While we Wait

Good News and Good Works:
A Theology for
the Whole Gospel

Part of Christianity is a waiting game. We are waiting for Jesus to return. While we wait, what should we be doing? Matthew 25:1-13 begins to address this question. The two imperatives for us in this text are that we should make sure that we have enough oil and that Jesus knows us. What is the oil? Is it the oil of joy (Hebrews 1:9), the oil of healing (James 5:14) or the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16:13)? Certainly the Holy Spirit plays a central role in the life of any Christian. Luther believed it pictures faith. Does the end of the chapter provide an answer in context? It encourages good works of charity towards the hungry, thirsty, foreigners, unclothed, sick and imprisoned; the light of good deeds is sustained by the oil (Matthew 5:13-16).