Trade Till He Comes

The Lord who cleanses Israel, hears the righteous cry, and enters Jericho is one and the same. He is not indifferent to uncleanness, violence, or idle servants. In Leviticus, bodily impurity is treated with sobriety, not because flesh is evil, but because God teaches His people to fear defilement and to seek cleansing rather than make peace with corruption. As the Apostolic Constitutions say, “For, says He, Make the children of Israel pious. Leviticus 15:31” Piety is not careless living before a holy God.

In the psalm, the faithful man is surrounded by workers of iniquity and bloody men. He does not answer them with deceit of his own, but watches for God, who is his defense. So also in the Gospel: Zacchaeus does not remain what he was. He receives the Lord gladly, and his welcome is proved by restitution and almsgiving. Repentance is not a word only. The house that receives Christ must put away extortion.

Then the Lord speaks of the minas. What He gives is not for burial but for labor. Tatian preserves His charge plainly: “Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and gave them ten shares, and said to 39 them, Trade till the time of my coming.” The servant is judged not only for open rebellion, but for fruitless negligence. And the enemies who refuse His reign do not escape His judgment.

Therefore let a man cleanse what is unclean, cry to God without taking up wickedness, and make gain with what the Lord has entrusted: mercy for the poor, truth on the tongue, restitution where he has wronged another, and steadfast obedience until the King returns.