Matthew 25 begins with Jesus illustrating a lesson
we all need to take to heart be prepared always for the return of Christ! One
day we will all be held accountable for what we have or have not done on this
earth and we will not know the day of our reckoning so being prepared is very
important. Jesus uses three parables in this chapter the parable of the ten
virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and goats to
finish answering the disciple's questions from chapter 24.
Matthew 25:1
During this time period there were three things that happened in a Jewish
wedding:
1. a formal
agreement made by the fathers the engagement
2.the making of mutual promises one to the other the
betrothal 3.about a year
after the betrothal the bridegroom comes at an unexpected time for his bride
In this parable the engagement and betrothal have already
taken place and the bridesmaids (the ten virgins) are waiting for the time when the
bridegroom will come for his bride. There is no real significance to Jesus using
the number ten other than ten lamps were usually used at the coming of the
bridegroom.
Jesus
is not saying His coming will be just like a wedding day but that it
will be likened to one or in other words it will resemble one.
When we think of Christ returning for us we often look at it as a
marriage, Christ the bridegroom coming for his church the bride!
Virgins are looked upon as pure and holy and this is how Christ's
church should be, pure and holy! And as with the virgins waiting
for the bridegroom to come, not knowing the exact time, they would have
to always be ready and waiting for him; we are to be ready and waiting
for the return of Christ! And as it is said in this parable there
were ten virgins with lamps and the Scripture goes on to say:
Matthew
25:2-13 Five of the virgins were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones
took their lamps but forgot to bring oil; the wise ones took their lamps and
extra oil so they would be prepared. As they waited it was taking a long time
and they fell asleep and then a cry came out saying the bridegroom comes and
they awoke and trimmed their lamps and realizing that the lamps had burnt for
some time the five foolish asked for oil from the other five but did not receive
oil from them because they didn't want to run out themselves. So out they went to meet
the bridegroom while the others ran to buy oil. The bridegroom arrived and the
wise virgins met him and entered in with him. The foolish ones finally arrived
back with their oil and found the door shut. They called out “open the door for
us!” but the reply came back, “I tell you the truth, I don't know you!” I don't
know about you but that part where the “door is shut” really impacts me. This
is saying if you are not ready when Christ returns the door will be shut and He
will say “I tell you the truth, I don't know you!” In other words friends you
are not getting in; so a word to the wise and foolish, is be prepared
always!
The
five foolish virgins looked like they were prepared. They had
their lamps and they were even burning but they did not have enough to
keep them going till the bridegroom arrived. That is like many in
the church today they have their Bibles but they don't have knowledge
of what is in the Bible! They know it tells them things about how
to act and talk but they don't know where to find any of it or how to
use it. They look prepared but are not ready for the coming of
the bridegroom. Oil can be looked at as the Holy Spirit.
The five foolish we could say were lacking in the Holy Spirit.
Only the Holy Spirit can make us fully ready for the coming of our
Lord. You cannot be a true Believer without the Holy
Spirit. Romans 8:9 tells us if we do not have the Spirit of
Christ we are not His! The virgins all looked prepared but only
five of them had the fullness of Christ.
Many have the calling and outwardly
express that call and give appearance of living that call but not all of them
are full. The ten virgins all thought they had what was needed but only five
truly did. This means that some of us might think we are saved when really we
are not! I say this because when the five foolish came back they thought they
would be given entrance but the response came back, “I know you not,” and the
door stayed closed. Think on this, you might think you are saved but are you
really saved and filled with the fullness of Christ? If you are not sure then
do as Luke 11:13 says to do and ask the Father for the Holy Spirit He will give
it to you! The point of this parable is so very simple “BE READY!”
Matthew 25:14-15 Here begins the parable of the talents. In this
passage a talent is not an ability to do something but instead refers to a
monetary unit, although this parable does relate to our abilities also. The
talent spoken of here is worth between 1,200 to 2,500 dollars. What we need to
take from this is the servants were given different amounts of money according
to their individual abilities. One received five talents, one two talents, and
one received one talent. Even the single talent being worth up to 2,500 dollars
is not a small amount so each person was entrusted with what the master felt
they were able to care for. We can also see this as what God gives to us in
life such as skills, musical talents, teaching talents, etc. He will give to
each of us exactly what He feels we can manage. So after giving the talents to
the servants the master left on his journey.
Matthew 25:16-18 Once the
master had given the talents the servants went off and two of them put them to
good use doubling what had been entrusted to them. The other servant being
afraid of losing what he had hid the talent and gained nothing extra.
Matthew 25:19-23 Soon the master returned and went to the servants to
settle accounts with them. From the response given by the master to the
servants we see that the master simply wanted faithfulness and goodness from his
servants. The two that doubled the talents did so with joy desiring to please
their master and please him they did. In the next few verses we will see what
happens to the third servant.
