He Up and Left Us
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.”
(Matthew 25:15, NKJV)
Jesus, being divine, is always with us. Theologians refer to this as God being omnipresent and it should bring great comfort to you.
But…
On several occasions Jesus made it clear that it would be like He’s not here with us.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country…”
Feel that for a moment.
Jesus went away.
Physically, He is not here.
He said good-bye to His disciples and with them standing there, He simply departed and, as far as I can tell, He’s never physically sat foot on this planet again (Acts 1:9-11).
We work so hard to assure each other that Jesus is with us – and He said He would be (Matthew 28:20). But it is like a man traveling to a far country. Jesus went away to prepare a place for us (among other things) and in the meantime he “delivered his goods to us.”
Its like the President taking a diplomatic trip overseas. While he is gone he counts on his Vice President and Cabinet to handles things for him. In his capacity as President, its important that he represent the interest of the nation abroad, but the country has to carry on.
The same is true for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus is not our teddy bear or security blanket to bring us comfort when we feel stressed and alone. That picture of Jesus holding little lambs with angels hovering nearby that we hang in our baby’s bedroom is just that, a picture. We’ve got to be there for them.
If things are falling apart in our country, community, or church, we’ve got to step up. Jesus left things in our hands.
As the first generation of Christ followers stood gaping on that hill outside of Jerusalem after Jesus up and left them, two angels appear and asked, “Why are you standing here? Jesus is gone. One day He will return, but in the meantime, you have a job to do…best get to it. And the Holy Spirit will be with you.” (Kemp’s translation)
The ONE THING for today: So I ask you, why are you standing here? What are you waiting on? You have a job to do, best get to it, and the Holy Spirit will be with you.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
