This is what faithful servants, wise virgins, and entrusted talents all have in common: the answer from the parable of the Last Judgement. Here is how we encounter God today.
Four parables, four separate stories? Well, that is what it looks like at first. But when you take a closer look, they share the same framework. It ranges from “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple” (Matthew 24: 1) to “It came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings” (Matthew 26: 1). The entire passage is referred to as Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. And this is not an isolated case.
Outer frame, inner structure
The same kind of structure, namely scene changes and final words, is also found in the four other discourses of the gospel: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), His Mission Discourse (Matthew 10), His Parabolic Discourse (Matthew 13), and the Discourse on the Church (Matthew 18).
His Olivet Discourse is not only held together by the outer frame, but also by an inner structure. The admonition “you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 24: 36, 42–44; 25: 13) and the warning that there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24: 51; 25: 30) run through the entire passage like a thread.
Attentive and determined
All four parables share the same theme: namely, how to prepare for the return of Christ. And they have the same structure: they contrast right and wrong behaviour. In doing so, they lead us closer and closer to the core of the message.
“Don’t waste your time,” we are told in the parable of the two servants. “Prepare yourselves actively,” the virgins admonish. And the parable of the talents urges us, “Work with what you have been given.” But what exactly is meant with food in due season, the oil in the lamps, and the entrusted talents is only revealed in the last parable.
Loving and energetic
Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing those in need of clothes, taking in strangers, seeing to the sick, and visiting those in prison: the fourth section hammers this list into the reader’s head four times, twice as a statement and twice in the form of a question—twice in the form of praise for action and twice in the form of a rebuke for inaction.
Those who perform such works of charity prove to be faithful servants, gather the oil of the wise virgins, and actually work with the talents they have been entrusted with. But the list of good deeds is far more than an appeal for ethical behaviour. It contains a promise.
Helpless and holy
“Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25: 40). Christ identifies Himself with the weak and vulnerable and shows solidarity with them—not just in a figurative sense, but quite concretely and literally. This makes every encounter with a suffering person an encounter with God.
People are not only hungry for food, but even more so for consideration and respect, for affection, and love. They are not only trapped behind walls, but especially in fears, bitterness, and guilt. It is not only those who do not have clothes who are naked, but above all the vulnerable, those who are wounded and humiliated.
You don’t have to be a saint to help here. Because the compassionate acts of mercy listed here are only calls for small, almost everyday deeds. And so the key here is: “Christ is present and revealed in the needy, and is waiting for our love.”
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