Mount Olivet Discourse -
Part 12
by Paul George
Matthew 25:1-13
There are a number of items that need to be addressed as we
move into Matthew 25, which affect how we should understand
Christ’s intent in chapter 24. One of the first issues that
should be recognized is that the parables and teachings in
Matthew 25 are a continuation of the previous chapter. Jesus
has not totally shifted gears and started speaking about
something totally new when He enters this section. This
means that these parables are related to Israel, not the
church, her first century rejection of His Messiahship, and
the coming spoken of here relates to the second coming and
judgment that will take place upon Christ's arrival.
Chapter 25 highlights that since the Jewish people missed
Messiah’s first coming because of unbelief and were judged
temporarily in a.d. 70, they need to be prepared for His
return so that they will escape judgment and enter into the
millennial kingdom. Jesus said that following His return the
nation would be brought under judgment (Matthew 25:1- 30).
Jesus used two parables to teach that the gathering of the
nation will be to determine who is saved and who is unsaved.
The purpose of this judgment will be to exclude the unsaved
from, and to received the saved into, the kingdom that He
will establish following His Second Advent. Jesus
accomplishes His goal as He continues presenting parabolic
lessons and teachings about judgment upon His return.
Matthew 25 can be broken down into the following three
sections: First, the parable of the ten virgins (25:1- 13),
second, the parables of the talents (25:14- 30), and third,
the judgment of the Gentiles (25:31- 46).
These parables are designed to teach the imminent return of
Christ. It could be very soon, or it could be a long time
away. However, either way, we need to go ahead and live our
lives but stay prepared. We need to live and work as if the
master is going to be back any minute.
In all of Jesus' parables, He contrasts two or three people
with the same social status. How else is He going to create
tension and contrast? He always uses slaves and sons because
God is the Master of all. Slaves and sons are the natural
examples to represent this relationship between God and man.
The idea behind all these parables is that humans have an
equal opportunity to respond, some do, and some do not.
You must be aware that these are probably the most debated
parables in the Bible. Many of the books and journal
articles and articles on the internet claim all the
characters in these parables were believers. Instead of
seeing that these are parables about salvation, they see
them as parables about rewards or loss of rewards.
In Matthew 24:36 Jesus begins to answer the question of when
He will be returning. It will be just like in Noah's day
when people did not believe Noah and were surprised when it
started raining. In the same way, even when people are in
the tribulation, experiencing the wrath of God, many are
still not going to believe, when Jesus said, "two will be in
the field, and one will be taken” (Matthew 24:40) the one
taken will be taken to the wedding feast. The thief that
comes at night (Matthew 24:43) comes to judge the
unbelieving. The head of the house did not believe the thief
was coming and was not prepared when he came.
In Matthew 24:45-51 and Luke 12:41-48 the master, Jesus,
puts a faithful slave in charge of his household and goes
away, Jesus’ ascension. Jesus said, when the master returns
and he finds the slave faithfully performing the duties the
master has given, the master will put the slave in charge of
all his possessions (Matthew 24:47). Verse 48 is an
obstacle. Some interpreters drag in a second slave. The
slave in verse 48 is not the same slave in verse 45. Why
would the master give two slaves the same responsibility?
Why would the master leave an evil slave in charge of his
household? While the master was present, the slave won the
confidence of his master.
One of the greatest dangers in positions of authority or
responsibility is the abuse of the position. Remember two
important facts; Jesus has predicted the trend in
Christianity in the parables recorded in Matthew 13. He is
also setting the stage for the presentation of the parables
in Matthew 25. In Matthew 21:28-31 Jesus compares two sons
and their reaction to the father telling them to go work in
the vineyard. In the parable of the faithful slave, Jesus is
pointing out conditions that will exist during His absence.
We may not like to admit it, but we have witnessed those who
have slipped from the position of a faithful servant in
Christianity to the position of an evil servant just as this
faithful servant did in the parable of the wise slave
(Matthew 24:45-51). The idea behind the parable of the two
sons and the slave in the parable of the wise slave is that
humans have an equal opportunity to respond, believe, do
something or do not do something, here's what's going to
happen to them: First, the faithful will be rewarded.
Second, if he does not remain faithful he will be cut in
pieces and assigned in the place where there will weeping
and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:51).
This represents a universal principle. If a person does not
really believe there is a God who will hold them accountable
when they die, they do not feel a need to “trust” in God or
obey His commandments. There are people who believe that
there is a God and He will hold them accountable, but they
do not want to change their lifestyle and figure they will
"get religion" later. This parable speaks to them too. You
never know when God will return or if you will die in a car
wreck tomorrow. We also see the result is a lifestyle that
is abusive and destructive.
Matthew 25 begins with Jesus making a comparison between the
kingdom of heaven and ten virgins. This is a much-debated
parable. No one can agree what anything means. Some say the
individuals in this parable are called virgins to emphasize
their purity and that this means all ten were true believers
in Christ. Others claim they represent the people in the
tribulation. The lamps represent knowledge because each
virgin had a lamp. This would equate to people having a
certain degree of knowledge about the Lord’s return, but for
five of them, that knowledge was just academic. Others
believe the lamps represent works that are the believer's
"light" or testimony to the world. The oil is the source of
the light therefore, it was essential that they have an
adequate supply of oil; otherwise, their light would go out.
So what does the oil represent? Some claim the Holy Spirit.
This answer is rejected because the Holy Spirit is a gift
and cannot be bought the instructions to go and buy some
more would make no sense at all in the case of the Holy
Spirit. Some say it is works since the oil is only important
when it is set on fire, in other words when it is giving
light. The symbol of light rather than oil helps us because
then we realize that Jesus is talking about the good works
of the believer that he/she does before men, which
constitutes them the light of the world. Since you cannot
buy works this does not seem to be the right answer. Others
say it is faith. Since you cannot buy faith this does not
seem like the right answer.
