Today is known as “Silent Wednesday” as little is known of the events on this day in the Passion Week. We can surmise that the disciples would have been reflecting on Jesus’ teachings the day before, the last of which in Matthew’s account was “the parable of the sheep and the goats” (Matthew 25:31-46). Epiphanius the Latin offers this comment about eternal punishment and eternal life at the conclusion of this parable.
“You see, my beloved, there is no excuse for it. They knew what they had to do in this world. But greed and ill-will prevented them, so they laid up for themselves not treasures for the future but for the world of the dead. Neither were they condemned because of the active wrong they did, nor did the Lord say to them, Depart from me, you wicked, because you committed murder or adultery or theft. But instead: because I was hungry and thirsty in my servants, and you did not minister to me.”
Epiphanius the Latin (late fifth, early sixth century) in Interpretation of the Gospels 38 as recounted in Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures: Matthew 14-28, Vol. Ib, ed. Manlio Simonetti (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002) 228.
Epiphanius the Latin was likely the bishop of either Benevento, Italy or Seville, Spain during the era referred to as “the dark ages.” He got my attention with this expression: “the world of the dead.” With this exhortation, he is effectively saying: “You know what you need to do. Deploy yourselves and the resources in your care in obedience and you will take hold of life. Failure to do so is nothing more than hoarding them in the world of the dead, and this effectively demonstrates your disobedience and foreshadows your own doom.”
Times seem dark today too. Many are living for “the world of the dead.” Regardless of what everyone else is doing, let’s respond to this exhortation of Epiphanius and join the ranks of the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46. Reflect on the parable again, and let’s resolve together not to live for “the world of the dead” but in life after Lent let’s demonstrate our obedience through our deeds.