Reading With the People of God #13 Nicene CreedSample

Focus of the month: Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Earnest Prayer of a Righteous Man

The kingdom of Israel is no more, and the ten tribes are scattered. The smaller kingdom of Judah, by the grace of God, had just survived an attempt at conquest by the aggressive Assyrians who were building an empire. The king of Judah, Hezekiah, was a man of faith and followed after David in his zeal for God and had purged Judah of all idolatry. Now Hezekiah was sick unto death.

The great prophet Isaiah, who would play a critical role in the monarch’s reign, came to Hezekiah with a dire message of imminent death, which spurred Hezekiah to earnest prayer. God, in His mercy, delayed Hezekiah’s death for fifteen years, even graciously giving him a miraculous sign to prove that healing was forthcoming.

This passage really focuses on the power of prayer. It’s recorded that Jonah, of Nineveh fame, said to the Lord, "I know that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." So God showed grace to Hezekiah.

Under the New Covenant, we have even greater access; our high priest and intercessor lives in Heaven at God’s right hand. In James 5:16, it says; The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. In Hebrews 4:16, we are invited to

Come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Prayer is a wonderful gift given to believers to approach our God in faith when we come in the name or our mediator and high priest, Jesus, and pray according to His will.

He’s Coming for You

In this passage, we have two parables given at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. It is said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Matthew recorded many of Jesus’ parables because they were steeped in the culture of the day and pointed to the principles of the new kingdom being established by Jesus among His followers.

In parables or allegories, we may see meaning in many of the details or understand that the meaning is not in the details but in the main point of the story. That is true in our passage of this first parable of the ten virgins; the details point to the social setting and move the story along, but there is a single point: When the bridegroom arrives, it is too late to prepare. The message is obvious: the time to prepare for meeting Jesus is now; no one in the parable said they didn’t know He was going to come for them. Jesus was about to leave this earth, but He promised to return. Some of us will go to Him before He comes for us; the point is to prepare now for that meeting.

The parable of the talents is also about the return of Jesus, seen as the master in this parable. A talent in Jesus’ day was the largest denomination of currency. It is interesting that our English word talent, which means special skills or abilities, is derived from this parable. Knowing this also adds insight into this allegory.

In this parable, those who claimed the master of this story as their own knew he had high standards and expectations; he would require accountability for their gifts when he saw them next. The third servant in our parable claimed to fail on the side of caution because he thought his master excessively demanding, so he did nothing. The master saw this servant not as cautious but slothful, wasting what had been given to him and making excuses based on the master's high standards, claiming it was the master who was at fault. This servant showed indifference to his master, a disregard for the opportunity given him. These last parables speak as a warning to those who assume they will be accepted into the kingdom just by virtue of who they are. Jesus warns they are in danger of finding the door locked to them and in the company of those perishing.

* Primer contributed by Jinet Troost