What do you think?
Since Jesus has been talking about the sign of His coming
and He uses the phrase “the kingdom of heaven is like” (v.
1), He is referring to the time prior to His return to
earth. He is comparing those who will be prepared for His
return and those who will not be prepared. Five are
prepared, have their own oil. Five are unprepared, could not
borrow oil, the symbolism is that you cannot get into heaven
with someone else’s faith. Do you think the oil represents
salvation? The five left outside, never made it into the
banquet hall. Once the door was closed, it was too late to
enter.
Where the last parable taught that the Lord could return
sooner than expected, this one teaches that there may be
quite a delay before the Lord returns. We know that in fact
there has been. It has been almost 2,000 years so far. Both
the wise and foolish virgins slept. However, they are not
condemned for it. Perhaps the point is that we need to go
ahead and live our lives. Not sell everything and go wait on
the mountaintop for the Lord's return.
The main point of the parable is that even if it might be a
long time before the Lord returns, do not wait until the
last minute to get prepared, because you never know when
that last minute will be and you may miss out.
Another kingdom of heaven parable is Matthew 25:14-30. Some
try to say this is different because 25:14 does not say
“kingdom,” but “it,” what else are you going to link the
“it” to?
The big debate involved in this parable is whether the
slaves represent saved people or not. Some try to argue that
since they were all slaves, they were all saved. But, there
is a big contrast going on between the first two slaves and
the third slave. The third slave did not know the master. He
thought he understood what was required of him, but he was
wrong. Maybe it is like the person who thinks he will get
into heaven for being mostly good.
When confronted by the master, this wicked slave argued
belligerently and attempted to make his laziness a necessity
and a virtue. By defaming the master, portraying him as one
who enriched himself by exploiting others, he attempted to
excuse his own actions. This man seems to have given in to
some cunning reasoning. It is much like the thinking of
Judas Iscariot when he sold his Lord. Judas reasoned, if He
is really the Messiah, my betrayal will not hurt anything
and I will get my money from the High Priest. If He is not
the Messiah, then at least I get the money. This one-talent
man reasoned somewhat the same way. His lord was going on a
far journey. If the servant put the money in the bank, he
would have to register it in his lord’s name. Then when his
lord did not come back, his heirs could claim it. He
reasoned, however, that if be buried it in the backyard,
there would be no record. If his master did not come back,
the servant would have it for himself. If he does come back,
he could not accuse him of dishonesty because he could
produce the talent.
The description of the servant’s attitude suggests something
qualitatively different from the other two servants found
faithful. There is a definite contrast going on here. The
works are indicative of the relationship with the master.
The third slave had no works, that in the gospels is the
same as having no faith.
In Matthew 25:31-46 we see the Son of Man coming in glory
with his angels. This is the second coming, not the rapture.
Seated on His throne we see all the nations gathered around
Him and He separates them as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats (vv. 31-33). The rejection of the goats was
not based on what they did, but on what they failed to do.
God abhors not simply the performing of sinful acts but also
the omission of deeds. Failure to do good is in fact to do
evil. In addition the gift of grace (Matthew 20:1–16) has to
be reconciled with the role of works. The works are the
fruit that demonstrates the reality of the conversion of
one’s heart, the love shown by these deeds of mercy springs
from true faith. While works are not the ground of
justification for salvation, they can be the fruit or
evidence of it.
In each parable, the judgment occurs at the consummation of
this age. While the timing of that event is unknown, each
follower is to be ready for and anticipate the coming
kingdom. The judgment will render decisions that are eternal
in nature, reflecting the status of each human being with
regard to his or her eternal relationship to the kingdom.
Phrases such as “the darkness outside,” the “fiery furnace,”
and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” describe eternal
separation from the kingdom. They are not simply expressions
of grief over a Christian life that did not count for much
in the kingdom, for they are figures and phrases
representing an eternal exclusion from the presence of God.
With this in view, it has been suggested that salvation in
these parables is viewed as a “whole,” not simply as a point
of entry. There is no room for purgatory, universalism, or a
view that some may miss the heavenly “banquet” while yet
retaining a right to entry into the kingdom. Those who are
rejected are permanently excluded. The basis for this
eternal judgment is the individual’s works. In some cases,
the emphasis is on faithfulness to a job assigned: perhaps
in a picture of preparation for an event, or a picture of
the fruit of the believer.
Works are not separated from the faith one exercises for
entrance to the kingdom for works are evidence of that
faith. A true change of heart will be reflected in a
person’s life. A lack of that change is apparently enough to
prevent entrance into the eschatological kingdom. The goats
are prohibited from entrance because of their actions while
the sheep are given entrance because of their works; but
works are never ultimately separated from the faith of the
individual, for it was also shown that works are not in
themselves enough to impress the Son of Man positively in
His role as judge (Matthew 7:21–23).
Paul wrote with different emphasis in mind, focusing clearly
on the entrance requirements into salvation, namely,
justification by faith. While the Gospels support the role
of faith in establishing one’s relationship with God,
usually in phrases such as “repent and believe the gospel,”
they tend to emphasize the whole life of faith for the
believer. In other words, the life of a follower of Jesus is
to be a constant exercise of faith in order to obey and
please God. Paul clearly recognized this same truth, for he
knew that works, the burden of Galatians, could not perfect
something started by faith.
These parables are designed to teach the imminent return of
Christ. It could be very soon, or it could be a long time
away. However, either way, we need to be prepared. We need
to live and work like the master is going to be back any
minute because we are going to be rewarded for how hard we
worked while he was gone.
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