Matthew 25
McGeeCHAPTER 25THEME: Olivet Discourse continuedthe parable of the ten virgins, the talents, and the judgment of the gentile nationsThis chapter enlarges upon the answer of Jesus to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” (Mat_24:3). There is the parable of the ten virgins, which tests the genuineness of the faith of Israel; the parable of the talents, which tests the faithfulness of His servants; and the judgment of the gentile nations, which tests their right of admission into the Kingdom. This chapter shows the significance of the coming of Christ as it relates to these groups that shall then be in the world. A close analysis of each group will reveal that it can be stripped down to a personal attitude and relationship to Jesus Christ. The parable of the ten virgins is the basis for those who believe in what is known as the partial rapture, where only some will be taken out of the world. The “partial rapture” group is made up of very fine people. When I first became pastor in Nashville, Tennessee, there was a wonderful Bible class there, and they supported me in getting Bible conferences into Nashville. From the beginning, the class had been taught by a teacher who believed in a partial rapture. Candidly, I feel that the partial rapture theory ministers to spiritual snobbery. I never met one of that group who didn’t think that he was with the five wise virgins.
In fact, I have never in all my life met one who thought he was classed with the foolish virgins! I was a young preacher in those days, and as I worked with them I had the feeling that they were not sure that I was one of them. I suspected that they classified me as one of the foolish ones. I thank God that when the Rapture takes place, every believer is going out. And we won’t be going on the basis of merit. All of us will be leaving because of the grace of God. He saves us by grace; He keeps us by grace; He will take us out of this world by grace; and when we have been there for ten million years, it will be by the grace of God. The ten virgins do not refer to the church, they refer to the nation Israel. My friend, we need to let our Lord answer the questions of these men who were His apostles. They had asked Him the questions. If we try to make out that He is talking to us about something altogether different, it is as though we are interrupting Him. Let’s just listen and know that, although He is talking to someone else, we can make application of these wonderful parables to our own lives.
Matthew 25:1
PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINSTo better understand the customs in Israel during the New Testament period, we refer to the Peshitta, which is a Syriac version of the Bible. Although it is not a text to be recommended, it does shed light on some of the customs of the day. The Peshitta translation of the verse before us indicates that the virgins went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride, which means that the bridegroom is coming from the marriage to the marriage supper. It is my understanding that, although the marriage of Christ and the church takes place in heaven, the marriage supper takes place on this earth. A passage in the Gospel of Luke substantiates this. As our Lord is giving warnings and parables, He says, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately” (Luk_12:35-36).
You see, the wedding has taken place, and the bride is with him. Obviously, if he is coming from the wedding, the bride is with him; no man ever went on a honeymoon by himselfif he did, it wasn’t a honeymoon! So here in the parable of the ten virgins, Christ, pictured as the bridegroom, is bringing the bride with Him, and the believers on earth are waiting for Him to come. While the Great Tribulation has been going on upon the earth, Christ has been yonder in heaven with His bride, the church. Then at the conclusion of the seven years of Tribulation, He comes back to earth with the church. This, now, is the attitude toward His coming on the part of those on the earth
Matthew 25:2
Oil is symbolic of the Spirit of God. In that day I think there will be phonies as there were at His first coming. Jesus called them hypocrites. They will have lamps but no oil.
Matthew 25:5
Notice that both the wise and the foolish virgins slept. The difference in them was that some had the Holy Spirit (represented by the oil) and some did notbecause they were not genuine believers. Our Lord concludes this parable with a warning
Matthew 25:13
Notice that it is “the day nor the hour” rather than the century or the year, as it is from our perspective. The attitude for His own during this future period is to watch. That is the important thing for them to do.
Matthew 25:14
PARABLE OF THE TALENTSThis is another parable for that future generation that will be waiting for our Lord’s return to earth. Notice that the master gave to his servants responsibilities according to their individual abilities.
Matthew 25:16
Notice that the “talents” were sums of money. They do not represent talents in the sense of the natural endowments of a person such as a musical talent. The application to us is that whatever God has given to us, we are to use for Him.
Matthew 25:18
All were given a certain sum of money and told to use it profitably. But one buried the talent he had been given. He was not faithful to his master.
Matthew 25:19
The response of his master was this
Matthew 25:26
There is a great principle in this parable for us. And it was given in the light of the fact that all of usyou and I includedare going to have to stand in the presence of God and give an account of how we have used what He has given to us. The Lord is not going to ask us how much we have done for Him but how faithful we have been to that which He wanted us to do. For the child of God there are two important things: (1) Find out what God wants us to do; that is, determine what the talent is that He has given us, and then (2) be faithful in the use of it. To some of us God gives a very small ministry, and that may be upsetting to us; but if we are one-talent people, God expects us to be faithful with that.
Matthew 25:31
JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONSIn this chapter our Lord is alerting God’s people to the fact that we are to ready ourselves for His coming. This is certainly true in the next few verses. During the Tribulation period all nations will have the opportunity to hear and receive God’s message. The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached among all nations, we are told. But some will reject God’s messengers, Christ’s brethren, and thereby reject Christ. The polarization of all of the Olivet Discourse is moving toward the placing of Jesus Christ on the throne of this world. This is the message of the Gospel of Matthewin fact, it is the message of the entire Word of God. Now we will see that the nations will be judged. You may ask, “Doesn’t it mean individuals?” Yes, you can consider it as individuals composing the nations. But nations are responsible to God.
Matthew 25:32
“Nation"is the Greek word ethnos, we could say that it means ethnic groups.
Matthew 25:33
I do not know of an instance when God calls individuals goats. All human beings are called sheep. There are two kinds: lost sheep and saved sheep. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa_53:6). There are lost sheep and saved sheep, not sheep and goats. I believe that the goats represent groups of nations. Now notice what the test is
Matthew 25:34
The 144,000 Jews sealed at the time of the Great Tribulation will go out over the entire world to preach the message of the gospel of the Kingdom, which is to receive Christ as the sacrifice for their sins and to be ready for His immediate coming. Some nations will reject Christ. Antichrist will have God’s messengers butchered and slain, and anyone who would give them a cup of cold water will do so at the risk of his life. To hand out a cup of cold water has little value in our day, but in the Great Tribulation it will have tremendous value. It will mean taking a stand for Jesus Christ. The basis on which the nations will be judged is their acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ.
He says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"because the messengers were representing Him. That will be the way they evidence faith in the message that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and that they are to repent and turn to Christ to be saved. For those who reject, there is only judgment
Matthew 25:45
Entire nations will enter the millennial Kingdom. Out of these will be some individuals who will reject Christ. But the judgment of the nations at the second coming of Christ is to determine what nations are to enter the millennial Kingdom. This judgment is separate and distinct from all other judgments.