And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved

Second Coming, c. 1700, Greek.  Icon on wood, gesso, tempera (Private Collection)

Then Jesus went out and departed from 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

Recently we have been reading through Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple at Jerusalem, and directed in scathing criticisms of the religious leadership.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "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.  O 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 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."  Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  Although orders had been given not to destroy or harm the temple, in the frenzy of the battle Roman soldiers attacked the temple by setting fire to it.  There had been rumors that gold was hidden between its stones, and in search of this gold, the soldiers quite literally fulfilled Jesus' prophecy of tearing apart and throwing down the stones of the temple.  Only one retaining wall was left standing, which is today called the Western Wall (for many years referred to as the Wailing Wall as it remains to this day the site of prayers and lamentation over the temple's destruction).

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 notes that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no exact chronology could 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).  Rather than giving chronologies, Jesus' emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue.  Indeed, throughout each reporting of this prophecy in the Gospels, the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem) is bound up with end times, the period in which we now live.  Matthew describes the end as encompassing three parts:  the initial sorrows (given in today's reading), the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).  My study bible notes for us that we should understand the period of the great tribulation as including the entire Christian era, and 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.  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."  Here, Christ's warnings against deception are given the greatest emphasis.  He most stresses the warning against following a false Christ, which He will repeat again in verses 11 (below) and 23-27.  Before the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, there were several "Messiahs" or "Christs" who led various violent revolts which the Romans responded to by increasingly repressive force.  Eventually this would lead to ongoing and extremely violent civil war between the Zealots and the royal family which ruled for Rome, increasing in scope and violence as it went on.

"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."  The revolts and civil war in Jerusalem went on for years, eventually drawing in Roman forces from Syria. In the ongoing fighting between these Syrian forces and the Zealots, the Zealots' food stocks were destroyed, and the Zealots in turn began to raid the homes of local Jews.  Thus those living in Jerusalem died from famine in great number.   My study bible says that the wars described here by Jesus refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

"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."  My study bible notes here that all of these calamities and all of this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, it says, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  In a commentary of St. John Chrysostom, it notes, he marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is a sad fact of life in this world that it is, to a great extent, marred and even dominated or underscored by violence.  We have the violence of wars, which we can see described very well from the "beginning" in Genesis 4, in which the murder of one brother by another leads to ever-increasing cycles of retribution and violence, and in which Lamech eventually declares, "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."  This ongoing evil and violence through the generations sets the stage for the story of Noah, who found grace in the sight of God.  In our reading yesterday, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, tying in the violence done to all the prophets with the rejection which will now come to Him, and its eventual results in the destruction of Jerusalem.  An increasing cycle of violence ends with total destruction.  But in the midst of such alarming evil comes the Messiah, Jesus, who preaches a turning back to God, the practice of righteousness, and saves His greatest criticism for the hypocrisy of the leadership which covers their greed and selfishness, and the violence which we shall see is done in order to retain their places.  Instead, Jesus offers a cure of humility, an understanding of service as the highest calling of leadership, and a depth of self-knowledge which leads us to turn from the impulses within us which would cause abuse of power:  selfishness, lust or covetousness, violation of good conduct among ourselves, and all the possible forms that takes.  In such a world, we are given the Gospel, sent out "as sheep in the midst of wolves," taught that ultimately we are responsible to God and to neighbor, to practice a righteousness that does not exclude the heart and is not covered merely by acts designed to show our piety or righteousness as a signal to others.  Jesus teaches that it is God whose good opinion we must seek and to whom we need to answer, and this includes the possibilities and practice of an ongoing repentance, a depth of communion and prayer that keeps us walking the right road, and especially participation in His Cross.  These are the things that make for our peace.  We will always be beset by the problems that evil and its destruction pose in our world.  If we listen to Jesus, there is simply no substitute for personal righteousness and the rigorous and ongoing work of faith and of the heart.  Perhaps we, as our earliest faithful ancestors, may also see forms of violence and destruction.   Perhaps we will be spared these worst of all horrors endured in Jerusalem.  But whatever our circumstances, Jesus has a message for us in the midst of them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you"  and "he who endures to the end shall be saved."  We know what He teaches us, the word to which we cling in faith.  Each of us possesses within ourselves this capacity for faith; He calls us to awareness and endurance.  With God's help and grace, may we all encourage one another in the strength to persist in our faith and to help one another in doing so.   In the icon above, a depiction of the Second Coming, we see Christ surrounded by angels and saints from throughout the centuries, including the ongoing supplication on our behalf of the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist on His right and left.  At the top is the prepared throne of the Crucifixion.  The great circle shows us that in the Body of Christ, all is one, an eternal and great communion.  Below is an illustration of Paradise; the image on the left shows the bosom of Abraham, and on the right is the repentant good thief who enters with his cross.  Let us remember Christ's words of endurance and awareness, watchwords for all the saints of both the Old Testament and the New, in this "time of the end" in which we still live.

