Matthew 24-26
As I was reading my Bible, God drew my
attention to Matthew 25. In particular, He drew me to look at the parable of
the 10 virgins. I learned from this passage many times in my life, so I thought
I understood it. In Bible training, my teachers taught me to look at the
passage being studied in context with the rest of the chapter, not in
isolation, so I read the rest of the chapter. Matthew 25 tells us three parables:
the 10 virgins, the servants and the talents, and the sheep and the goats. My
mind queried that there must be something Jesus taught the people before using
these parables, because parables are used to help get a message across in a
story fashion. So, I looked back at Matthew 24. In Matthew 24, Jesus taught the
disciples concerning the end times. The parables of chapter 25 are stories to
help learn a lesson regarding the end times. I then recalled that after these
parables, Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover meal before His betrayal (Matthew
26:17-29, Mark 14:12-21, and Luke 22:7-23). My questions then are: 1) what do
the three parables in Matthew 25 have to do with the time of Jesus’ telling, 2)
with the future of Jesus’ second coming, and 3) with us today.
Let us look at this closer. The parable of
the ten virgins tells us of10 young women who went to wait for the bridegroom
at the place of the wedding. They were to be part of the party celebrating the
bridegroom’s arrival. The groom did not arrive as soon as they expected and so
they had to wait. The virgins waited so long that they slept part of the time.
They awoke with a start when they heard the groom had arrived and the
celebrations were to begin. Five of the virgins had prepared well and brought
extra oil for their lamps. Five of the virgins did not prepare for the potential
long wait for the groom. This parable tells us that we should not be caught
unaware, but always be prepared for Jesus return to earth because we do not know
when He is coming. The lesson of this parable is about being prepared. Many
people claim to be followers of Jesus, yet they do not prepare themselves for
His return. They easily followed Jesus when first introduced to Him, but then
grew lax and perhaps did not grow further in their relationship with Him. These
unprepared five virgins stand for those who at first claimed to follow Jesus
because of the emotion and momentum of the moment, but were not really in a
relationship with Him. They did not have a true faith in Him as the Son of God
who provides salvation. They did not pursue Him, grow in faith, and have a
relationship with Him. These five virgins’ lax belief led them to not prepare
themselves to grow deeper in relationship with Jesus. They were unprepared for
Bridegroom’s return (Jesus’ second coming). The bridegroom disowned them
because he did not recognize them. The gist of this parable is about being prepared
for Jesus’ return at any time. If you are not a true follower of Jesus, you
will be caught off-guard when He returns to take His followers to heaven. You
cannot prepare for His return if you are not His follower.
This parable supplements Jesus’ teaching in
Matthew 24 verses 12-13, 39, 42, and 44. Jesus told the disciples that because
of increased lawlessness, people’s love of Him will grow cold and they will
fall away. He reminded them that in the time of Noah many people chose not
believe until the flood came then they drowned. Jesus told them it would be the
same with the return of the “Son of Man.” Jesus spoke in terms for their time. He
also spoke concerning preparation for the Passover in the upper room (Matthew
26). He sent disciples to prepare a room for the Passover. They did not fathom
that Jesus would transform the Passover’s meaning. The disciples did not know this
Passover was His last meal with them before His arrest and crucifixion. Jesus
prepared the way for them to hear of the new Passover, Jesus as the sheep who would
die to remove all their sins forever. In the actions of sending the disciples to
Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover, Jesus began preparations for telling the
disciples of the new meaning of what they called Passover. Preparation is the
key to this parable and is a key to being a follower of Jesus. No one knows the
time of His return, but He will return. We cannot say that we will make a
decision later regarding following Christ, because we do not apperceive when He
will return, just as the 10 virgins did not apprehend when the bridegroom
(analogy for Christ) would arrive. Each of us must be prepared and preparation
requires deciding to follow Jesus, allowing our faith to show in actions, and
growing in our relationship with Him.
