Matthew 25 - How Can You Know If You Love God? A Simple Test!
Matthew 25 - Enduring Word Commentary
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 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 ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 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.’ 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. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches two parables on what the kingdom of heaven looks like, and then a parable of judgment.
The first parable is again about being ready for Jesus' return. Ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. This was customary in Jesus' time.
There were three stages to a Jewish wedding in that day. The first was engagement – a formal agreement made by the fathers. The second was betrothal – the ceremony where mutual promises are made. The third was marriage – approximately one year later when the bridegroom came at an unexpected time for his bride. (Guzik)
“When the bridegroom came, the bride-maids, who were attending the bride, went forth to meet the bridegroom, with lamps lighted, to conduct him and his companions into the house, and to her who was to be the bride.” (Poole)
Five on the virgins were wise and took oil for their lamps in case the bridegroom was running late. But the unwise virgins only went with their lamps lit and didn't think to bring any extra oil. Since the bridegroom was a long time in coming, the unwise virgin's lamps went out. They tried to get the other virgins to give them some of their oil, but the other virgin's needed their it for themselves. Their only option was to go out and buy more. Meanwhile the bridegroom came, and the five wise virgins went into the wedding banquet hall.
When the five unwise virgins came back, they asked the groom to open the door and the groom said, "I don't know you!"
There are many things this parable could mean. The obvious lesson is that we need to be prepared at any time for Jesus "the bridegroom" to return. But it seems as though the real issue was that the wise virgins had come prepared if the groom took a long time to come. To be prepared for Jesus to return would mean you have faith in Him, and your faith is confirmed to you by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often compared to oil. I.e. The anointing with oil and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This may be the case, but it is hard to prove it conclusively.
Here is where we need to the teaching of the rest of the bible to interpret a particular passage of scripture. Throughout the rest of the bible it is clear that to be prepared for Jesus' return, you need only one thing, faith. Faith in Jesus is our ticket to the wedding banquet.
This is confirmed by the fact that the other virgins are shut out and told by the groom that he never knew them. They may have looked like the same as the other virgins, but the bridegroom did not know them. There are some who may purport to be a Christian, or even go to church but don't know Jesus.
Most importantly, do you know Jesus? If not, he wants to know you. You can know him by accepting what he did for you on the cross and inviting in your heart, mind, and soul. He will never leave you and will give you the Holy Spirit, as a downpayment on your future heavenly inheritance.
The Parable of the Bags of Gold
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. 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 two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; 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!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold 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 gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The master gave different amounts of "talents" to each of his servants. A talent was unit of money roughly equal to 6,000 denarii. If a denarius was equal to what a day laborer would get for a day of work, 1 talent would be equal to 6,000 days of work. So you can see it is a large amout of money, especially for the one who was given given 5 talents=30,000 days of work. You can do the math based on what a minimum wage worker would earn in an 8 hour day. I.e. About $100/day.
Needless to say it is a lot of money the master entrusted to his servants. Importantly he "entrusted" his wealth to them expecting them to do something with it. When he came back in, he called in each of the servants to give account for what they had done with what he had given them. The one with five talents earned five more. i.e. 100% return. The one given 2 talents did the same. But, the who was given only 1 talent hid it in the ground in fear of losing it.
When the master came back he was very pleased with the 2 faithful servants and told them not only would he entrust them with more talents, but he also shared his happiness with them. It doesn't get much better than that. Putting them in charge of "many things" could mean a lot of things, but it is certainly a raise.
But the master was not so happy with the man, who hid the talent and did nothing with it. He called him wieked and lazy and took the talent from him and gave it to the man who had ten. Then he threw the man outside, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What does all this mean?
1. The faithful servants invested what they had been given and it grew exponentially. They knew they would be accountable for what they did with the money and did accordingly. They realized the risk of losing it was much better than doing nothing with it.
2. God has given each of us different spiritual gifts in the church. He has also given us the gift to share our faith with others and not keep it to ourselves. These two gifts also bring with them a responsibility to invest them for kingdom purposes. Investing them in something that will have a kingdom impact. I.e. Bringing more people into the kingdom, or making God's kingdom come here on earth as it is heaven.
3. The lazy servant used the excuse that he didn't want to lose the money in fear of the master, but more likely he was just plain lazy. This is the Christian who never reads God's Word much less applies it to their lives. They don't give their resources to the church and/or other Christian organizations. They go to church to get something out of it but never give back by volunteering or using their spiritual gifts to build up the church. They rarely, if ever, share their faith with someone else, or lead them to Christ. They are lukewarm and fruitless Christians. We also call them "nominal Christians". I.e Christian in name only.
The challenging part of the passage is when we see the lazy servant's punishment. He threw that servant out into the darkness where he wept and gnashed his teeth. He lived in eternal regret for not investing what the master had given him. He wasted the gift of grace given to him and kept it to himself.
Does this mean this person didn't go to heaven? I don't know, and I don' t think that is the main point of this parable. It is about faithfulness to do something for the Master with what each of us has been given.
Some think that readiness for Jesus’ return is a very spiritual and abstract thing. It really isn’t – it is a matter of being about our business for the Lord. In light of this parable, we must ask ourselves: What have we done with our knowledge? Our time? Our money? Our abilities? The sins of omission [what we don’t do] may ultimately be more dangerous than the sins of commission [what we do]. (Guzik)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
This is probably the most comprehensive teaching Jesus gives on his final judgment when he returns. When Jesus returns all of the nations (ie. all ethnic groups) will be gathered before him. He (and only he) will separate them on this left and right. Note there is no middle ground. Each person is either on one side or the other. In another passage Jesus says, "Either you are for me or against me!" Matthew 12:30
The metaphor used is of a shepherd separating his sheep from his goats. Of course, Jesus is portrayed as the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep. The sheep on his right hand he says are blessed by "His Father" and given an inheritance that has been kept waiting for them since the beginning of the world. On the left hand it doesn't go so well. The goats' judgment is severe and permanent. I.e. eternal fire. They will live with the devil and his evil angels.
So what is the criteria for Jesus' judgment? In summary he says, "Whatever you have done to the least of these you have done unto me." The least of these are described as those who are hungry, thirsty, needing clothes, or in prison. Jesus could mean this literally, or it could even be figurative. I.e. the spiritually thirsty, or those in prison to sins like alcohol, greed, lust etc..
The bottom line is that the sheep and goats were judged based on how they helped out those who were lacking the basic necessities of life, or were sick, or were in prison. Recently these were called the "unmentionables". Though we are saved by faith alone, there is a sense in this passage of judgment based on how we have loved those in need. If we don't love these types of people, one would have to wonder how is the love of God is in us. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. Love for God and love for neighbor.
1 John says, "How can you say you love God if you don't love your neighbor?" 1 John 4:20
Do you love your neighbors? I.e. Your neighbor is anyone you come in contact with. Do you give to the least of these? Do you have compassion on the sick, the hurting, and oppressed?
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