The kingdom of God is at hand

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

- Mark 1:14-28

As we continue through Mark's Gospel, events move along at a very fast clip. In yesterday's reading, we read of the baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, and the Theophany (or revelation of the Trinity). Immediately afterward, we read, the Spirit "drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him."

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, . . . " My study bible says here, "Jesus preaches the gospel of the kingdom of God: the Good News of the royal reign of God revealed decisively through the Person, words and works of Jesus, the fullness of the faith of Christ." Mark's Gospel moves at such a fast pace, so that when we read details we know they are significant. Here, in a very short phrase beginning this verse, we're told that John is in prison. It's important to know that such a great figure as John the Baptist in some way "makes room" for Christ. In John's Gospel, he will say of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." It is at this time that Jesus comes to Galilee preaching His gospel.

. . . and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." The "decrease" of John the Baptist is the sign of fulfillment -- the old is finished, and John is the last and the greatest of all the prophets in the perspective of Jesus. My study bible notes, "To repent denotes an about-face in life, a necessary part of faith and the experience of the Kingdom as a present reality. The Kingdom is yet to come, but it is also at hand, already here. It is inaugurated but not yet fulfilled." To repent, of course, is to "change one's mind." The "gospel" (Gr. evangelion) is the "good message" or "good announcement." So the "about face" of repentance is for belief, in order to hear and to perceive something -- an important, "good" message. It is so we may be present to the reality of that message!

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. My study bible says of this passage, "Time has elapsed and many events have occurred between the temptation of Jesus and the call of the first disciples. Jesus chooses simple fishermen as messengers of the divine gospel." What intrigues me, once again, in this passage, appears as a detail: "they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants." Repeatedly, Jesus' acts and the people who surround Him and make up His apostles and followers teach us about loyalty, community and family. The "hired servant" is a term Jesus will use to imply those without true faith, who may been seen by their lack of true love for the flock, for the followers or community of the Body of Christ. This passage implies nothing about the relationship of father Zebedee to his sons, but it tells us everything about the kingdom: that it will demand great loyalties, it will teach love on a new basis, it will come before all things and other relationships, it will define community. It will shake up our sense of how we relate to the world and to one another, our priorities, and how we "do business" in the world. The "good news" or "good message" is heard by those who can perceive the presence of the kingdom, even among us. My study bible also points out that this is not the first meeting of John and James Zebedee with Jesus. "They obey Him and immediately leave their nets because He has already established a relationship with them, and they trust Him." Trust is an important understanding of relationship in this kingdom. The Greek word for faith is the same as to trust. My study bible points out in this passage that "called suggests discipleship is an invitation issued by Jesus, the emphasis being on His initiative--the opposite of rabbinic discipleship, where the student took the initiative to follow the leader (rabbi). Jesus does not hesitate to include groups of friends and relatives among His disciples. Here are two sets of brothers, and the two families are friends, perhaps even relatives." To be called is also to be able to hear and to perceive a message. One must have ears to hear all of this!

