Wednesday of the
Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(Revelation 4:1-11; Luke 19:11-28)
There is drama behind today’s gospel. What seems at first sight the telling of a
rather simple parable turns into the last chance for the players to commit
themselves. It is like the last call to
place bets at the racetrack. One must
either play or be left behind.
The drama opens as Jesus is approaching Jerusalem. Shortly he will deliver himself to be
crucified for the salvation of the world.
In his entourage are two kinds of people – those who have been following
Jesus but have not committed themselves to him and those who have become his
disciples. Both have roles in Jesus’
parable. The first group must decide for
or against Jesus. If they do not commit
themselves to him for all the good that he has done, they have decided against
him. The latter are the dissenters in
the parable who do not want Jesus as their king. They will come to regret their choice. Even Jesus’ disciples have a decision to
make. They can either risk their comfort
in proclaiming Jesus to the world after his death and resurrection or play it
safe and do nothing to promote his triumph.
The more they risk – the more they give of themselves for the sake of
Jesus’ kingship, the more they will gain in the end. But if they choose not to expend any effort –
if they sit back rather than make sacrifices for him -- they will lose whatever
value their original choice for him had.
We find ourselves in the second group. We have decided to follow Jesus but have not,
perhaps, wanted to make sacrifices to proclaim him to others. Maybe we have a bad habit like telling racist
jokes that gives a counter-testimony to Jesus.
Or perhaps we refuse to do something we know we should like joining a
small faith community. Jesus’ parable tells us that there is little time
left. We must move to proclaim him now.
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