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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 25:1-46 REVIEW: Chapter 24 is the first part of Jesus’ “Apocalyptic Discourse”, which is continued in chapter 25. In this chapter, a number of “strands” are woven together: 1) natural and man-made disasters signify the impending end of the old age; 2) the dangers to the community of God’s elect people (the church) both from within and without; 3) the coming doom of Jerusalem, the danger of false messiahs; and 4) the parousia – the second coming of the Son of Man. In this chapter Jesus makes it clear that the end may be imminent, but at the same time he does not want his followers to become “obsessed” about trying to discern when it will be. (Perhaps this was an issue in the early Church – and by the time that Matthew’s gospel was written people were beginning to wonder why the parousia had not yet taken place.) Be that as it may, Jesus bids his disciples to “keep awake” – that is, to always be ready to respond to God’s call even in the midst of daily living, and also to keep living their lives so that they are ready to meet the “Master” whenever he may come. CHAPTER 25:1-13 “The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids” “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for know neither the day nor the hour.” This parable is the second in a series of parables dealing with the proper attitude to and our behavior in regards to the future coming of the Son of Man in the parousia. The details of this parable accurately reflect actual customs surrounding weddings in first century Palestine. A wedding party was a great occasion – and was held to be so important that the bride, groom, and guests were even excused from normal religious duties. For example, participants did not have to sleep in booths if the wedding was held during the Feast of Tabernacles, and religious scholars would even forsake studying the Torah during a wedding – because attending that wedding was a more important duty and privilege! The high point of a wedding came when the bridegroom took the bride from her father’s house to her new home, usually in a litter, and his attendants and guests escorted them there. Usually this would be by the longest route possible, in order that they might receive the glad good wishes of as many as possible. (Note: some ancient manuscripts of Matthew include the phrase “and the bride” – but most copyists left that phrase out because the focus of this parable is obviously upon the parousia and the coming of the Son of Man (singular) rather than upon a couple.) The delay of the bridegroom (and the bride) would not be considered unusual. Last minute problems could crop up in the groom’s negotiations regarding the marriage contract with the bride’s father that would need to be “ironed out”. Other important points were that no one was allowed on the streets after dark without a lighted lamp, and that once the bride and groom arrived at the ceremony, the door would be shut and late-comers would not be admitted. The theme of this parable is preparedness. Five of the bridesmaids had considered the possibility of the bridegroom (and bride) being delayed and had therefore brought extra oil for their lamps, and five had not. The five wise bridesmaids’ refusal to share their oil with the five foolish ones may seem to be harsh and even “unchristian”, but it simply reflects the real-life truth that there are some things that cannot or at least should not be shared. If the wise bridesmaids had “shared” their oil, most likely all ten lamps would have gone out before the bridegroom (and bride) arrived – and then NO ONE would have been ready! William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible commentary states that this parable has at least two universal warnings:
The “bottom line” lesson of this parable is that our relationship with Jesus must be so that we are always ready to meet him when he comes! CHAPTER 25:14-30 “Parable of the Talents” “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hide his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” A “talent” was originally a unit of weight, and later came to denote a fixed amount of silver or gold. Our present day definition of “talent” as meaning “ability” is derived from this parable. Be that as it may, in this parable the master gives to each slave various amount of money to manage for him – “to each according to his ability.” The slaves who take risks and make more money for the master at the end are invited to “enter into the joy of your master” – that is, the kingdom of heaven. The slave who does not risk anything but simply tries to hide and preserve his talent ends up being thrown out into the outer darkness – that is, is excluded from the kingdom of heaven. A usual interpretation of this parable is that we are to use our “talents” in God’s service as opposed to fearful and/or lazy inactivity – and that God expects a return from his “investment” in us. This certainly is a valid point, but this parable is much more than just a “moralizing” sermon. We need to remember that this parable is the third in a series dealing with the attitudes and behaviors that God’s people should have in regards to the parousia. As mentioned previously, the Christians of Matthew’s day literally expected the parousia to come during their lifetime. Some apparently took this as being an excuse not to work in their daily vocations. St. Paul, for example, addresses this problem in 1 Thess. 4:11, 5:14, and 2 Thess. 3:6-13. This also seems to have been an issue in Matthew’s Jewish-Christian community as well. This brings to mind a quotation of Martin Luther: “If I knew that the world was going to end tomorrow, I would go out and plant a tree.” That is, even though we know that “some day” Christ is coming again, the best way for us to prepare for this is simply to live and work as we should each day! D.J. Harrington in his commentary on The Gospel of Matthew points out that this parable, in the context of Matthew’s original Jewish-Christian community, might also have been an attack against their Jewish opponents. The third servant who fails to do anything with his one talent except trying to preserve it by burying it would be like the Pharisaic movement of the time around 80 A.D. of trying to preserve Judaism by building a “hedge” or “fence” around the Torah. In other words, Judaism became an “inward looking” religion rather than one that was “outward looking” and “missionary-minded” that would “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). As disciples, or as God’s “slaves”, we are called upon to boldly live our faith and proclaim it to the world – even when it seems risky – instead of just trying to hide and preserve what we have. Otherwise, we will end up losing what we have! CHAPTER 25:31-46 “The Judgment of the Nations” “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” The background for the imagery of this parable is Daniel 7:13-14, where the Ancient of Days gives dominion and glory and kingship to one like a Son of Man, “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” To understand this parable, we must remember that those who are being judged are “the nations” or “the Gentiles”. The Greek word used, “ethnos”, literally means “those who are not us.” In other words, this scene does NOT portray a judgment of Christians! The king’s criteria for judging the “ethnos” is how they have treated “the members of my family” (literally, “my brothers”). If they have shown mercy and compassion to Jesus’ followers, they will end up receiving the same reward of eternal life that those who belong to Jesus’ community will! For example, this parable seems to indicate that the Roman tribune Claudius Lysias, who protected Paul from those seeking to kill him (Acts 23:23-30) will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of heaven – even though he personally never “believed” in Jesus! This parable certainly has much to say to us in our world today. It seems to indicate that people of good will, even if they are of other faiths, will in the end acknowledge Jesus as Lord and will receive admission into the kingdom because of their charity toward Jesus’ believers now. Why? Because by their mercy and compassion toward Christians, they are also serving Jesus even if they are not aware of it! This passage has often caused “heart-burn” for many Lutheran Christians, who place such an emphasis upon “faith” rather than “works”. Matthew (remember that he comes from a Jewish background!), however, sees no distinction between faith and works. Works are a proof of faith – even if, perhaps, those having “faith” are not actually and fully aware of it! We may not “do” good works in order to obtain eternal life, but good works are certainly a result of any faith that we have (even if that “faith” is not “in the head” but only “in the heart”). In the end, our “works” will be the “proof” of our faith – and if that is true even for “those who are not us”, it should be even more true for those of us who belong to Jesus’ family as believing disciples!! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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