come back?   Here Jesus makes it very clear that this event will be unmistakable to the whole world.  If there is any question or doubt, then that alone is evidence that He has not returned.  As Christ's return will shine from the east, whenever possible since the earliest times of the Church, Christians worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming.  

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."  According to patristic teaching which is cited by my study Bible, the sun will not be destroyed, but darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  In other words, it says, the sun will appear to be dark by comparison when Christ returns in the fullness of His splendor.

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."  The sign of the Son of Man, my study Bible says, is the Cross, which will be revealed as the standard for Christ's impending judgment.  At His first coming, Christ came in humility and mortality.  But at His second, He will be revealed in power and in great glory, reflecting the truth of His divine nature as shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

It seems to me that when Jesus says that the sun will be darkened, the moon won't give its light, the stars will fall, and that the powers of the heavens will be shaken, He's indicating something like a tremendous dimensional change taking place.  Of course, we can't really know fully what He's talking about and what He's describing, but whatever it is, it will be a time when even "the powers of the heavens will be shaken," that is, a time when all that we know and all the things we relate to within our world and perception of the universe will be shaken and put aside.  What He seems to describe is an entirely new life, even a new nature of life, and no going back to the old.  My study Bible refers us to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, noting that it is one of the clearest New Testament passages on the Second Coming of Christ.  In the Didache (the earliest teaching document of the Church, written in the first century), it notes, there are three signs listed that will mark the return of Christ:  (1) "the sign spread out in the heavens" -- Christ and His hosts; (2) "the sign of the trumpet"; and (3) "the resurrection of the dead."  In this passage of 1 Thessalonians, as written by St. Paul, there he clearly notes that those who are alive in the earth will mingle together with those who have fallen asleep in Christ.  This is another indication of the suspension of the normal realities that govern our cosmos, our world and universe, for not only will those who have died live, but it is an indication that time no longer applies.  So this is one more sign that at the coming of Christ, the reality we know will disappear, and a different life begins.  All of that suggests the unmistakable quality and signs of that time; that this event will not be hidden from anyone, but, as my study Bible says, will be clearly evident.  The second thing it seems to teach us is that it is a radical ending and new beginning, where even the laws of physics we know will no longer apply. That's quite powerful to ponder, nearly impossible to realize in any but the briefest sense.  But it does seem to teach us that there will be an end to things, and that even as we live today in the world we understand the finitude of life as we know it.  I don't think the Scriptures nor Christ Himself nor St. Paul, among others, would leave us with this sense that there is an end to the things we know, except in preparation for it, and in preparation for Christ's return.  Thus it becomes very important that we consider these things not simply as staggering events to come -- and, in the case of the Siege of Jerusalem, as one of the terrible and terrifying events of history -- but that we understand our lives are temporary. Even the world itself, the creation that God proclaimed to be "very good" (Genesis 1:31), will eventually shift in its very nature, and that there will be a kind of transformation and merging of life into a different life, in which all will be gathered together.  I feel that this is something we can count on, a deliberately given promise, and one that gives a sharp focus not on some far away future, but in effect on our very lives today.  For what it does is highlight that this life is temporary, that there are things that we are to be about, that there is an eventual and certain outcome in which Christ returns and we will be understood in terms of our own contribution, our life of faith, our place within His kingdom.  It should give us pause to consider that our lives are precious, our moments limited, our time especially valuable for its briefness and emphasis on how we live while we are here.  Make every moment count, give it the value it deserves, and make it rich with the blessings God offers to those who seek to live His life that He offers.   Our treasure in heaven is what we build while we live in this world.

 

But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come

 

 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

 

- Matthew 24:1-14 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus preached the end of His final public sermon, to the religious leaders in the Temple:   "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" 

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."   My study Bible reminds us that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  In connection with Jesus' words to the religious leaders in yesterday's reading, we note that there was a forty year lag between this prophecy and the Siege of Jerusalem, time for individuals in an entire generation to come to repentance.

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  The Lord's emphasis is on watchfulness and on the practice of virtue, rather than making timetables of things that haven't yet happened.  My study Bible breaks down the pattern given in Matthew's Gospel, which encompasses (1) the initial sorrows (verses 4-14), (2) the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and (3) the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).  This period of the great tribulation includes the whole of the Christian era, and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.

And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."  My study Bible asks us to note that it is these warnings against deception to which Jesus gives the most emphasis.  Of particular importance is the warning against following a false Christ, which Jesus will stress again in verses 11, 23-27.

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."  The wars here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, my study Bible says, but they also certainly include subsequent wars.  Wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

 

