Matthew 25 continues the Olivet Discourse, which Jesus spoke to His disciples on the Mount of Olives just a few days before His death. The subject matter is the future, specifically the return of Jesus and the end of the age. Walking away from the temple grounds, Jesus’ disciples pointed out the majesty of the structure, and Jesus, thinking about His impending judgment on the hypocritical religious leaders, told them that not one stone would remain on another. The disciples ponder His remarks and asked for clarification when they got to their mountain retreat. Jesus addressed them with challenging words, and this address continues here with parables. The point is simple: Be ready. Don’t lose focus on the things of God, the work He has for you. Stay alert.
1) V1-13 – 1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ 12But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ 13Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Jesus has spoken about signs of the future, when the Son of Man would come on the clouds with His angels to gather the elect and bring judgment on the earth for the wickedness of the people. Now is elaborates with parables, telling His disciples what the kingdom of heaven will be like “at that time” (v1) with illustrations. The first parable is about the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom. In our culture, we may not be able to see the significance of this, but think of it this way: nobody at a wedding gets to eat cake until the bride and groom cut it. Sometimes, there is a lot that happens at a wedding before the bride and groom get around to cutting the cake. And I’m guilty at times of losing interest in the celebration, growing impatient while waiting on the cake to be cut. And in this parable, Jesus mentions an audience that was waiting; half of the audience was wise, and half was foolish, but they were all waiting.
The foolish waiters expected the cake to be cut any minute, and they didn’t expect a delay; the wise waiters seemed to expect the delay and were thus prepared for a delay. However, notice that both types “became drowsy and fell asleep” (v5). That’s just what I need to hear. Jesus doesn’t demand perfection in our waiting for His return in faithful obedience; it seems that the strong in faith and the weak, the wise and the foolish, all fall asleep and fail in their efforts. But the wise yearn for the groom to come, despite His delay, while the foolish lose interest in the groom when the delay grows too long. One author says, “God requires…one thing of us: He wants us to want the coming of His Kingdom more than we want anything else in this life… At the end of this age, when nothing of this world remains, if He finds that we want – from the core of our being – the Kingdom He intends to establish, then citizenship in that Kingdom is ours. But if He finds our eyes, our desires, and our affections fixed on the stuff that is passing away, then we are unworthy of His Kingdom, and His words to us will be, ‘I do not know you.’”
The midnight coming of the bridegroom awakens the waiting audience, but the foolish ones aren’t ready. As they make efforts to prepare anew, the groom enters the feast with the wise that remain ready despite their slumber, and then the foolish ones appear and the groom says, “I don’t know you.” It’s painful.
The author continues, “The oil that the foolish virgins found depleted when the bridegroom came is analogous to our desire for, belief in, and commitment to the eternal Life which God has promised. Many people will desire it; many will believe God’s promise; many will commit themselves to wait for its realization. But only a few will find their desire, their belief, and their commitment in ample supply. Time and the flame of the weary, mundane ordinariness of life will try to lick dry our desire for the Kingdom and our belief in God’s promise. For those of us who are foolish – in whom the desire does not run deep, the belief is not profound, and the commitment is only superficial and very fragile – our supply will soon run out. When the bridegroom comes, no longer do we really believe, no longer do we really want his Kingdom; long before, we had shifted our commitment to something else this world had to offer. But for those of us who are wise, our desire runs deep, our belief is profound and unshakable, and our commitment is more than superficial. So, our supply outlasts the bridegroom’s delay. Though he does not come, his delay does not consume our readiness. We remain ever ready to follow him; for still we desire, still we believe, and still we remain committed to that which He has promised.”
2) V14-30 – 14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Jesus tells the familiar Parable of the Talents to drive home the importance of readiness, where it seems to be a matter of stewardship. Luke 19 contains a similar parable, though told to a different audience at an earlier time, but there we are told the reason for the parable, and it seems to fit with both tales. Jesus tells this parable to correct the faulty expectation the people had that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. In other words, because we don’t know the day or hour of Christ’s return, we must keep watch as we live for the Lord. The pros and cons to such action are significant! One author says, “Faithful service led to increased responsibilities in the kingdom of heaven, and eternal joy in the presence of the Master, Jesus Christ. Unfaithful service led to condemnation, the removal of one’s stewardship, and an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth in outer darkness, away from the presence of our Lord.”
