The Gospel of Matthew
The election for the Kingdom
Chapter 25
The Lord Jesus, finishing His sermon to the disciples, now dealt with a brief period, subsequent to the great tribulation of the Jews, and that will precede His millenarian kingdom on earth. There will be judgment and He mentioned three criteria that will be adopted, by means of two parables and a revelation.
The parable of the Ten Virgins (verses 1-13)
This parable starts with the words “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened …” demonstrating clearly that it illustrates facts that will occur on the occasion of His second coming (chapter 24:29 - 51).
A Jewish marriage, at the time when the New Testament was written, started with the steps taken by the father of the bridegroom, looking for the bride and paying the asking price for her. This could be made when the bridegroom was still a child or later, at any time until his maturity.
Shortly before the marriage, the bridegroom went to the house of the bride to seek and bring her to his own home, and soon after the marriage ceremony was held, to which some close relatives and friends were invited. The wedding feast followed, which could last for a week, and in which a much larger number of people participated including neighbours and friends.
This procedure is the model for the order of the events that lead to the “marriage of the Lamb": God the Father took the steps and paid the price, the blood of His Son, to buy His bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25-27). Since then there has been a great interval (in human terms) of almost two thousand years so far, during which the bride has been growing until she reaches maturity (Acts 15:14, Romans 11:25), under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit through His Word. It will not be long now before the Bridegroom, the Son of God, comes (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) to take her to His home, in Heaven.
There, after going through the judgment seat of Christ, the church is seen dressed in fine linen, clean and bright: the fine linen are the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:8), therefore worthless works will have been “burned" and useful works will have been purified by the “fire“ of judgment.
The marriage ceremony will take place before the second coming of Christ to judge the world. The bride consists only of the raptured Christians, who will have been transformed or raised from the dead. The Old Testament saints and the faithful who will die in the tribulation will be the “guests“ for the supper of the marriage (Revelation 19:9) and because of this they are called "blessed" for they shall be present in this last phase of the marriage, having participated in the first resurrection, that is of the righteous ones (Revelation 20:4,5). The marriage supper will take place on earth, at the beginning of the kingdom of one thousand years of Christ.
The scene of the parable is a part of the marriage, when, after being married, the husband takes the wife for the nuptial banquet, or marriage supper, accompanied by ten virgins (ladies of honour) carrying lighted lamps, for it will take place at night.
The ten virgins represent, therefore, those who declare themselves disciples of Christ, on earth, at the time of His return. In their great majority they will be Jews waiting for the coming of the Messiah, but only part of them really will have converted and received the Holy Spirit, represented by the oil.
Only these could be at the marriage supper, at the beginning of the thousand years. All the others will be rejected by the Lord Jesus, as were the five foolish virgins of the parable.
The lesson for us, as the Lord Jesus tells us here, is to watch, because we do not know the day or the hour when He will return. Let us be ready, and prepared for our rapture.
The Parable of the Talents (vs.14-30)
When He returns, the Lord will find true and false servants.
The parable was about a man who, before travelling to a far country, called his three servants and delivered his goods to them, giving them portions suited to their ability. He intended his servants to trade with them and produce profit for himself.
Talents, therefore, are not natural qualities, like physical abilities, intelligence, etc. Nevertheless these qualities are taken into account in the performance of the service of each servant, and the talents correspond to the responsibilities that are entrusted to them.
The two that received more, applied well what they were entrusted with, and obtained good results, proportional to the values they had received. The third, being lazy, did nothing but bury what he had received.
Like the two active servants, the authentic servants of Christ apply themselves to serve Him in all opportunities they are offered, with love and devotion, thus having something of positive to present when He returns.
On the other hand, the one who only presents himself as being of Christ, but in reality never was converted, does not love Him, nor does he want to do anything for Him, and even resents Him. If he really wanted to serve the Lord, even if he felt incapable, at least he could lend the resources that were given him to others for them to be used for the Lord, for example, contributing to the work of evangelism, missions, etc.
When He returns, the Lord Jesus is going to ask those who say they are His servants to give account of their work. Some, typified by the two first ones in the parable, will be rewarded equally: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'" and thus they will enter in His kingdom. Those that want to be used for the glory of God will receive the resources, that will grow in proportion with what they do.
Those who are bad and negligent, like the third servant, will lose what they have, and will be severely reprimanded and condemned to hell, the destination of all false Christians.
The Judgment of the Nations (verses 31-46)
Finally, on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ there will be a judgment of the surviving nations. This judgment is not to be confused with that of the Judgement of Christ, limited to His church (Romans 14:10, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10), or the final judgment after the Millennium, where the deceased which did not take part in the first resurrection will be judged (Revelation 20:11-15).
All these nations will have gone through the great tribulation, during which there will have been a great persecution of the Jews, and the Gentile nations will be judged in accordance with the treatment they will have given to Israel (Joel 3:1-3): The Lord Jesus said “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (verse 40).
Then will there be a separation of the people of each nation according to this criterion, giving right of entrance to His kingdom in the millenium to those who will have shown compassion to the pursued Jews. The Lord said it will have been as if the good they did to them had been done to He himself and He called them “righteous” and “blessed of my Father”.
The rest, the “cursed”, will be condemned to the “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”, the “lake of fire burning with brimstone”, the place of perpetual torment. They will be condemned thus, because they did nothing for the persecuted and needy Jews during the great tribulation.
In conclusion, we perceive that the Lord was teaching three criteria that will be observed for entrance into His kingdom in the millennium, for the survivors of the great tribulation, the first two concerning the Jews:
- Those awaiting His return, converted and, therefore, having the Holy Spirit.
- Those who love the Lord and dedicate themselves to serve Him.
- Of the Gentiles, those who will have manifested compassion and helped the persecuted Christian Jews.
R David Jones
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'
7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9 But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'
12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
14 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'
21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
22 He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'
23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
45 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25