Parables: BETTER A WOUNDED SPIRIT THAN ONE WITHOUT OIL – Matthew 25, LUKE 10

Luke 10 vs 2 starts with telling us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, We ought to ask the lord of harvest to send forth more laborers to the field.

Matthew 25 Addresses the experts of the law and what they ought to do.

WE (ALL SERVANTS) of God going from JERUSALEM (place of peace) to JERICHO (A place where the moon is the only light there, a place where the walls should fall). so when any of us are attacked by robbers ( the robber that doesn’t come by the door or door is a thief, trying to rob us of our peace, we know the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. ) stripped of our clothes and beaten and taken away, leaving him/her half dead (hanging by half life and half death in sin).

So the half dead (represents God’s servant wounded), WE will need a Samaritan, not a priest, a Levites to take pity on us. Most parables Jesus speaks of are about a servant he sends to get the produce of the vineyard( parable of the vineyards) and the tenants would beat them and mock them and some of them are even killed. (the state of Yahweh Servant on working for him, the prophets, his son and other servants).

Why am I drawing this inference you may ask. When the Samaritan saw the half dead man going from Jerusalem to Jericho, he put bandages on his wounds** poured OIL and wine***. Put this man on a donkey and bring him to an inn **** and take care of him and we are to do so to others. The Samaritan gives two denarii and asks the innkeeper to look after him, so any additional expenses he would reimburse the innkeeper and this is what we are as neighbor’s.

He talks about Bethsaida where miracles were done yet they did not repent, they did not put on sackcloth to ask for forgiveness from Elohim.

Then we go to the parable of the ten virgins as the time draws near the case of the Samaritan pouring oil and wine on wounds may not be possible here. why? The 5 foolish virgins asked the wise ones for their oil, because they had been slumbering and sleeping; and thus had no oil, but they did not give them but instead went with the bridegroom and the door closed.

The general thought to keep in mind is if one is wounded it is curable; however if one is sleeping and thus does not have oil, it is not satisfactory and so Jesus said with the parable of God where he gave two talent and two bags of gold, except the one with 1 talent who went to bury his talent, Jesus casts him off.

Jesus closed off by saying ” he was hungry and we gave something to eat, he was thirsty and we gave him something to drink, he was stranger, we invited him in (evangelism) & he needed clothe and we clothed him (the good Samaritan), was in prison and you came to visit him(Jesus), he was ill and he looked after him (the Samaritan). Whatever you did for the least one of our brother and sisters of yours, you did for me. The edict is clear is if all we could do is to look after those who are ill, clothe them and visit those in prison, feed hungry soul who thirst for righteousness; we should do so.

In Jeremiah 10: 19 “Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!” [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.] “My wound is incurable.” But I said, “Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine, And I must bear it.” As in Jesus so is Jeremiah, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53: 5, Jeremiah’s wounds were due to brokenness and it is incurable so he learned how to bear it as Jesus wounds were because of us. And thus he commands us to carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ Galatians 6:2. So, I was told I was building another man for another woman; and to this I say I am doing my fathers work. None of us and all of him. If all we can do is to put oil on the stranger’s wounds and take him to the innkeeper (JESUS), instead of leaving him half-dead, what would you do?

It is clear to me that as the days draws near no one will want to give out their oil to lazy people who are asleep, however would you overlook a wounded soldier?

Take home

We laugh about the 1 Kings 17:7-16, we talk about little oil from a monetary perspective mostly, but the state of the Zarephath woman is a spiritual state of not only from lack of money but inability to help oneself (a believer struggling with sin); as we know her husband was dead. Half of her was gone (as with the stranger in the Samaritan, he was half dead). She was at the place where if she gave her last bread and oil she would die. Many believers are in that spiritual state, not in a monetary perspective but a soul perspective and I ask if you would multiply the oil for the woman so she could come out of debt, would you pay your 2 denarii and bring oil, so you could get a stranger from a half dead state to life. If roles were exchange would we expect the same or differently. He doesn’t just bless the bread, brake the bread and give thanks for it, he blesses us, he breaks us so we can give thanks to him. He binds up wounds (internally), feed our hungry souls (soul we are blessed not just with bread but with the bread of life). Be an Elijah, Be a Samaritan today!

When we have a work to do
And the task ahead seems bigger than you
That’s when He steps in
When you know in your heart that God’s command
Takes more than can be done by man
That’s when He steps in
He sees you at the point of your need
He sees you at the point of crossing your Red Sea
In the moment you call
When you’ve given your all
He steps in, He steps in
And He’ll say

What’s that you have in your hand
I can use it, if you’re willing to lose it
Take the little you have and make it grand
I am El-Shaddai and I’ll more than supply your need

When all you have is oil in a jar
That’s a reflection of where you are
That’s when He steps in
A little boy’s lunch of fish and bread
Is all you have for the need ahead
That’s when He steps in

Let Him take it and bless it and break it and give it
He’ll multiply it in the moment you live it
And in the moment you call
When you’ve given your all
He steps in, He steps in
And He’ll say

What’s that you have in your hand
I can use it, if you’re willing to lose it
Take the little you have and make it grand
I am El-Shaddai and I’ll more than supply
I’ll supply
I will supply your need

El – Roi the God who sees, El Shaddai – The God who provides