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. "The scribes," my study bible notes, "speak by virtue of their official role and scholarly education. They quote others, usually earlier, well-known teachers; at times they must be boring. Jesus speaks and acts by an inner, divine authority. He needs no credentials nor the renown of others to back Him up." There is an immediacy and a presence to Jesus, something felt and sensed in the power and authority with which He speaks. This backs up our sense of the perception of the kingdom that is at hand, that is present to us. We must be present to it.

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. My study bible says of this passage, "Jesus demonstrates His authority not only by His teaching, but by dealing powerfully with this unclean spirit (v. 23). Not one demon ever successfully resists His command. Here a spirit tries to command Jesus: Let us alone (v. 24). It does not work. Jesus responds with two commands: (1) be quiet, and (2) come out (v. 25). The unclean spirit has no choice but to obey Jesus because God has authority over these spirits. The demons recognize Jesus as God without having full understanding of what this means. But they do rightly fear that, with the coming of the Holy One (v.24), the time of their confinement has come." Personally, I'm always intrigued by the demons' response to Jesus. They know who He is. It is a kind of taste of the reality of the presence of this kingdom in our midst -- there is a spiritual reality that is at work amongst us and with us, only we need to be present to it to understand it. Here, the "unclean spirits" know who Jesus is, they recognize Him. While they create life difficulties for human beings, the saving power of Christ is an authority they cannot resist. The kingdom is at hand, and it is here to do its work with us and among us. Jesus will share His authority and power with us to help us in our lives, to give us strength to cope with our problems and difficulties. Being aware of that "present help" in all circumstances is a part of being present to the kingdom of God in our midst.

I have been thinking a lot about this sense of "being present" to the kingdom. I'm a practitioner of contemplative prayer, which one can find in various forms in Christian practice, both East and West. So, the question here is a very important one to me personally. What does it mean to be present to the kingdom of God? How does one practice repentance, or "change of mind" so that one is always aware of this presence at all times? Many contemplative techniques teach us about "mindfulness" - but to be present and awake, alert, to this kingdom and its reality is a very important historical part of Christian teaching that has come to us from the Gospels and the words of Jesus, who will teach His followers that they must remain alert, awake, and always ready for the kingdom (and His return). So these Gospel passages are in some sense a "wake up call" for all of us. What is this reality that is expressed through Jesus' encounter with the demons? Immediately after the revelation of the Trinity at His baptism (see yesterday's reading), Jesus is "driven into the wilderness" by the Spirit - and there He was tempted by Satan and at the same time ministered to by angels. So we have an important reality to understand, but it's not something that is far away. It is in our midst, and Jesus in His Person, in His incarnation in the world, brings us a physical presence that will remain through grace and the anointing of the world by the Spirit. It is all a grand "wake up call." Are we present to Its work in us and among us? Can we be awake enough to the present moment to understand it, and to perceive its ministrations for us? Can we allow it to help us and to be our strength in times of trouble and difficulties, and to help us with the problems that plague us as human beings? St. Paul will hear, in response to a prayer about his own infirmities, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," and he will go on to say, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." Let us understand, then, the power of this kingdom and its presence to us, and the meanings in this story. Can we be awake enough to respond, as do the first apostles? Can we hear the message and the call? Will we allow in this help, so that our weakness may be made strong in this power?

For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more

"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves will be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

"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."

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?" And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

- Luke 12:32-48

In yesterday's reading, Jesus warned against greed. When asked by someone to help make a brother divide an inheritance, Jesus refused to arbitrate in this way (as was a common practice for a rabbi). Instead, Jesus emphasized the spiritual values, internal wealth, that must come first - and warned against greed, or banking all of our hopes on material concerns alone. He also issued warnings for His followers against anxiety and unnecessary worry and focus in this respect as well. See But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." A note in my study bible reads, "Little flock: the band of disciples who have left everything behind in total commitment to Christ and the Kingdom." This is a reassurance, after Jesus has just told His followers that they must "seek first" this kingdom before all else - material things - we strive for in life, and then all else shall be added.

"Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys." A note says, "Material riches suffer corruption; spiritual riches abide eternally." Jesus is giving us a very clear picture of the power of this heavenly realm that is also within us. The things we do and choose give us values, internal worth - these are treasures that don't fail, that can't be stolen from us and do lot lose their beauty. "Giving alms" is the perfect antidote to the focus on greed and selfishness; it is a lesson not just about giving but about the falsehood of clinging to a worship of the material, a false notion that this is what gives us our true worth and where we find all security.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." A note says, "This verse expresses a basic principle of human behavior: a strong warning to guard the heart, the door of inner spirituality." We are warned about what we love, what we value most. Again, elsewhere Jesus taught that we cannot serve God and mammon. We make choices about what we love the most, and what we put first. This makes all the difference in how we live our lives and what treasures we store up for ourselves. We must be aware of how we choose, what's first in our hearts.

"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves will be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately." A note reads, "A girded waist (as in a suit of military armor; see Eph. 6:14) renders one ready for action. Lamps burning suggests alertness in doing God's will." We are to be on alert about ourselves and our choices - to understand what life offers to us and how we choose and conduct ourselves, especially with regard to all the advice Jesus has just given about the love of greed and the service of selfishness. There is an echo here (in the talk of return from the wedding) of the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.

"Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 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." This is Luke's version of yet another parable from Matthew (see Heaven and earth will pass away). It's a parable that teaches us that we don't just choose once, or twice, in our lives - but all the time. We are to be prepared for a lifetime of vigilance, alertness, to ourselves and our positions and choices in life. It is a theme of all of the history of Christian spirituality that is reflected in the language of spiritual theology: we are to be "awake," "viligant," watchful" and on our "guard." In other words, we have a consciousness to develop and to maintain, which takes constant effort and awareness on our part. We are not to "sleep."

"Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." My study bible notes, "The point of Christ's admonitions is that we should constantly be prepared for His Second Coming, the date being unannounced." This truly gives us a deeper incentive and understanding of the command to be alert always, to be watchful. Its significance cannot be underemphasized. Think about what actions we might take if we truly took to heart the full impact of these words.

Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?" I find it quite a beautiful thing that Luke gives us this important question. Is spiritual awareness, consciousness like this, really for everybody or just for those who would be the small, devoted circle of disciples or apostles? A note says, "The nature of these admonitions suggests Jesus is speaking about matters of concern to all people."

And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." Jesus responds to Peter's question in a wonderful way, that gives us a picture of how the spiritual reality of the kingdom works. It's a parable directed at those who would be disciples, the spiritual leaders of a flock (such as Peter, who asks the question). They, of course, are to remain vigilant as warned. But there is more to vigilance than the guard of the heart; those who would lead the flock must not be lackadaisical in how they treat that flock, how they keep it and guard it. Should they exploit the littler ones, the ones under their care and treat them badly, they stand to lose everything. But it's not just a warning to those who would be stewards, or leaders. It's also a warning to the followers: "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few." Those who have been spiritually initiated into this truth bear a greater responsibility; nevertheless, those who would follow but are further behind on the ladder of spiritual understanding still face consequences of their choices to do what is harmful or malicious to others in terms of exploiting their power. The response is in proportion to "what they already have" -- the spiritual knowledge that is the true wealth He is speaking of in the first place. The message is for both the disciples, and all people.

Jesus says, "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." As we have, so much is required of us. Jesus is speaking about spiritual authority and understanding; those who go along this road of salvation that lasts a lifetime and in which we hopefully can grow. He begins this reading with the words, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." These great values of spiritual reality which are stored eternally for us and will not disappear, will remain with us. But they bear great responsibility. In fact, the more wealth of this kind that we have, the more the responsibility lies with us to conduct ourselves in certain ways, to guard against incentives of greed and selfishness, exploitation of others, and the greater the consequences will be should we fail to do so. Is this for all people? Indeed it is. But of those who have, much will be required. Ignorance is not an excuse for bad behavior, and so Jesus tells the story. But knowledge bears its own burden of power and meaning that we share in. Which will you choose? How do you choose to fall on any side of this question? It's all up to us, and what effort we make at life, at this spiritual understanding and discipline in which we grow and learn. There's no one exempt from the message or the struggle. It's our effort, in the end, that makes the difference.