Are you progressing through this life with an eye on the things of God? Or are you mindlessly maneuvering in selfish pursuits, or striving in your own power to make ends meet consistently clueless to God’s sovereignty over all possessions and priorities and plans and purposes? I don’t think it’s important that the one talent fellow is the one that fails to exercise good stewardship. It appears to be not a matter of personal ability but rather a matter of the gain you achieve with what God grants you. And I don’t think Jesus is teaching that the wealthier individuals are going to be the more successful individuals. We can get caught up in that mentality in our culture, but these words are for every culture and every generation. Everyone will give an account, and that’s why Jesus says to store up treasures in heaven where it can’t be destroyed.
So, again, being ready for the Kingdom of God coming in its fullness with the return of Jesus means managing well all things that God has given you. Those of us who tend to be organizational, clean our rooms, and make our beds, might like to think of ourselves with pride here, because we see ourselves managing our little dominions reasonably well. Others of us who are less than organized neat-freaks might overlook the all-encompassing doctrine of stewardship, or see this as only limited to a particular part of our money, such as the tithe. Either way, we find ourselves seeking to justify ourselves by our actions, and that’s not the intention of the parable. Let’s show the Lord that we believe Him by our obedience, not in order to gain favor, but because He has already bestowed upon His favor. That’s stewardship, and that’s readiness.
The five-talent man was faithful with few things, so was the two-talent man. It’s not a measure of wealth; all of us have “few things” in comparison with what God can (and will) give. It’s a measure of faith. And the one who shows his faith by his stewardship receives the praise of “Well done, good and faithful servant! …Come and share in your master’s happiness!” That’s exciting! But woe to the one who is not ready, who does not exhibit faith by stewardship effort; that “servant” is called wicked and lazy. The master says that servant knew he “was a hard man.” In other words, those who don’t exercise true faith in genuine stewardship have no excuse. The master isn’t looking for perfection; we don’t have to double what we’re given; there’s no pressure to perform, or else. In fact, we should carefully assess the risk involved in our stewardship efforts, because that’s part of stewardship too! As the master said to the third servant, “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest” (v27). That interest may not have doubled the investment, but it still would have grown.
In the end the third servant is called “worthless,” and he is thrown “outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v30). Let’s face it; the third servant didn’t serve. And our master is the Creator God of the Universe, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who alone deserves to be served. Yet even He “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). And so we must follow Him in that effort in faith. He commands that we serve Him. And it may seem harsh that the punishment would be so severe. But one commentator adds his concluding remarks to this passage with an appropriate truth in this regard: “The slothful servant is sentenced to be deprived of his talent. This may be applied to the blessings of this life, but rather to the means of grace. Those who know not the day of their visitation, shall have the things that belong to their peace hid from their eyes. His doom is to be cast into outer darkness. It is a usual way of expressing the miseries of the damned in hell.”
V29 concludes this parable with a lesson: “Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” The same commentator says, “Let us not envy sinners, or covet any of their perishing possessions.” What we have then is stewardship, and we will be given “more,” even to having “an abundance.” That can’t compare with the “few things” in the parable, whether $10,000 or $1,000,000, whether one child or six, whether 35 years or 75 years. The abundance refers to being co-heirs with Christ of all things (2 Corinthians 1:5). But whoever does not have, speaking of a lack of evidence of saving faith, even what he has, which is nothing but worldly material possessions, will be taken away. Jesus says in John 6:27, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” That’s faith exhibited in stewardship.
