Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 -- John Karmelich
1.
My
title for Chapter 25 is, “Jesus the Judge”.
a)
Remember
that the purpose of Matthew’s Gospel is to present Jesus as the promised
Messiah (king) to Israel.
b)
We
think of a king as somebody who rules over a territory.
c)
In
the ancient world, the king is also the “Supreme Court” in judgment.
i)
We
get a clue of that in the Book of Acts.
Paul, as a Roman Citizen “appealed to Caesar” in his trials (Acts
25:11). This was the right of every
Roman Citizen to have his court case heard by the Emperor himself.
d)
Well,
Jesus role as “judge” is a little more serious than a civil or criminal judge.
i)
Jesus
role as “judge” is to determine eternal salvation.
ii)
Jesus,
not God the Father makes the determination of who spends eternity in heaven and
who spends eternity in hell.
iii)
“Moreover,
the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22, NIV)
2.
Chapter
25 focuses on 2 parables and a final description of judgment.
a)
The
first is (what I call), “The parable of the 10 virgins”. This is in Verses 1-13.
b)
The
second is… “The parable of the talents”.
This is in Verses 14-30.
c)
The
third is… “The judgment of the nations”.
This is in Verses 31-46.
d)
In
all three cases the focus is on the judgment.
3.
Chapter
25 continues the “Olivet Discourse”.
This is a two-chapter speech by Jesus.
a)
It
is given only a few days prior to the cross.
b)
The
main focus is in what happens when Jesus returns. Chapter 24 opens with the disciples asking about the “signs”
prior to Jesus’ second coming.
i)
Chapter
24 focuses on those signs.
ii)
Chapter
25 goes one step further:
a)
It
focuses on the events after those “signs”.
b)
It
focuses on what Jesus does after he returns to earth.
c)
In
summary, it is all about judgment and rewards.
c)
It
is not fair to say the chapter is just about judgment.
i)
It
is also about the rewards for those who are faithful.
ii)
The
interesting thing to note is that some of these punishments and rewards are not
just to individuals but also groups.
a)
We
are going to get hints in this chapter that Jesus judges nations as well as
individuals when He returns.
b)
The
bible clearly teaches that eternal salvation or eternal damnation is “an
individual thing” and is not corporate.
Therefore, this corporate judgment represents something else, as we will
discuss in this chapter.
4.
Chapter
25, Verse 1: At that time the kingdom of
heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom.
a)
Let’s
start with the phrase “At that time”.
The question is, “At what time?”
i)
Jesus
spent the last part of Chapter 24 discussing “how no one knows the day nor the
hour of His return”. (See Matthew 24:36)
ii)
Chapter
25 now focuses on what happens when Jesus returns.
iii)
The
difference between Chapter 24 and Chapter 25 is that Chapter 24 focuses
on the events leading up to Jesus’ return, and Chapter 25 focuses
on the events that happen after his return.
b)
Jesus
tries to explain what life will be like immediately after his return in
parables.
i)
Parables
are illustrations designed to illustrate a point.
ii)
Jesus
says the “kingdom of heaven” will be like ten virgins…”
a)
Therefore,
we know Jesus is not being literal in this section.
c)
Before
we move on, it might be helpful to explain a Jewish wedding ritual of that day
as that ties in to this parable.
i)
In
a Jewish marriage of that day, the parents of the bride and groom arranged a
match. (Given the fact I have
daughters, I like this idea. J)
ii)
Next,
there was a formal engagement period.
iii)
The
bride either knew the exact day of the wedding, or the approximate day.
iv)
The
wedding itself is like a “surprise party” to the bride, in that she did not
know the exact time of the wedding.
Usually the groom came to the bride’s house as a big procession. The town “stopped what they were doing” and
then joined the wedding procession. The
wedding feast would then last for many days.
v)
There
is a Jewish tradition that a wedding party had 10 bridesmaids, which is a
possibility of why Jesus picked the number 10 as the number of bridesmaids.
d)
Leading
back to Verse 1, Jesus is now comparing the “kingdom of God” to 10 bridesmaids
who hear the groom coming, and now goes out to meet him.
i)
Remember
the “kingdom of God”, in the scope of the New Testament, refers to all people
who are saved through Jesus. It
refers to those who have eternal life because they willfully choose to follow
Jesus.
a)
In
eternity, there are also Old Testament “saints” and there will probably be
people who never heard of Jesus who will be judged fairly.
