Sunday 08 August 2010

Background

The first three verses of this passage round off a section inthe Gospel of Luke about where our treasure lies. Jesus asks whatour priorities are in life, both now and into the future, althoughwe can never be sure of what the future holds. The rest of thepassage puts this uncertainty into a Christian perspective. Jesustells us to be watchful, because you never know when the Son of Manwill come.

There is much debate about the meaning of this enigmatic phrase -Son of Man. Suggestions range from simply a mortal (hu)man to someimmortal being coming down from the heavenly clouds. It is the onetitle that Jesus may have used of himself, perhaps deliberately, toevoke the questions: Who is he and what is he doing?

Then there is the question of when will this Son of Man come. Therehave been plenty of prophecies - so far all false - about the endof the world, that take it to mean the end of life on this planet.But that will happen anyway, either when the sun dies or sooner, bya cosmic or environmental disaster of our own making, for which weDO need to be watchful.

The placing of this teaching here in the Gospel of Luke, comparedwith that of the Gospel of Matthew (where it comes near the end ofJesus' ministry - Matthew 24:43 - 25:13), suggests that Jesus maybe talking about the end of his own earthly ministry rather thanhis second coming at the end of time, however conceived. These twopossibilities are not alternatives. There is a link.

If we take the end of the world to mean not the death of theplanet, but the goal of worldly life, then the death andresurrection of Jesus announces that life is to be one ofself-giving love that overcomes all evil and destruction. It takesus right back to where we started - our priorities in life and whatwe treasure most - because both determine how we treat others, ourenvironment, ourselves. That is what we need to be watchfulabout.

To Ponder

What do you treasure? To what extent does it getin the way of your relationship with God?

What are the areas in your life that you need tokeep a watch on?