MATTHEW 25
The Parable of the Ten Virgins is unique to Matthew’s gospel. Its purpose is to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. These ten women were effectively escorts to greet the Bridegroom and take him to meet his bride. Five were wise and five foolish; the only difference being that the wise ones brought along additional reserves of oil in case the wait was lengthy – as it turned out to be. When the Bridegroom (= Jesus) finally arrived, no-one was expecting Him, but the wise virgins were prepared for His arrival. Oil may also symbolise the Holy Spirit.
The Parable of the Talents is also unique to this gospel and it describes the Kingdom too. Each wise servant multiplied his Master’s assets to produce a great profit on them – which was clearly expected. The foolish servant, perhaps out of fear, just kept what he had safe until the Master returned. From the Master’s reaction, we see that ‘safety’ is not prized in God’s Kingdom.
“The Sheep and the Goats” – that fearsome piece of teaching from Jesus in Matthew 25 – what is it really about? Many would say that it is a judgment by God based on how many good works a person has done in his/her life, and how loving and caring they have been towards their neighbour. If any doctrine of salvation by works needed some proof-text, surely it would start here?
But this is not teaching which is encouraging us to volunteer at Foodbanks or local charities, nor to enrol on a hospital visiting programme, nor to engage in wider hospitality and prison ministries – for fear of otherwise being condemned by Christ at the Day of Judgment. For several reasons we can deduce that it is not a works-based salvation that he is referring to here: (1) The teaching of the whole New Testament is of salvation by faith alone, with good works being the purpose, the fruit, and the evidence of a living-saving faith. (2) The judgment is too ‘black and white’: exactly how many times would you need to visit someone in hospital or in prison, and what about the person who was kind to his neighbour on a few occasions, but not all the time? (3) Jesus does not use the term ‘neighbour’ at all here.
This teaching/parable is aimed at the Jewish religious types in particular, and at those who might claim to be spiritual or godly in more general terms. Jesus then judges them entirely on the basis of how they have treated Him – which seems harsh, since almost all of them will never have even met him! But the key verse is 25:40 – “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus uses the phrase “My Brothers” to mean his followers, his disciples; these are the righteous ones who have chosen to submit to his commands and to hold on to his teaching. (See Matthew 12:48-50; 18:21-35; 28:10.) They represent Him and are filled with his Spirit. It is “Christ in us, the hope of glory” and we carry him around with us each day of our Christian lives.
Therefore, Jesus is claiming that the way that any person or people group treats their spiritual brothers and sisters is an infallible indication of their own spiritual health and status. Much of the New Testament letter of 1 John takes up this theme and talks about those who claim to love God and yet don’t love their brothers in Christ; it concludes that if they don’t do the latter, they cannot be lovers of God either! So, in Matthew 25, our attitude and behaviour towards those who belong to Christ will flag up our eternal destiny; if our hearts have been cleansed by faith and we therefore show love towards fellow believers, then we are clearly righteous and will inherit eternal life with him.
Those who have persecuted the redeemed, and rejected their Redeemer, demonstrate that their hearts are still sinful, and their consciences seared; they have not given their lives to Jesus, whatever their lips may say. To those people, Jesus utters the terrifying words: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”! The non-Christian world ridicules our faith and makes mockery of our Saviour, giving the opinion that they will, in any case, much prefer to be having ‘a good time’ in Hell, rather than having to put up with ‘all that religious nonsense’ in Heaven. But no-one will be having a good time in Hell – it is an impossibility – since all goodness will have been extracted from the place. Anything that we find genuinely enjoyable or pleasant on earth is part of the goodness of God that will be found entirely in the Kingdom of God. So much so that, in heaven, it will be impossible to be bored or sad or sick or regretful.
The eternal fire was not prepared for mankind, but for the devil and his angels; it is therefore doubly terrible that unsaved men and women will find themselves – in huge numbers – inhabiting a state of eternal punishment – for ever and ever – a state that they were not created for. The warning signs will have been around them for a long time, but they will have chosen to ignore them all. Rushing, lemming-like, over the cliff-edge of death, they will sadly realize all too late that they have made the biggest mistake of their lives.
The final verse of the chapter, v46, is chilling: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life”. This is a proof text that the unrighteous will undergo perpetual punishment, rather than a quick annihilation. They chose to reject the only possible Saviour throughout their earthly lives and after death will continue that trajectory, getting exactly what they thought they wanted, as He now rejects them. For these people the chief characteristics of Hell will be eternal regret at their foolishness, twinned with the knowledge that there is no path back – the abandonment of ‘hope’!
As righteous believers, we have the opportunity to make some more ‘warning signs’, to pray, and to turn some people back from that cliff-edge of destruction. Now is the time for us to be sad on their behalf, and to do something about it!
EXODUS 1, 2, and 3
Some people never show gratitude, no matter how much blessing they receive. The same applies to some nations. Egypt had been rescued from starvation and annihilation by Joseph and his Israelite family – but national memories are short, and soon Israel was seen as a threat to them, in rather the same way that today, many nations have fears of unfettered immigration.
Slave labour, whilst unpleasant, only made Israel grow more numerous, stronger, and more threatening and Pharaoh realized that a drastic solution was called for: kill all the boy babies at birth and, within a generation, the problem would go away! Firstly, he tried to coerce the Hebrew midwives, who refused to go against their consciences and simply ignored his orders; God rewarded their principled stand by protecting them and giving them children of their own. “Those who honour me, I will honour” (1 Samuel 2:30).
Realizing that, somehow, he had been tricked (just like Herod in Jesus’ day), Pharaoh changed the law and announced genocide on the Israelites, by ordering every baby boy to be killed. It is hard to imagine a nation so heartless that it would stoop to these actions – although a voluntary version of this does seem to exist currently in the UK and most other Western nations, causing surprisingly little public offence, except sometimes (rather perversely) on gender equality grounds. Think about it!
So, Moses was born and then hidden by his mother until it became impossible to conceal him from the secret police any longer, so she gave him his final feed, put him – along with a few fluffy toys – into a papyrus boat (the name is the same as for Noah’s ark), and left him on the waters of the Nile and in the hands of God. Pharaoh’s daughter then discovered Moses and adopted the compassionate, common sense and moderate stance that her father had rejected as weak. But the baby needed a wet-nurse, of course! In a flash of inspiration, Moses’ sister fetched his mother and, not only did she receive her baby safely back, but she was now being paid to do it! When God rescues you, he generally leaves you better off than before you got into trouble in the first place!
Fast-forward 40 years and Moses was a man with strong nationalistic views. As a result of one or two unwise actions, Moses was forced to escape into exile and spent the next 40 years getting married, getting mature, raising children, and raising sheep. God is never in a hurry! Meanwhile in Egypt, the conditions became worse for the Hebrews, and, at just the right time, God began to honour his promises to Abraham & Sons regarding the new national homeland. The 80-year-old Moses at last met with his God, who reiterated his promises and identified Moses as his chosen instrument in fulfilling them. Moses had only two questions: “Who are you?”, and “Who am I?” – which God answered in sequence. “I AM WHO I AM” (rather a circular argument to us, but not to the Ever Existent One who never changes). He said: “I AM” and we say: “HE IS”. And as for Moses? His role was to be the worker of miracles and the leader of the nation. God would do signs and wonders, acts of judgment, hardening of hearts, softening of hearts and the bringing of Israel out of Egypt with enough wealth to recompense them for the years of slavery during which they worked for nothing.
It’s almost exciting enough to be made into a film!
The Big Picture 