Wednesday
of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Luke’s shares with Matthew’s Jesus’ parable
about the need for his followers to perform good works. If they just sit on their hands in his
absence like the servant who hides his master’s money, they will come to regret
their inactivity. On Jesus’ return at
the end of time, they will lose all that was given to them. In Matthew’s version of the parable the unproductive
servant suffers damnation as well. In Luke those who suffer a worse fate than
loss of money are they who do not want the noble master as their king. This development of Luke is a reference to
the Jews of Jerusalem who will refuse to recognize Jesus as Lord. The Romans will destroy the city and kill
many Jerusalemites later in the first century.
We see Christ as our king. He protects us and helps us to realize our
destiny as children of God. He also
commands us to build up one another with the talents that he has bestowed on
us. Faith in this vision and adherence
to it will carry us to eternal life.
Disregard of it will lead us to the oblivion of death.
