Matthew 25

Matthew 25:1

H. Parable of the Ten Virgins (25:1-13) 25:1-5 The first word, Then, referring back to chapter 24, clearly places this parable in the time preceding and during the King’s return to earth. Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven at that time to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and had oil for their lamps; the others had none. While waiting, all fell asleep. The five wise virgins represent true disciples of Christ in the Tribulation. The lamps speak of profession, and oil is generally acknowledged to be a type of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins represent those who profess to hold the Messianic hope but who have never been converted and thus do not have the Holy Spirit. The bridegroom is Christ, the King; His delay symbolizes the period between His two Advents. The fact that all ten virgins slept shows that outwardly there was not much to differentiate them. 25:6 At midnight the announcement rang out that the bridegroom was coming. In the previous chapter we learned that His arrival will be heralded by awesome signs. 25:7-9 The virgins arose and trimmed their lampsall wanted to appear ready. The foolish ones, lacking oil, asked the others for some, but were sent to buy some. The wise ones’ refusal seems selfish, but in the spiritual realm, no one can dispense the Spirit to another. Of course, the Holy Spirit cannot be purchased, but the Bible does use the literary figure of buying salvation without money and without price. 25:10-12 While they were gone the bridegroom came. The Syriac and Vulgate versions say that he came with his bride. This fits the prophetic picture perfectly. The Lord Jesus will return from the wedding with His bride, the church (1Th_3:13). (The wedding takes place in heaven [Eph_5:27] after the Rapture.) The faithful remnant of Tribulation saints will go in with Him to the marriage feast. The marriage feast is a fitting designation of the joy and blessing of Christ’s earthly kingdom. The wise virgins went in with him to the wedding (or wedding feast, JND); and the door was closed. It was too late for anyone else to get into the kingdom. When the other virgins came seeking admittance, the bridegroom disavowed knowing thema clear proof that they had never been born again. 25:13 The lesson, Jesus said, was to watch, because the day and hour of His coming are unknown. Believers should live as if the Lord might come at any moment. Are our lamps trimmed and filled with oil?

Matthew 25:14

I. Parable of the Talents (25:14-30) 25:14-18 This parable also teaches that when the Lord returns, there will be true and false servants. The story revolves around a man who, before going on a long journey, assembled his own servants and gave to each varying amounts of money, according to his own ability. One got five talents, another got two, and the last, one. They were to use this money to bring income to the master. The man with five earned another five talents. The man with two doubled his also. But the man with one went and dug a hole and buried it. It is not difficult to see that Christ is the master and the long journey is the inter-advent period. The three servants are Israelites living during the Tribulation, responsible to represent the interests of the absent Lord. They are given responsibility according to their individual abilities. 25:19-23 After a long time the lord … came back and settled accounts with them. This depicts the Second Advent. The first two received exactly the same commendation: Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. The test of their service was not how much they earned, but how hard they tried. Each used his ability fully and earned one hundred percent. These represent true believers whose reward is to enjoy the blessings of the Messianic kingdom. 25:24, 25 The third servant had nothing but insults and excuses for his master. He accused him of being hard and unreasonable, reaping where he had not sown, and gathering where he had not scattered seed. He excused himself on the basis that, paralyzed with fear, he buried his talent. This servant was doubtless an unbeliever; no genuine servant would entertain such thoughts of his master. 25:26, 27 His lord rebuked him as wicked and lazy. Having such thoughts of his master, why hadn’t he deposited his money with the bankers to earn interest? Incidentally, in verse 26, the master is not agreeing with the charges against him. Rather he is saying, If that’s the kind of master you thought I am, all the more reason to have put the talent to work. Your words condemn, not excuse you.25:28, 29 If this man had earned one talent with his talent, he would have received the same commendation as the others. Instead, all he had to show for his life was a hole in the ground!

His talent was taken and given to the man with ten talents. This follows a fixed law in the spiritual realm: To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Those who desire to be used for God’s glory are given the means. The more they do, the more they are enabled to do for Him. Conversely, we lose what we don’t use. Atrophy is the reward of indolence. The mention of the bankers in verse 27 suggests that if we cannot use our possessions for the Lord, we should turn them over to others who can. The bankers in this case may be missionaries, Bible societies, Christian publishing houses, gospel radio programs, etc. In a world like ours, there is no excuse for leaving money idle. Pierson helpfully recommends: Timid souls, unfitted for bold and independent service in behalf of the kingdom, may link their incapacity to the capacity and sagacity of others who will make their gifts and possessions of use to the Master and His Church. … The steward has money, or it may be other gifts, that can be made of use, but he lacks faith and foresight, practical energy and wisdom. The Lord’s exchangers can show him how to get gain for the Master. . . .The Church partly exists that the strength of one member may help the weakness of another, and that by cooperation of all, the power of the least and weakest may be increased. 25:30 The unprofitable servant was cast outexcluded from the kingdom. He shared the anguished fate of the wicked. It was not his failure to invest the talent that condemned him; rather his lack of good works showed that he lacked saving faith.