5.
Verse
2: Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their
lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with
their lamps.
a)
Jesus
separates the ten virgins into two groups of five.
b)
The
key difference is that one group of five had enough oil for their lamps for
this journey, while the other five did not carry any extra supply.
c)
One
has to remember there was no electricity in those days.
i)
To
travel at night, one had to carry some sort of oil-based lamps.
d)
The
main key to understanding this parable is that oil is a symbol (word-picture)
of the Holy Spirit.
i)
This
is not bluntly stated anywhere in the bible, but there are a lot of clues:
a)
“So
Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of
his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David
in power. (1st Samuel
16:13a, NIV)
e)
OK
John, that’s neat. What’s the
point? Jesus because the maidens used
or lacked oil, what does that have to do with the eternal judgment theme of
Chapter 25?
i)
Let’s
look at the last line of this parable, which is Verse 12:
ii)
“I
tell you the truth, I don't know you.”
(Matthew 25:12, NIV)
iii)
If
the oil represents the Holy Spirit, working in our life, Jesus is saying you
can’t get into heaven unless you have the Holy Spirit working in your
life.
iv)
Let
me give you a more practical example.
a)
Let’s
say you believe Jesus is God.
b)
How
does that make you any different from demons?
Don’t demons believe that Jesus is God too? (See James 2:19)
c)
The
question becomes what are you doing with that knowledge of Jesus?
d)
Having
the Holy Spirit be a part of your life is simply to ask God to “take over your
life”. That moment of salvation is when
the spirit of God starts to live inside of you. (Reference: See John
16:7)
e)
To
be a Christians is to develop that personal relationship with God.
(1)
You
pray to Him for guidance.
(2)
You
study your bible for guidance.
(3)
You
spend time with other Christians (partially) for guidance.
(4)
You
want God ruling in your life.
f)
If
you fail to ever start developing that relationship, Jesus can look at
you on judgment day and say, “I tell you the truth, I don't know you.”
g)
That
is what this parable of the ten virgins is all about.
6.
Verse
5: The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they
all became drowsy and fell asleep.
a)
Let’s
face it. Jesus has taken a long time for his second coming.
i)
We
have had about 2,000 years so far.
That’s a pretty long time. J
a)
Remember
that Jesus is taking a long time in coming as to save as many people as
possible for eternity.
ii)
If
you read the whole parable, the virgins are not punished for falling asleep.
a)
Five
of them get rewards (“saved”) and five are punished.
b)
The
main point is the “good five” have enough oil and are prepared for whenever the
groom shows up.
b)
My
point is that Jesus does not expect us at every single moment of our lives to
be focus upon him. That is a physical
impossibility.
i)
Just
as the five wise virgins had extra oil, so should we spend our time doing what
God wants us to do. Not every single
moment of every single day. The kids
will never get fed and the laundry will never get done. J.
ii)
It
is not so much about spending every waking moment thinking about God as it is
making God part of every aspect of our life.
7.
Verse
6: "At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the
bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
a)
There
is going to be a day when Jesus does return. Life does not go on forever as is.
i)
I
used to think, “I hope Jesus comes back when I’m doing something good like
writing one of these lessons or I’m in the middle of prayer. I don’t want him coming back when I
committing some sin at the moment.”
b)
As
I’ve matured as a believer, I’ve come to realize I’m “asleep” a lot like these
brides. Yes, I have my “stock of oil”,
because I have my trust in Jesus and have a relationship with Him. Given that, I don’t have to panic if Jesus
comes at a bad moment.
i)
I
once heard a great illustration on this topic.
A priest was playing a racquetball game. Somebody asked him a question in the middle of the game to the
effect of “What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming back in a half an
hour?”
