Matthew 25 Commentary
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Verse 1. Which time? We need to go back to chapter 24.
Also compare verse 1 to the following, in Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. Chapter 22 verse 2. Take note of the tenses. Clearly, the judgment is an event ahead of Jesus’ time. The term used is “the kingdom of heaven will be like” and not “the kingdom of heaven is like”.
The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated with the earthly ministry of the man Jesus Christ. The shape and color of the kingdom of heaven is the function of Matthew. This chapter contains more information about the events between Jesus’ time and the end. The good and the bad will be separated.
Fill in the blanks. Death is probably a pause button operation. The resurrection happens for everyone and then judgment comes. It’s an event for everyone who has ever existed. Matthew has underlined the fact that death isn’t the end of the story.
The parable of talents seems to graduate the available rewards according to some performance parameter. At zero performance you are completely excluded. Then rewards are given according to performance. These are parables and we shouldn’t lift and paste thoughts directly. But the thought of rewards is repeated somewhere else in scripture so we can comfortably speculate.
We could summarize the parables as instructions to the saint. The parable of ten virgins: keep the oil and avoid exclusion. The parable of talents: Employ or invest your God-given resources and earn yourself a reward. Complete failure to employ your God-given resource means total exclusion. The parable of the sheep and the goats: Social responsibility is a mark of the redeemed. Remember that the good works are coming from the sheep. It is not the good works that make the sheep!
An individual can look at themselves and see that they are a goat. They can check the characteristics of the goat here in this chapter and conclude their fate. But they can also know that the Creator God (only He) can make them sheep. Then they can check themselves against the characteristics of the sheep and be sure that the miracle of transformation has taken place.
Check the benefits: Life in the presence of the Bridegroom; partnership and increased responsibility – a privileged position; and eternal life. It is everything we have ever wanted, needed, dreamt of, or imagined! And Heaven perfects them in the purity of holiness. A place of zero greediness, zero fear, zero ambition (a place where hope vanishes)… How can our minds ever picture such a life? Parables can only help!
More resources visit http://www.lovingscripture.com
LOVING SCRIPTURE 