Matthew 25:24-30 What we see in these
verses is what happens so often to Christians. They feel their position in life
or in the church etc., is not good enough or important enough or their abilities
to perform certain things is not up to par so they take on an attitude of “I'm
not good enough, important enough, or there's very little I can do.” And another
attitude that is taken by Christians and this is the one most often used is that
God didn't give me as much as He did Brother Billy so I'm not going to do
anything! If God gave you something He also gave you the ability to use what He
gave you. And if what He gave doesn't seem to be as great as what He gave some
one else, big deal, use what He gave you to the best of your ability and He will
give you more! The master knew his servants and he knew what they could and
could not do. We know this because the last servant spoke of him telling how he
reaped from places he didn't sow etc. so this tells us that the master was a
shrewd man and most shrewd people know all there is to know about those working
for them or dealing with them. So he knew what the third servant was capable of
handling yet the third servant didn't have enough confidence and respect in
himself to accomplish the task. What God wants from us is our heart, humble and
holy. Now this could have gone the other way with the one having the five
talents going and burying them the object for us is that when God gives us
something He expects us to do something with it. He doesn't want us going out
and hiding the talent He gave us.
Most sinners though feel that way when
they try to do things for the church or for God and it's for more than one
reason also. Sometimes the church leaders can make you feel inept. Most of the
time though it is because we look at what we have as not be as good as the next
guys. This causes us many times to look at God as being cruel or mean. When a
Christian makes an excuse or a sinner makes an excuse it's just a reason to sin
which in turn cheats them out of God's blessings and possibly others out of the
blessing they could have shared. The servant here made an excuse so he lost his
reward. When we are not walking with God the way we should we find excuses for
everything and never do we try to give God credit but instead we try to take
away or discredit God.
If we take this lesson from the parable of
talents to symbolize the gifts that God gives us to share with others we can
look at them as opportunities to witness for God. It is an opportunity to take
what God has given us and use it to further His kingdom. What is it that you
are doing with the talents that God has given you? If you don't use them you
will lose them. If you use them God will reward you abundantly. Where there is
no vision there is no future and the people will die!
Matthew 25:31-33
When the Son of man shall come refers to that last day when Christ will return
to separate the goats from the sheep. I believe this to be the meaning because
we see that all nations are gathered and there is the separation of the
righteous (sheep) and the wicked (goats) and the rewards spoken of and
punishments spoken of are eternal. And when Christ returns He will come in His
glory and honor as the King of the entire universe and He will sit at this
throne of glory. The sheep or righteous will be place on His right, which
signifies a place of honor and the goats or wicked will be on the left, which
signifies a place of dishonor.
Matthew 25:34-36 And now Jesus Himself
will say unto the people “come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” The
entire universe will now look upon the Majesty of the most high King of all
time. Jesus is calling unto the children of God, saying “come.” This is an
invitation to come and receive. And He says it is to receive what was prepared
for us from the creation of the world. While we walk this earth we are
joint-heirs with Christ and now when Christ returns we will receive our
inheritance and what a glorious one it will be. Jesus says that He was hungry
and we fed Him, we clothed Him, we ministered unto Him and visited Him even in
the prisons.
Matthew 25:37-39 In these next verses the righteous ones
ask of Jesus when did we feed You, clothe You, give You drink, and visit You in
prison. When did we do these things unto You? Matthew 25:40
Jesus then looks upon them and says by ministering unto others.
He said that whatever we did for others we did it unto Him. In
other words we saw the need and we ministered to that need. The
righteous ones didn't wait for them to come to them but instead they
went to them. They did it out of the goodness of their heart.
Matthew 25:41-43 Jesus then says to the ones on His left
“depart from you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and
his angels.” Those of us who have sought after the Lord here on earth will be
with Him in Heaven those that didn't will spend eternity in Hell. The
punishment they will receive is everlasting because they neglected
Christ.
Matthew 25:44-45 The evil ones will also cry out to the Lord
asking Him when did they see Him hungry, or thirsty, naked, or in prison and
Christ will answer to them in the same manner as he did to the righteous ones
saying, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do unto the least of these
you did not do unto me.” Neglecting the needs of God's children is neglecting
Christ.
Matthew 25:46 Christ finishes this passage by saying the cursed
or evil ones will depart into eternal punishment meaning it will be unending and
the righteous into eternal life meaning it will unending, one of sadness and
misery; one of joy and love. Which one is it that you choose?
Father help
us to see the truth of Your Word and to follow after Christ striving to do unto
others all that Christ would have us to do in Jesus name amen.
