On the precipice

After Luke 19:11-27

On the precipice

of the crack in time,

the moment when

nothing would be

the same again,

the moment 

at the juncture

of the before

and the after,

a price was

required, a toll

to cover the before.

Eyes focused 

on the after,

they would miss

the reality

of the moment,

they would see

the wrong thing,

at least for a time,

until after the cock

crowed,

until after the curtain

tore,

until after the stone

rolled,

until after the wound

was touched.

Photograph by Cristina Gottardi via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The story that wasn't

After Luke 19:11-27

A story about stewardship,

about faithfulness,

about investment,

turned out to be a story

about

something else.

A story about coins, ten coins,

given to ten servants,

one coin to each;

three servants questioned,

three servants responded,

three different results 

tied to the character 

of the servant. 

One returns ten.

One returns five.

One returned nothing.

Coins, and character.

The focus is (usually) the one

who returned nothing, but

there’s a context, overlooked:

listeners approaching Jerusalem,

listeners expecting a kingdom,

and in the story,

the people hate the man

over them, hate the man

handing out the coins,

reject the man 

handing out the coins.

To establish the kingdom,

the king must first be

rejected.

Photograph by Pina Messina via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The reasons for the story

After Luke 19:11-27

He told a story, a parable,

and for two reasons, it says

plainly, stated explicitly,

unusually, as if the reasons

were part of the story,

the parable

Because he was near to Jerusalem

Because they believed the kingdom

   was imminent

The story, overall, was arcing

to this point, events converging,

timings coinciding, and as

they near the city a sense

of crisis, of the climax arriving,

soon,

ready to burst open upon the world.

And it was, but it wasn’t,

it wasn’t the climax

they expected.

So he told a story instead,

a parable.

Photograph by Clint McCoy via Unsplash. Used with permission.