theology in pencil

Jesus had set out resolutely from Galilee ten chapters ago, and Luke 19 chronicles His nearing to and entry into Jerusalem. He knew what awaited him there: torture, tears, anguish, crucifixion and death. I imagine Jesus’ journey now to have become one of perseverance and disciplined obedience.

Conversely the disciples would have looked to Jerusalem with eager anticipation. The Jews were, after all, perpetually in need of a saviour and Jesus, the Messiah, was about to enter the holy city. As we look over the history of Old Testament Israel we see how God raised up leaders, kings and warriors to release the people from bondage, slavery and exile brought about by rebellion and idolatry. Israel would return to God, cry out to Him and He would restore them, but all too quickly the cycle would start again. To the disciples, the arrival of Jesus in the holy city meant the end of the Roman occupation and the restoration of Israel – the Kingdom was about to appear.

The journey nears its end. I imagine Jesus’ heavy heart to be in sharp contrast with His disciples’ excitement, and so Jesus tells this triadic parable of the Ten Minas in order to address their misunderstanding. Jesus is the nobleman who must go away to be appointed king by a higher authority, and then return to receive his kingdom. Jesus is saying that the Kingdom is going to be delayed, and for a time it won’t even look as though he is King, but one day He will return to rule and will reward His servants appropriately.

The disciples wanted God to send someone to rid them of the Roman occupation and restore Israel to its former glory, but throughout their history God was demonstrating that intervening in their external circumstances simply wasn’t enough – it wouldn’t save them from themselves. In sending Jesus to die for the whole world God had done something unexpected, something that would change their interior and deal with the root of the problem. God’s intervention didn’t look as the disciples wanted it to look, but the end result would be greater than they could ask or imagine.

Just as the disciples did, we too can hold to a fixed idea of how God is going to intervene. When we ask God to step in do we blindly assume that it is something external to us that needs to change? Could it be that God is looking to intervene by bringing change within what is so often the root of the problem – us? Naturally, such intervention is not at all comfortable, it is unexpected and not how we wanted it to look, but be encouraged that at these times the result will be greater than we can ask or imagine.

Another thing that strikes me about this parable is that Jesus cast himself as the anti-hero: the nobleman was a hard man (austeros, from which we get austere). On hearing the parable the hearers would immediately have thought of Archelaus, son of Herod. After his father’s death, Archelaeus and his brothers (Antipas and Philip) squabbled much over who had inherited which land and who would be the regional King, and so each took it in turn to travel to Rome to seek an audience with Emperor Ceasar Augustus to establish their authority. Archelaus had been given Judea, Samaria, Edom and the title of King by his father and went to Rome with a delegation of Jews to support his case but instead they testified against Archelaus. Caesar gave him authority over just Judea and a time of probation to prove his was worthy of the title King and inheriting the rest of the lands promised to him. Furious, Archelaus returned to his land proved what kind of king he would be by slaughtering 3000 Jews for their opposition. Archelaus was deposed later for misgovernment. It is doubtless that this is the historical event Jesus bases the parable of the Ten Minas on. By casting himself as Archelaus Jesus creates a helpful contrast: if the hard, austere king would give such great rewards for faithful service, then how much more should we want to serve a generous God who is eager to reward lavishly?

From the Christian Institute quoting The Daily Telegraph:

Thousands of schools are adopting a standardised spring break, rather than moving it to coincide with Easter.

Research by The Daily Telegraph newspaper has found that schools in a third of local authority areas have adopted a fixed two-week break.

Religious leaders have criticised the move for downplaying the significance of Easter for the sake of convenience.

Another one for the separation of church and state debate! Personally, just like the misguided “Keep Sunday Special” campaign I think the quoted “Religious Leaders” have got it wrong again. Why should the whole of the country keep Sunday special? Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. If I had the nouce and influence I would have started a counter “Keep Humans Special” campaign which was the thought that was at the heart of Jesus words! The Keep Sunday Special campaign was just about protecting church service attendance figures, not about the “specialness” of one particular day – we must remember that every day is the Lord’s day. It was also about traditional church services that take place on a Sunday morning – for them the campaign was about direct competitors to their attendance figures. This only serves to underline the weakness of a local expression of church that only meets once a week at a fixed time – many communities of faith these days recognise the importance of meeting more often, flexibly and with an organic structure & plan.

But back to the current day! Why should the country’s academic terms be tied to the Christian calendar? Is it really that important or is it about history & tradition? Is it because the importance of one of the two last traditional “church services” (Easter & Christmas) appear to be eroded? Is it because Easter isn’t held in high enough esteem by all that various religious leaders need it to be protected? I just can’t see why the academic and church calendars need to be tied together – I have no idea why they were in the first place for that matter. I think in both cases this comes down to believing we’re a Christian nation – we’re not anymore, England is very much post-Christendom – we’re a multi-faith-and-secular nation. The challenge for the “Religious Leaders” above is to learn about the very different England in which they grew up in, to stop harking back to think about the present and the future: just deal with it!

I wonder if this could be a successful new approach to seeker-sensitive meetings! Probably not – though to be honest I bet he had a bad night with his kids refusing to sleep. Argument with the wife on the way in. Pressure from the board to grow the church. In my short time in the US I noticed a real “hire & fire asap” attitude in churches that seems more at home in a premier league football club than a church. So much as this is pretty horrid, I can actually understand why someone might lose it completely if heckled at the wrong time – poor preacher, but poor congregation too!

Dear Lord,

So far today I am doing OK! I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self-indulgent. I have not whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate… and I haven’t bought anything on my credit card either. However, soon I will be getting out of bed and I think that I will really need your help then.

Amen!