His response was, “I’ll finish my racquetball game.”
ii)
I’m
not advocating ignoring God to play sports.
Just the opposite, I want to live my life that is pleasing to God. My point is that if you have that personal
relationship with God, you don’t have to panic if you are doing some
recreational item at one moment of your life.
iii)
Remember
the concept of “Love God as hard as you can and then do what you want”. If you are living your life that way, your
other items will be limited. Again,
these ten brides were asleep when the groom showed up. They were not condemned for that action.
8.
Verse
7: "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their
lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to
the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 9 " `No,' they replied, `there may not be enough
for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for
yourselves.'
a)
This
part sounds “un-Christian-like”.
i)
The
five brides with a stock of oil wouldn’t help those who didn’t have any oil.
b)
This
is why you have to remember that in this parable, “oil” represents the Holy
Spirit.
c)
When
the girls with the extra oil say, “There may not be enough for both us and
you”,
it refers to salvation. You can’t
“share” your salvation with anyone.
i)
By
that I mean you can’t get into heaven because your spouse is a Christian or
your parents or Christians or say, “you are an American”.
ii)
It
is strictly an individual thing. You
must ask God to come into your heart and do this yourself.
9.
Verse
10: "But while they were on their way to buy the
oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the
wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 "Later the others also
came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' 12 "But he replied, `I
tell you the truth, I don't know you.' 13 "Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day or the hour.
a)
The
parable ends in Verse 13 with the command to “keep watch”.
b)
Jesus
point, first of all, is that there is a point-in-time in our life when it is
too late.
i)
For
most of us, it comes at the point of death.
ii)
At
some future date, that point will be at Jesus second coming.
a)
For
that generation, they can’t look at Jesus and say (lying), “Jesus, I knew you
were coming back…I’ve always knew you were Lord…How about letting me into
heaven now?”
c)
I
believe that same picture of a wedding ceremony between Jesus and his church is
also being illustrated in a reference in Revelation.
i)
The
latter part of the Book of Revelation describes a wedding ceremony.
ii)
“Let
us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb (Jesus)
has come, and his bride (the church) has made herself ready.
(Revelation 19:7, NIV)
iii)
In
both the text in Matthew and in Revelation, those who were “ready” and
“prepared” get to go into the banquet.
iv)
Those
who think they are invited because say, “They believe Jesus is God”, but then
never did anything about it” get cast out.
d)
There
is another important point about “keeping watch”.
i)
A
common point made throughout the bible is to keep our focus upon God.
a)
When
we have that eternal perspective in our lives, God can mature us and help us
grow in our relationship with Him.
b)
“Keeping
watch” is not just sitting around the house, praying for God’s return, but it
is to stay involved in whatever ministry God has called for us.
c)
It
is about making God a priority in our lives.
Through that power of God working in our heart, we can then go about our
lives living them as God desires for us.
e)
Well,
we made it through the first of the three stories of this chapter.
f)
Take
a deep breadth, its time for story #2. J
10.
Verse
14: "Again, it will be like a man
going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.
15 To one he gave five talents
of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to
his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at
once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the
two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went
off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
a)
This
is the second parable in the chapter.
i)
Verse
14 has the word “like” so we know it is not meant to be taken literally.
ii)
The
word “talent” refers to a measure of weight, like a “pound” or a “ton”.
iii)
A
Roman “pound” was an expensive exchange of money.
iv)
A
rough, modern equivalent might be a thousand-dollar bill,
or maybe a one-ounce solid gold coin.
b)
The
next thing to notice is the word “ability” in Verse 15.
i)
This
“man-in-charge” gave one guy 5 talents, another 2 talents, and another 1
talent, “according to their ability”.
ii)
God
does not give everybody the same level of responsibility.
iii)
Further,
we are not to be jealous of those who have more talents nor prideful over those
who have less.
iv)
What
is important is, “What are you doing with the “talents” God has given
you?’
c)
Here
is a key phrase that ties in well to this parable:
i)
“From
everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who
has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
(Luke 12:48a, NIV)
ii)
John’s
loose translation, If God gives you a lot, He expects a lot.”
iii)
The
servant who got five talents earned five more.
iv)
The
servant who got two talents earned two more.
v)
What
we will read is that these two guys each got the exact same reward in heaven. Therefore it is not about how much
“talent” God gives you, it is only about what you do with those
talents God has given you.
vi)
Remember,
God gave each servant “talents” based on their ability.
a)
God
is well aware of our abilities. If He
thought we could handle more, He would give us more. There is also the possibility God will give you more in the
future based on how well you handle the talents He gives you now.
d)
Now
we get to the one-talent-bad-person.