"See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  All of these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel, my study Bible says.  Indeed, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted, it adds.  St. John Chrysostom is cited here, who marveled that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything but the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What do end times look like?  While we might find ourselves and others frequently asking this question, and wondering about it since quite soon (relatively speaking) after Christ's Ascension, what we can see from His description is that there are features of the time that look remarkably like our own.  We are familiar with wars; we are familiar with famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.  We know of the tribulation the early Church experienced, and we should be familiar with tribulation and persecution that have continued throughout the centuries and especially during the 20th century under various forms of government, and continues even violently today for many Christians around the world.  Jesus speaks of false prophets, betrayals, lawlessness.  He says that "the love of many will grow cold."  He speaks of hate, both against the Church and inside of the Church, saying that "you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another."  These are things that have been seen, and things we should remember.  But possibly His most important message is twofold.  Jesus says, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  This in itself is an important, lasting message to all of us.  Whatever we go through in life, what Jesus emphasizes is endurance.  We are to persist in a faithful life, living out His commandments, and being His disciples to the best of our ability.  The other part with which He leaves us at this juncture in the reading is, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  Whatever we see happening in the world and in our lives, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached and will spread.  Now, through sites such as this blog and uncountable others, the gospel of the kingdom is preached throughout the world, and continues to reach people, as well as through more conventional means and venues.  But these two things are important, and especially relevant to today.  We have the message that it is our endurance that He asks of us.  He does not ask the impossible, for great feats and miracles of faith, for astonishing works that dazzle others.  He asks for our endurance, and this means our endurance in faithfulness, in living as He asks us to live and resisting the temptations to lawlessness, letting our love grow cold, betrayals, and hatred.  We are to persist in the gospel and living His gospel.  We might find all kinds of things going haywire in our life, even experiencing betrayals and hatred of one sort or another, or possibly we experience the great upheavals of history such as famine and warfare, earthquakes and pestilences.  But in any case, what He asks of us as a goal is to endure to the end.  Through all things, we turn to Him, to His gospel of the kingdom, to one another, to prayer and to worship, to struggle with what it means to live out our faith as best we can, and to endure.  Let this be our prayer, as the gospel of the kingdom continues to be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations

 

 

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers!

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27-39 

 

In yesterday's reading, we continued with Jesus' final public sermon (read the beginning in Wednesday's reading).  Jesus said, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?"  Earlier, Jesus told the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, in which the vineyard owner (representing God) sent many servants to ask for the fruit of the harvest (the prophets sent to Israel).  Finally, the wicked vinedressers, who've leased the land, decide to kill the son of the owner (representing Christ) when he is sent to them.  Here in this part of Christ's final public sermon, Jesus links the leadership of His time with the leaders who murdered the prophets, declaring they are in the same lineage as those who were partakers in the blood of the prophets.  Their hypocrisy is condemned by Christ as it is covers staggering sins, which they are about to extend from the past murder of many servants/prophets into another terrible murder of the Son.  He says to them, in this context, that they take upon themselves the sin of the past by extending it into the present, "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt." 

"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."   Here Jesus clearly links the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers to the prophets, wise men, and scribes which are to come in His name, affirming their responsibility for the continued persecutions begun in acts against the murdered prophets of the past.  In Jesus' words, they are all linked from the same impulse and in the same lineage.  The murder of Abel was the first murder, and was done for spiritual envy (Genesis 4:1-15), the reference to precisely which Zechariah Jesus names is disputed in the tradition of the Church.  Some of the patristic teachers say this was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), and others say it refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, who according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  At any rate, we are to understand from Christ's words the whole chronicle of martyrs, from the first murder to the last prophet murdered, the guilt of which is cemented by future acts in which they will kill and crucify, scourge, and persecute those sent in Christ's name, so that all these things will come upon this generation.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, yet most do not want God.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for house can be used to mean "family or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).   My study Bible adds that both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.

There is an interesting concept which Jesus expresses in today's reading that should give us pause to think.  He refers to all the unjust murders of the past -- and specifically those martyred for reasons of faithfulness to God, especially servants of God such as the prophets and others -- as contained also within such acts going into the immediate future.  In other words, the continuation of such types of acts incurs the collective guilt of the precedents.  This is something we need to think about, as our faith does not nominally hold anyone responsible for the sins committed by others.  But at Jesus' words we need to think.  If we would collectively mourn and rue terrible acts of sin through the murder of innocent martyrs, servants of God, of the past, does that not give us a responsibility in terms of the things we ourselves do in life?  Should we mourn terrible injustices of the past, and yet move along to commit the same sorts of crimes?  Here, Christ is speaking of crimes committed precisely because a servant of God (such as a prophet) is sent with a message from God to the people, calling people back to God.  He extends that to the servants (I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes) whom they will also persecute and murder.  If they understand and mourn the terrible acts of the past, if they mourn the murder of the prophets of the past and claim they would not do such things as their ancestors have done, then what culpability will they have when the do the same?  Of course, it is Christ Himself who knows what is going to happen to Him at the end of this very week through which we're reading in the Gospels.  He knows they plot against Him, and that He will go to His crucifixion.  But here, He does not mention Himself.  Instead He refers to those whom He will send whom this leadership will also persecute, scourge, and murder.  It should, at the very least, give us pause to consider that when we do something similar to that which we have condemned in others of the past, we take the responsibility of that past crime upon ourselves.  It is the greatest act of hypocrisy to condemn an injustice of the past, especially one implying such serious understanding as committed against one who bears a message of God, but to engage in the same oneself.   Christ's words should teach us about our own acts of hypocrisy, to weigh our decisions in light of what exactly we would join in condemning of the past.  For the same temptations and evils, as Jesus Himself points out here, come in the future.  God will continue to attempt to reach us, and we will be faced with similar choices about message we don't like to hear, and the temptation to respond with hatred against the messenger, even the spiritual envy of Cain for one who was favored by God for his sacrifice.  Let us weigh the options of repentance and sin, and think about Christ's words, for sin continues, and our options remain the same.