Jesus tried to show the relationship between the destruction of Jerusalem, His ascent to His throne, and His Return to redeem the fallen world. For each of these, Jesus warned His disciples they must prepare. Preparing for His rule was a matter of spiritual understanding they would only gain when the Holy Spirit fell. It would require the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to even understand the spiritual nature of His reign. For the destruction of Jerusalem, preparedness was a more practical matter of recognizing when Rome was ready to besiege the city. For His Return, the issue is quite different. Jesus offers three parables to explain how Kingdom service was the whole matter, for which no timeline was possible.
Jewish wedding traditions are rich and varied, but certain features are fairly well established for Jesus' day. For example, we understand the bridegroom would go to his bride's home, where the priest would engage them in various rituals. She would then leave her childhood home with him, and they would typically arrive at his home around sundown for a celebration with feasting, and distribution of gifts, which might last several days. This provides the background for a vivid parable using standard Hebrew symbols.
The focus of the narrative is the group of virgins who hope to be included in this celebration, symbolizing the people of Israel. It is their birthright to be included, but they have to meet certain requirements. The lamps represent the light of God's revelation, which Israel carried in the Law. It's fire was dying out, and the only fire which would continue burning in the New Covenant will be fired by the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the oil. Those who do not have Him will not be prepared to serve. Some Jews will never get this oil, and some will. No one can ride the spiritual rebirth of another. If the light of their testimony is the Law, they will miss the Messiah, and be excluded from Heaven. While the Lord delayed, giving them ample time, there was a certain and distinct endpoint to His patience. At some point no one could predict, the End will come, Messiah will Return to redeem all Creation, but also to judge all mankind.
Everyone living in Jesus' time could remember when one of Herod's sons had to appear before Caesar to fight a petition by opponents to his inheriting the throne his father bequeathed him. Should he be arrested, all his private property could be forfeited, so he wisely left some of his affairs in the hands of trusted servants. Known as a hard man, he hardly would have allowed them to merely preserve his assets in stasis, but expected the business to continue apace however long he was gone. In this parable, Jesus is the king going away to His Father's throne for a time. During His absence, He fully expects His servants to employ their gifts from Him to the maximum affect, so His domain among the hearts of men will grow. While the word "talent" described a large quantity of money, we rightly use that word in English to describe any particular ability bestowed by God. All our abilities and talents are His, and He demands we use them to increase His Kingdom, serving in ways which make His glory obvious to all. Of those to whom the Son offers much grace, they are expected to share that grace with equal generosity. Anyone who does not apply themselves with a will are unfit for the Kingdom, destroying what little they have, and will not fare well when He Returns.
The Final Judgment of humanity is described as a shepherd liquidating his herd. Raising sheep in First Century Palestine followed ancient established practices, honed to perfection from centuries of experience. Given the very best breeds of sheep in terms of what they produce are also just about the stupidest animals known, a good shepherd kept goats in the herd to protect them. Sheep were deeply focussed on just a few things: eating, drinking, and making more sheep. Predators could easily slip up and devour the sheep, because they wouldn't notice. Goats would smell them coming, and either fight or flee. Sheep were stupid enough to wander off a cliff, and would easily flee over one when frightened. Goats would pay attention and flee to safer ground. But goats were not sheep; they were fundamentally different.
Jesus portrays Himself as the Master Shepherd. His sheep have a mission, and that mission is to feed on His Word, drink deeply of His Spirit, and bring to birth new souls for the Kingdom. They have His own nature in themselves, and will do by instinct His works, even if they don't quite understand it. The power of the Holy Spirit works to create a holy instinct, a tendency to serve Him in a hurting world by sharing His grace and redemption. In so doing, they are pretty poor at running the world. The world is loaded with predators, those who would destroy the Kingdom by the works of Satan: deceiving, stealing, killing. To prevent them being harmed, the Lord gives to those not His sheep the commission to create a civilized world, to restrain sin. Those who do this will not succeed if they have a sheep's nature, so the Lord appoints sinners to govern our world. By their nature, they are much harsher, and do not understand the peaceful, sacrificial nature of Christ. At the End of Time, they will not understand how they cannot be included in redemption.
In this parable, our Lord describes the nature of the Covenant of Noah. Social stability is the requirement given to sinful men in a sinful world. The work is messy and the results aren't pretty, but this is the plan of God to keep things under some semblance of order until the End comes. His people live among these civil rulers, and will tend to follow the laws of men. However, their true purpose and focus of attention is the Kingdom of Heaven, not any kingdoms of men. By their calling they will not be very effective in such worldly concerns. The obvious warning here is we who follow Christ cannot be goats. If we are to be any use at all to Him, our natures must make us unfit to govern the affairs of mankind. To seek such governing power violates our calling and His nature in us. It requires a nature which makes men unfit to stand before the Judgment Seat of God.
Thus, to be ready for the Lord's Return means to be actively serving His eternal purposes. We must be fired by the Holy Spirit to carry His light to the world, we must aggressively pursue His business using all our grace gifts, and we must not be distracted by the affairs of mere human kingdoms. Only those who embrace the fundamental change in their souls by the Holy Spirit will be ready. Those who seek other pursuits will stand before Him ashamed on that Last Day.
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Ed Hurst
05 January 2008
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