Verse 18 states that the one person who got only one talent stuck it in
the ground and did not get any more.
i)
This
person was also aware that it was “the master’s money”.
ii)
Later
we will learn that the guy with one talent gets sent to hell.
iii)
This
sentence implies that God tests all people, not just the ones who are
saved.
iv)
God
gives talents to people, and sees if they use it for his glory or themselves.
a)
To
me, it is so sad to watch people with incredible God-given talents never thank
God for those gifts. They insult God by
giving themselves credit “for all of their hard work” and not acknowledging God
who gave them the talent and the drive to succeed in the first place.
11.
Verse
19: "After a long time the master of those servants
returned and settled accounts with them.
a)
Notice
the phrase “after a long time”.
b)
Remember
in the parable of the 10 brides, the groom waited so long they were asleep.
c)
Jesus
is giving lots of hints that it will be a long time before his Second coming.
d)
My
opening theme of Chapter 25 is that it is about “Jesus the Judge”.
i)
Verse
19 says that when the “master” comes back, it is to “settle (the) accounts”.
a)
Judgment
is coming, not only for the unbeliever, but also for the believers.
b)
“For
the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:27, NIV)
12.
Verse
20: The man who had received the five talents brought
the other five. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents. See, I
have gained five more.' 21 "His master replied,
`Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few
things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's
happiness!' 22 "The man with the two
talents also came. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see,
I have gained two more.' 23 "His master replied,
`Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few
things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's
happiness!'
a)
The
first thing to notice is that Verses 21 and 23 are identical, word-for-word.
i)
The
servant who doubled the five-talents-to-ten gets the exact same reward as the
servant who doubled the two-talents-to-four.
b)
I
have to admit, a big part of life is the strong desire to hear Jesus say to me,
“Well done good and faithful servant”.
i)
I
have no idea exactly how many talents Jesus has given me.
ii)
I
have no idea exactly how many talents I have earned in my lifetime.
iii)
I
just focus on what God calls me to do and let God worry about the results.
iv)
Still,
there is always that sense of “Am I doing enough? Am I having a good balance between my ministry, my home life, my
family, my job etc.?
a)
I
have heard it is a common fear among older Christians that they look back at
their life and think, “I should have done more…”
v)
What
I have to remember during those moments is the phrase:
a)
“The
just shall live by faith”. This is a
quote from Habakkuk 2:4.
b)
Paul
quotes this phrase three times in his letters:
(1)
Paul
focuses on the “just” in Romans (Romans 1:17)
(2)
Paul
focuses on the “shall live” in Galatians (Gal. 3:11)
(3)
Paul
focuses on the “by faith” in Hebrews (Heb. 10:38).
(a)
Some
argue Paul didn’t write Hebrews. I
believe it was Paul just because of this “trilogy” view of this quote.
vi)
My
point is that we should not feel “stressed” that we’re not doing enough.
a)
There
has to be a balance in a Christian’s life to:
(1)
Live
in a sense of urgency to live the Christian life and
(2)
Let
God worry about the results.
b)
If
we do live our lives for God, then we can walk by faith that Jesus will
say “well done, good and faithful servant… Come and share your master's happiness!”
13.
Verse
24: "Then the man who had received the one talent
came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you
have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went
out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
a)
The
first thing to notice about the man who received one talent is that he is afraid.
b)
In
Verse 26 (coming up) Jesus repeats almost verbatim his fears of Verse 24.
c)
Near
the end of the Book of Revelation, God describes who will not be in
heaven:
i) But the cowardly, the unbelieving, t