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25:1-13
The parable of the ten virgins
Jesus then told a parable to help Christians realise how important it is
to keep alert. The timing of the parable is the end of the Age, and the theme is
that Christians must be ready for Jesus when he comes or else they will miss out
on some great reward.
(In Jesus' day, a marriage usually took place this way. The bridegroom
would put on festive clothes, and place a handsome turban on his head, and a
nuptial crown, then he would set forth from his house and walk through the
streets to the home of the bride. On the way he would be accompanied by his
groomsmen (companions), and ahead of him would go musicians and or singers. The
procession would be a loud, happy thing.
(When he reached the bride's house, she and her maidens would come to
meet him, and then they would all go back to the bridegrooms' house, or the
house of his parents. On the way there, they would be joined by maidens, friends
of the happy couple, and others.
(Having reached the house, a feast would begin, to which all were
invited. All guests would be given special clothes to wear, and the feasting
might go on for several days. Eventually the bridegroom and his bride would go
to the bridal chamber to complete the marriage.)
"The kingdom of God" said Jesus, "Is like an invitation to
a marriage, and the people who are called to it are like the maidens, who wait
for the bridegroom. Some of these maidens are wise, and some are foolish.
"The wise maidens have plenty of oil in their lamps, but the foolish
maidens have only a small amount.
"The bridegroom is expected some time in the evening, but he is very
late - in fact, he doesn't come until midnight! By this time all the maidens are
asleep.
"Wake up!" comes the call, "The bridegroom is on his
way!" is coming!"
The wise maidens, who have plenty of oil, trim their lamps and prepare to
meet the bridegroom, but the foolish maidens find themselves in the dark. They
try to raise a flame on their lamps, but their oil is gone.
"Give us some of your oil!" they cry.
"No!" say the wise maidens, "You will have to buy some of
your own!"
So away go the foolish maidens, to buy some oil, but by the time they get
back, the whole procession has gone. They run after it, through the streets, and
come to the door of the house where the feast has already started.
"Lord lord! Let us in!" they shout.
But when the bridegroom opens the door he is not willing to let them in.
"Go away" he says, "I don't know who you are!"
(Of the many lessons and applications which can be drawn from this
parable, two major lessons stand out : 1. When Jesus comes back, not everyone
who calls themselves a Christian will be welcomed into His Kingdom, and 2. The
tome of His return will seem to be delayed.)
25:14-30
The parable of the talents
Having shown to his disciples that his return would be largely
unexpected, Jesus told another parable to show how Christians ought to use
whatever they have and do their best with their assets and talents.
"This is what being a citizen of my kingdom is like" said
Jesus, "It is like being a servant for a wealthy man. One day this man
decides to go for a trip, so he calls his servants to him and gives each of them
certain responsibilities, in proportion to each servant's abilities. To the very
intelligent servants he gives more, and to the less able he gives less, so in a
sense, each servant receives as much as he or she can cope with.
"Some of the servants make use of what they have been given. They
trade, and buy, and sell, and they increase in wealth and ability.
"But one of the servants does nothing with what he has been given.
Instead, he simply buries it and waits for the Master to come home.
"After a long, long time, the Master returns. He lines the servants
up and starts to go through them, one by one, finding out what they have done
with what they were given. He is very pleased to see that most of the servants
have made an increase, and he rewards them in proportion to what they have done
- but then he comes to the servant who buried his share.
"Master" says the servant, "I know what a hard, scrooge of
a man you are - miserly and penny-pinching! I was scared you would be angry if I
lost money on any deals I did . . . so I hid what you gave me, and now look, I
have dug it up again. Here it is, exactly the same as when you gave it to
me!"
The Master was furious!
"Hard?" he said, "Scrooge of a man? Penny-pinching! How
dare you call me those names! You, servant, are a wicked man! You were too lazy
to get off your chuff and do some work! You might have stuck the money in the
bank and got a little interest on it, but you couldn't even do that!"
"The servant was ashamed.
"Take the money off him!" said the Master, "And share it
with the servants who actually did something with what I gave them!"
"When this was done, the Master ordered that the useless servant be
dragged away and thrown into another country to live as an exile.
"Do you see how things work in God's kingdom? Those who do something
with what God gives them will increase, but those who are lazy will lose
whatever they have. It will be a sad time for lazy Christians, but a happy time
for those who have done their best."
25:31-46
The parable of the sheep and goats
There are two main areas of Judgement.
One of them is for Christians. This is called the judgement seat of
Christ, and it will entail rewards not punishments, because all Christians have
come clear of judgement thanks to the finished work on the Cross. At this seat
of judgement Jesus will pass out various rewards in proportion to each
individual Christian's words, thoughts and actions - what they did with what
they got in the time they were allotted to live. (Rom.14:10,1Cor.3:11-15,
2Cor.5:9,10)
The other area of judgement
concerns the nations. While the Church enjoys glorious immortality, there will
be another type of human, which will be fully redeemed as part of restored
Creation, but not the same as the Church.
"When I return" said Jesus, "I will come with all the holy
(obedient and holy - as opposed to Satan's followers) angels. I will return to
this earth and take up a position of judgement, then I will begin to sort out
all the many nations.
"I will separate one nation from another - in much the same way as a
shepherd separates sheep from goats - until all the many different nations have
been placed into one of two groups.
"The two groups will consist of either those who are acceptable as
potential citizens in God's Kingdom, and those who are not. I will be like a
shepherd driving sheep into one pen, and goats into another. Some will be
suitable for one pen, and some for the other.
"The distinguishing characteristics of those who will be deemed
acceptable will be their humanitarian aid to those less fortunate than
themselves.
"The acceptable nations will be those who gave me food when I was
hungry, water when I was thirsty, homes when I was homeless, clothes when I was
too poor to buy them, medicine when I was sick, and company when I was all alone
in prison.
"Some of the acceptable nations, who were not openly Christian, will
be surprised when they hear the criterion for inclusion in God's kingdom.
"When did we do all these things to you?" they will ask.
"When you showed love and compassion to the people of my kingdom,
you were really showing it to me."
"On the other hand, the unacceptable nations will be surprised for
the same reasons, and I will have to explain to them that they are not being
included in God's Kingdom because they failed to show love and compassion to the
people of my kingdom. These nations, the goats who tried to mix themselves with
the sheep, will be sorted out and sent off to the abattoir.
This parable does not teach that a person can be saved by doing good
works. It is a national parable, with national implications. It seems clear that
when Jesus returns, there will be a special class of people alive at the time.
They will see Jesus come, but they will not have time to live for him, or walk
by faith. Many of them will repent and desire fervently to be included in the
glorious Church, but, like the foolish maidens, they will not be ready, and so
they will miss out on the Marriage Feast. But they will not be destroyed either.
These millions and millions of people will have an opportunity to live under
Kingdom rule, but in a lesser state. This is how I see it anyway.
There have been many 'goat' nations through history, whose cruelty and
lack of compassion has made them infamous. The Assyrians, Medes, Persians,
Babylonians, Romans, Edomites, Germans, France, Russians, Chinese, and so on,
with massacres, pogroms, Secret Police, KGB, Nazis, holocausts . . . Although
there are always 'good' (sheep), people mixed into all earthly kingdoms
the outstanding, and general opinion is one of cruelty and lack of
humanitarian aid to others. The sheep and goats parable is national in
perspective, so its interpretation must also be national.
(As to the inference that God deals with nations as whole entities, the
Old Testament is full of similar examples - Is.10:12-19, 47:5-15, Ez.25:6,7.
Amos 1:3-13, 2:1-6. Obad.10, Zech.14:1-5.)