3) V31-46 – 31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? 39When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’ 40The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ 41Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’ 44They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ 45He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ 46Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
So the Olivet Discourse wraps up with this final parable, the sheep and the goats, and it instructs how to serve the King, ironically by loving “the least of these.” In the previous parables of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus’ audience is urged to readiness for His coming in judgment. Here, He has come and the judgment is underway. We see the sorting of the sheep and goats taking place, with the people of all nations (literally “all Gentiles”) being placed on the right or left based on whether they exhibited the fruits of saving faith in service to the King, the Lord, who at that time will be seated on His throne in all the splendor of His heavenly glory, with angels all around. It’s easy for us to focus on how to determine who is among the sheep and who are the goats in our midst, but the point is not to examine others, but rather ourselves. And seeing the glory of Jesus demands reflection on our lack of glory. Jesus provides a remarkable image in this conclusion, and it’s pretty clear. If you are blessed by God the Father, then the Son will place you on His right and say to you, “Come… take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (v34). If that’s not a hint at the doctrines of election and predestination, then I don’t know what is. But isn’t it amazing! Your inheritance, as a blessed servant of God, is the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Now you, like the individual sheep in Jesus’ story here, might wonder, “Why me?” And that’s what we are supposed to wonder. Reflect on your life, o sheep, to see why you are included in that fold. It’s not because you have done good things or turned yourself from a goat to a sheep; rather, you’ve always been a sheep; God created you as His sheep, and as His sheep, you serve Him and His sheep. We might not even realize that we served the Lord, because we were exercising stewardship over His people, serving His people in love, at least one of those referred to as “the least of these” (v40). Have you fed the hungry? Given drink to the thirsty? Welcomed a stranger? Clothed the naked? Looked after the sick? Visited a prisoner? Even your own child? The King says to His people, “If you serve My people, then you are serving Me. My dominion is your dominion.” One commentator says, “All through their lives their genuine faith has been producing its inevitable fruit of good works. Unthinkingly, unconsciously, born of love for Jesus Christ, they have been responding to the pleas and the needs of those about them. They kept no records, expected no praise. For them it has been a glad privilege. They were unaware they were doing anything unusual, but found a real delight in meeting the needs of others. There was no hardship involved. They felt it was a continuing joy to be permitted to minister in Christ's name. But not one deed performed in that way has ever escaped the eye of their watching Lord. There is no need for Him to examine them. They had laid up abundant treasure in heaven.”
Skeptics will say that there are plenty of atheists and people of other religions besides Christianity who care for others out of love for them and/or their god(s). And their point is simply to suggest that Jesus is just teaching morality here. So what do we make of that claim in light of the King’s words to the goats on His left in Jesus’ wrap up parable?
Ultimately, it’s a matter of character. The Holy Spirit regenerates His sheep, so that they inevitably act, with increasing degrees of consistency, in an unforced compassionate manner. The goats, on the other hand, lack the character and motivation that God values in His sheep, and they, therefore, remain the goats that they have always been. Augustine says, “Essentially, there are two kinds of people, because there are two kinds of love. One is holy the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him.” In the same way, Jesus says there are two kinds of trees: good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. So here, there are sheep and there are goats. Again, the commentator says, “Good deeds that are not the unconscious, automatic response of a heart indwelt by Jesus Christ are not truly ‘good’ deeds. They are planned deeds, contrived, carefully performed for the public eye, or if in private, done in the hope that they will purchase some merit or favor before God. But God’s judgments take note only of the unconscious moments of our lives, the times when we are off guard, when we are unaware. It is then that we truly reveal ourselves. The test comes, not in our remembered actions, but in our unconscious reactions, our instinctive, unplanned responses.”
So what must we do? Jesus tells us in Luke 21:36, “Watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Then we, the righteous sheep in Christ our shepherd, “will go away to eternal life” (v46), but those who are not ready, those who fail to exercise stewardship as faux servants of God, those who lack the imputed perfect character of Christ as God’s Spirit-indwelled sheep, those who are the hypocritical goats, “they will go away to eternal punishment” (v46). Are you a sheep or a goat? Are you sure (2 Peter 1:3-15; Philippians 2:12-13)?
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