Matthew 25:31

J. The King Judges the Nations (25:31-46) 25:31 This section describes the Judgment of the Nations, which is to be distinguished from the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Judgment of the Great White Throne. The Judgment Seat of Christ, a time of review and reward for believers only, takes place after the Rapture (Rom_14:10; 1Co_3:11-15; 2Co_5:9-10). The Judgment of the Great White Throne takes place in eternity, after the Millennium. The wicked dead will be judged and consigned to the Lake of Fire (Rev_20:11-15). The Judgment of the Nations, or Gentiles (the Greek word can mean either), takes place on earth after Christ comes to reign, as verse 31 clearly states: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him. If we are right in identifying it with Joel 3, the location is the Valley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem (Joe_3:2). The nations will be judged according to their treatment of Christ’s Jewish brethren during the Tribulation (Joe_3:1-2, Joe_3:12-14; Mat_25:31-46). 25:32 It is important to notice that three classes are mentionedsheep, goats, and Christ’s brethren. The first two classes, over whom Christ sits in judgment, are Gentiles living during the Tribulation. The third class is Christ’s faithful Jewish brethren who refuse to deny His Name during the Tribulation in spite of towering persecution. 25:33-40 The King places the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. He then invites the sheep to enter His glorious kingdom, prepared for them from the foundation of the world. The reason given is that they fed Him when hungry, gave Him drink when thirsty, welcomed Him when a stranger, clothed Him when ill-clad, visited Him in sickness, and went to Him in prison. The righteous sheep profess ignorance of ever showing such kindnesses to the King; He had not even been on earth in their generation. He explains that in befriending one of the least of His brethren, they befriended Him. Whatever is done for one of His disciples is rewarded as being done to Himself. 25:41-45 The unrighteous goats are told to depart from Him into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels because they failed to care for Him during the terrible Time of Jacob’s Trouble. When they excuse themselves by saying they had never seen Him, He reminds them that their neglect of His followers constituted neglect of Himself. 25:46 Thus the goats go away into everlasting punishment, but the sheep into eternal life. But this raises two problems. First, the passage seems to teach that nations are saved or lost en masse. Second, the narrative creates the impression that the sheep are saved by good works, and the goats are condemned through failure to do good. As to the first difficulty, it must be remembered that God does deal with nations as such. OT history abounds with instances of nations punished because of their sin (Isa_10:12-19; Isa_47:5-15; Eze_25:6-7; Amo_1:3, Amo_1:6, Amo_1:9, Amo_1:11, Amo_1:13; Amo_2:1, Amo_2:4, Amo_2:6; Oba_1:10; Zec_14:1-5).

It is not unreasonable to believe that nations will continue to experience divine retribution. This does not mean that every single individual in the nation will be involved in the outcome, but that the principles of divine justice will be applied on a national, as well as an individual basis. The word ethne, translated nations in this passage, can equally well be translated Gentiles. Some believe the passage describes the judgment of individual Gentiles. Whether nations or individuals, there is the problem of how such a vast horde could be gathered before the Lord in Palestine. Perhaps it is best to think of representatives of the nations or individual classes assembled for judgment. As to the second problem, the passage cannot be used to teach salvation by works. The uniform testimony of the Bible is that salvation is by faith and not by works (Eph_2:8-9). But the Bible is just as emphatic in teaching that true faith produces good works. If there are no good works, it is an indication that the person was never saved. So we must understand that the Gentiles are not saved by befriending the Jewish remnant, but that this kindness reflects their love for the Lord. Three other points should be mentioned. First, the kingdom is said to have been prepared for the righteous from the foundation of the world (v. 34), whereas hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41). God’s desire is that men should be blessed; hell was not originally intended for the human race. But if people willfully refuse life, they necessarily choose death. The second point is that the Lord Jesus spoke of eternal (same word as everlasting) fire (v. 41), eternal punishment (v. 46), and eternal life (v. 46). The same One who taught eternal life taught eternal punishment. Since the same word for eternal is used to describe each, it is inconsistent to accept one without the other. If the word translated eternal does not mean everlasting, there is no word in the Greek language to convey the meaning. But we know that it does mean everlasting because it is used to describe the eternality of God (1Ti_1:17). Finally the Judgment of the Gentiles reminds us forcefully that Christ and His people are one; what affects them affects Him. We have vast potential for showing kindness to Him by showing kindness to