Dear Northside
Just as we do when we celebrate Advent, as we celebrate Lent, we need to remind ourselves that this same Jesus will return again. Acts 1:11. Are you ready for His return?
Matthew’s Gospel devotes two full chapters to the subject of the Second Coming of Christ. How does Jesus prepare His followers for the day of His return? He tells them stories. We can read Jesus’ words regarding His return in Matthew, chapters 24 and 25. In this discourse He gives solemn warnings about the last days. They will be perilous times. The last days before His return will be without precedent, filled with danger and woe.
But as He continues teaching about the last days, Jesus changes His tone and begins to relate one parable after another. These are the parables of the last days.
These stories are well known: the parable of the wise and foolish virgins; the parable of the sheep and the goats; and the parable of the talents. However, in our familiarity with these stories we might miss the importance of their setting. Each story is told in the context of His Second Coming. Jesus is teaching us how to prepare for His return.
If we focus on the Parable of the talents today, there is a lesson for us from the third servant? Perhaps we should see that our view of God will determine the choices we make. Do we see Christ as “a hard man” with unfair and unrealistic expectations of us? (Matthew 25: 24) If we do, it will cause us to live our current days in fear, with unprofitable results.
Sometimes our view of the Second Coming is so centred on the Judgment of God that we have overlooked the joyful nature of His return for those who are prepared. Perhaps this is why the Old Testament prophets referred to Christ’s return as the “great and glorious day of the Lord.” (Joel 2:31)
On His return, Jesus will look for those whom He can invite into His joy. True, there will be judgment, but the Master’s motivation is to share His happiness with all those who have longed for His coming.
Only those who eagerly look forward to the return of Christ can find the freedom to live with confidence now. The Apostle Paul understood the freedom we can experience through the grace of God when he recounted the words, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9)
In these parables of the second coming each story contains a depth of teaching regarding how we can prepare for His return in the everyday choices we make now. When He returns, He will look for those to whom He can extend the invitation, “Come, share in My happiness!”
We are living in the Last Days, what have you done with your talents, your time and your treasure?
God bless, Pastor Gary