The second parable in Matthew 25 concerns the
three servants to whom the master gave talents (money) to manage while the he was
away. The first two servants kept the master’s money safe and grew it so that
when the master returned they could return the original money with added coins
(growth). They worked for the master to his benefit in his absence. The master
rewarded them with more talents and power in his kingdom. The master gave the third
servant one talent. He was a beginner in the master’s trust and training
program. Because the servant was afraid of losing the money, he hid it in the
ground. The servant did not invest the talent and let it grow. The talent did
not grow as the talents of the other two servants did. This servant did nothing
to make growth occur. He did not believe in himself. He did not pursue growth
by learning how to make the talent grow and doing it. The servant was more
afraid than concerned of gaining the master’s approval. His fear kept him from doing
learning and growing. The servant allowed his fear, which comes from Satan, to
make him stale and become like the barren fig tree, which Jesus cursed. Did the
servant follow the ways his mater taught him? Did he commit to grow to be more like
his master? Did the servant take care of the master’s household, which included
the master’s people, all other assets? His life did not show confidence in his
relationship with his master, confidence in himself, and actions of faith by
investing the talent. The master rejected this servant as a faithful servant
and threw him out of his kingdom. The key word for this parable is doing, not
that you can earn your salvation. You must choose to believe and trust in the
master and choose to grow in your relationship with him.
Matthew 24 speaks to this parable. It says in
verses 45-46, “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put
in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed
is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.” The slave in
Matthew 24 is busy doing for the master to others. This slave made sure he fed everyone
and grew more like the master. He ensured the master’s household ran well. The
third servant in the parable did not do that. That servant had not grown to be
trustworthy or mature. His fear, which he held to and came from Satan, stunted
his faith and growth. We see this on the day of Passover with Jesus and the
disciples in Matthew 26. Judas chose to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16, 21-25).
Judas feared not having money and being tortured, as Christ said His disciples would
be (Matthew 24:9-10). Judas did not choose to follow Jesus with his whole life,
but chose what was easiest for himself. We can choose to follow Jesus. We also
choose whether to grow to be more like Him and to act out our faith to others
by showing Jesus’ care and love for people. Jesus told the disciples when they give
food, drink, clothes, shelter or visit the sick and those imprisoned, they are
doing it also for Him (Matthew25:43-46). We each choose to follow Jesus and to
enact our faith in Him with love for others.
The final parable Jesus taught to His
disciples in Matthew 25 concerns the separating of the sheep and goats in the
flock. This parable concerns following Jesus with your whole being, not just
lip service. Both sheep and goats say “baa” but not all of them are sheep
(analogy for Christ followers). Upon looking at their deeds, growth, and
hearts, Jesus determined the true followers (sheep) and the goats (analogy for
non-followers of Christ). He condemned the goats to eternal punishment (Matthew
25:46). What makes a person a sheep in God’s flock and not a goat? Jesus told
them if they fed, offered drink, clothed, and housed unfortunate people and
visited the sick and imprisoned, they were His true followers. By doing these
things, they did them to Him. In this parable, Jesus spoke of true followers
and what made a person a true follower. True followers enact Jesus’ love toward
other people. To do this, they must be in a close relationship with Jesus so
that the love He gave them flows out in actions of love to other people. It shows
itself in the follower’s growth to be more Christlike, too. This parable deals with
following Christ.
In Matthew 24, Jesus’ teaching in verses
48-51 tells us that if the servant beats others, takes all things for himself,
and becomes drunk with power and the master’s provisions, he is not a follower of
Jesus. He will receive punishment and be put with the other hypocrites,
separated from God forever. Jesus taught the disciples in chapter 24 that no
one knows the day or time of his second coming. Each disciple must follow
Christ devoutly whether He returns soon or later. If, when Jesus returns, He
finds his “servant” not acting with love toward others and instead finds him
drunk with power and greed, he is not a true follower of Jesus. We find this
same thing in chapter 26 before Jesus arrives at the upper room for Passover.
The chief priests and elders (hypocrites) plotted to arrest Jesus (Matthew 26:3-5).
They did not want the acclaim they earned as the most devout followers of Yahweh
to go to Jesus. His claiming to be the Messiah turned people away from looking
at them to Him. They wanted their favor restored to them and the way they
thought to do this was to arrest and rid them of Jesus forever. They never
claimed to be followers of Jesus, but they claimed to be followers of Yahweh. Judas
claimed to be a disciple of Jesus, but joined hands with the chief priests and
elders. He was a hypocrite and not a true follower. The key lesson in this
parable concerns whether a person is truly a follower of Jesus Christ.
