Jesus began his ministry with these words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matthew 4:17)
My oldest son went to graduate school, so he’s smarter than me, I guess. He taught me a term I wasn’t familiar with but have come to appreciate—“Throughline” and it means a common element, theme or idea, consistently found from beginning to end of a person’s writings or teachings.
It seems, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”, is Jesus’ throughline—the thread woven throughout his ministry years on earth. It was as if he was saying, “I am King. I’m building my Kingdom. I want you in it! Repentance is step one”.
When we get to Matthew 25 and the parable of the talents, Rabbi Jesus has been teaching for many many months. He begins with a word I don’t want you to miss. “Again….” As if to say, I’ve taught this before, you’ve heard this before, I’ll say the same thing another way to make sure you understand.
“A Man” had “servants” he trusted with “talents”—something of great value, and then he went away. When the man returned a long time later, his only concern was, “what did you do with what I entrusted to you?” He then judged the servants as either “good and faithful” or “wicked, lazy and worthless”. Ouch.
It reminds me of a letter written to the early church by Jesus’ little brother, James.
…Someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.
“You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did….. a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
Jesus came preaching the Kingdom and Jesus came seeking faith-filled followers. At the close of another parable, in Luke 18 Jesus is spurring his disciples on to faith in prayer. He says, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Brothers and sisters, servants of the King, may we be faithful with Jesus—the gift God has entrusted to us. Your Savior is your greatest treasure. Will you speak of Him today? Will you share this precious possession with others? When “the Man” returns will he call us “good and faithful”?
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member