Being a follower of Jesus encompasses each of
these elements – preparing, doing, and following. None can occur without the
other, but Jesus taught on each element separately so the disciples could
understand better each one. To become a follower Jesus means you must seek for
Him. Matthew said in chapter 7 verse 7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” Jesus makes Himself
available to us whenever we ask for Him. John the Baptist came to prepare the
way of the Lord so others would recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Old Testament
prophets prepared the way of the Lord, too. We must prepare ourselves and seek
for Jesus and He will make Himself to be visible for you. You also must prepare
yourself daily to continue to follow Him and to grow more like Him. You cannot
say one day you are a follower and later show no change in your life. This kind
of person is similar to the five foolish virgins who said they were followers,
but did not prepare themselves for His arrival.
Preparing ourselves also means doing. We
prepare ourselves to be a follower of Jesus by recognizing our sinfulness,
confessing our sins, and repenting. To repent means to turn 180 degrees away
from sin and turning to God. So we do confess and we do repent everyday so that
we stay in a close relationship with Jesus because God cannot be in the
presence of sin. Unconfessed sin builds a wall between God and us. Each sin
becomes a new brick in the wall between Him and us. As followers of Jesus, we do
for others as we want Jesus do for us (Matthew 7:12). Remember that from the
Lord’s Prayer? Jesus taught it, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40).
Following God is preparing yourself for being with Him each day and doing,
acting out His love to others. Just as Jesus came to release the captives, give
sight to the blind, set free the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord”
(Luke 7:18), His followers are to love others as He loved them by feeding,
clothing, and sheltering the poor, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and
telling the world of His love and salvation given. Being a follower of Jesus
means doing and preparing.
Lest anyone say he or she is a follower,
Jesus clarified who a follower is. A follower is one who watches for the Lord’s
coming. A follower is one who continues to act out the Lord’s love in them
toward others while they wait for the second coming of the Lord. Being ready
for the Lord means seeking and watching for His second coming and continuing to
do what He taught and commanded His disciples while He walked on earth before
His ascension to heaven. A faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant (follower) of
Jesus is one whom gives food and supplies to others at the proper time. The
servant is blessed when Jesus returns and finds him doing these things out of
love for Jesus and through the love Jesus put into him or herself toward other
people (Matthew 25:44-46). Doing is being ready within yourself for Christ’s
return and doing for others until He returns. This following then requires
preparing oneself to be with the Lord every day – praying, confessing, becoming
more Christlike – and doing – feeding, clothing, telling and teaching of Jesus
to others.
The five foolish virgins were not true
followers of Christ. The one foolish servant was not a true follower of Christ.
They lacked preparation and diligence to know, grow, and show Jesus within
their lives.
We each must decide if we are similar to the
foolish virgins, foolish servant, and goats. We must decide if we will seek after
God to know Him through His Son, Jesus. We must decide if we will prepare
ourselves daily to meet with God and grow more Christlike. Each of us must
decide whether we will live to serve others from the love Jesus put in our
hearts or be power-hungry and greedy. The latter is like the foolish servant
and the goats.
Will you seek for God? Will you allow Jesus
to speak to your heart, mind and soul? Will you accept His forgiveness and gift
of eternal life, which comes through His death and resurrection? The Jewish
Passover celebrated God’s Spirit passing over their houses (because they spread
lamb’s blood on the lintels of their doors as a sign of their belief in Yahweh)
when He was exacting His promise of condemnation against the Egyptians. It is a
celebration of God’s saving power. Jesus gave Passover a new meaning. Jesus is
the Lamb whose blood is spread over the doors of our lives (our hearts, minds,
and souls) so that God’s condemnation of death does not touch us because we are
true followers of the Messiah.
What do you choose to be – a true follower or
a foolish, unprepared, hypocritical servant? We each have a choice to make
every day whether we are a follower of Christ or not. The decision is ours to make
- follow Christ and grow more like Him or walk in our own ways with our own
foolish wisdom. What do you choose?
