By Angus Harley

At last we reach the final article, which concentrates on an exegesis of Matthew 25.

Matthew 25 is split into two main sections: vv1-30, which are about the disciples needing to be ready for the Son of Man’s sudden return; and, vv31-46 that detail the Son of Man’s actual judgment of mankind at the end of time. Vv1-30 are themselves split into two parables: the ten virgins (vv1-13); and the talents (vv14-30).  

25:1-13: Parable of the Ten Virgins

This section continues the same theme Jesus put forward in 24:42-51. There is therefore a case of conjoining that section with chapter 25 itself and its two parables. We ought to take from this that Matthew 24-25 are strongly tied together to convey the same sequence of events: the absence of the Son of Man, and then his sudden, unexpected, in-person, visible, return.

One arrival

We must recall Matthew 9:15. Jesus implied there that he, the bridegroom, will be taken from the disciples. This refers to his death and resurrection, and to his ascension into heaven. The Ten Virgins assumes the absence of the bridegroom, too. There is in this parable, and the next, not a whit concerning two arrivals of the bridegroom, nor even two phases on the one arrival.

The sword of division

V1 tells us that this parable is about the kingdom of God, “ “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” ” What is of interest to us is the nature of this kingdom. It’s king, aka, the bridegroom, is far off, yet will come at an unknown time. Therefore, the virgins must prudent in the meantime, before he comes, because they do not know when the bridegroom will return. The entire point of the virgins keeping their lamps filled with oil was to show preparedness to meet the bridegroom as he returned in the dark from a distant place, so that they could accompany him into the wedding feast. The five virgins who do not have their lamps full of oil, make a last-minute effort to buy it, but it is, of course, too late. They get to the door of the wedding feast, but Jesus does not allow them to enter, declaring that he never knew them.

In this we see how the king/bridegroom divides between those who are known by the king as true kingdom members and those who are not known by the king and are not kingdom members. For on Judgment Day, the king of the kingdom of heaven will reject all those who were not ready for his sudden, unannounced, return. Jesus taught the same in Matthew 7:21-23:

“ 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ ”

In all of this we see that the sword of division that Jesus represented in his mission whilst on earth is personally resumed by him at the end of time when he returns again to earth.

See, too, how the lord’s return and his subsequent divisory action merely seals what was already evident before his return. This indicates that during the time of his absence, the state of the kingdom will be one in which faux kingdom-members mix with true kingdom-members. So it will continue to the end.

Any notion of a postmillennial form of the spread of the Gospel that requires a worldwide conversion of the masses of the nations is out of the question, therefore. As in Matthew 7:13-14 and its narrow gate, or Matthew’s references to taking up the cross (10:38; 16:24), or the parable of the wheat and the tares (13:24-30), there will be division right up unto the end. The world will most definitely not be transformed!

Nature of the kingdom

It was never about the Jews being punished for violating the Old Covenant, for Jesus’ teaching sought to expose those Jews of his day who rejected the Messiah and his Gospel. The apostles would subsequently take up the same role among the Gentiles. For, let us remember that Matthew 24 is about the elect, as is Matthew 25. The return of the Lord exposes the spiritually indolent and lazy, who do nothing to keep themselves ready to participate in the Messianic banquet at the end of time (22:1-14).

Lest this be thought to teach that the kingdom of heaven is the world itself- it is not. Just the very phrase “kingdom of heaven” ought to be enough to dispel such an idea. The Ten Virgins represent ‘kingdom’ religion, those who claim to be attached to the Messiah and to his kingdom. In the Jewish version of the kingdom, that is, in the Old Covenant form of the God’s kingdom, all Jews of the flesh were considered sons of the kingdom. However, even in the OT, the kingdom of heaven was truly in heaven, of heaven. In the Son and his incarnation, the kingdom of heaven invaded earth. The earth was not the kingdom of heaven, nor was the Promised Land of Israel the kingdom of God. For the kingdom is represented in the king, its true members, who are marked out on earth by doing due diligence, and by entrance into the wedding feast of the king. It is a thoroughly spiritual and dynamic kingdom, therefore, and not at all of this earth, nor is it about fleshly heritage, land, birth, buildings, or sacrifices. Any attempt by faux or fake believers in God’s Messiah to enter into the kingdom feast will be thwarted by the king himself on the day of the wedding feast itself (Judgement Day).

Sudden, in-person, return and judgment

To state the obvious, the lord of the parable returns suddenly and in-person: they needed light to see and accompany him in the dark! It is all so very personal and real. No hint of a prior phase of his arrival is in the context.

25:15-30: Parable of the Talents

Same emphases

This parable continues the exact same series of themes as before. It gives more detail, describing the actions of the master’s various slaves. He was going away, so he gives them talents of money to invest and work with to make a profit of some kind. Most slaves did well with the talents to make some money for the master. One slave, however, did nothing with the talent he was given, choosing to bury it in the ground. To that slave, the master declares that he will take away his talent from him and give it to the one slave who had made as much as ten talents by his investments. Jesus then applies this parable directly to Judgment Day. The worthless slaves of Christ, those who were fake disciples and did nothing to further his kingdom, will be thrown into the outer darkness. A fitting punishment, given that the parable of the Ten Virgins described five of them, the lazy ones, in darkness, without light, and outside of the feast, in the dark.

Weeping due to being rejected

Those who weep in the outer darkness are not being described as violators of the Old Covenant, but those who were not industrious in the work of the kingdom. As Jesus stated, “ “You will know them by their fruits” ” (7:15; see 3:8, 10; 7:17, 18; 12:33; 13:23; 21:19, 43). They weep because they were rejected as faux kingdom members. The lazy do not belong in the kingdom of heaven; they belong in the outer darkness.

25:31-46: the Day of Judgment

Now only, at the last, do we read about the Day of Judgment. Judgment Day was not initiated, nor went through ‘first phase’, by God destroying the temple in Judea.

Sword of international division

What has been implied all along in Matthew 24-25 is decisively stated in v32, “ “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” ”. They fake disciples of the nations, not just Judea, will be separated from the true.

What about those who were never even fake disciples? Once again, we must think of Matthew 24. It relates that the elect will encounter kingdom-haters, who are of the same rancid spiritual nature as the faux kingdom members who call out, ‘There is the Christ!’ In separating faux kingdom members from the true implies that the nations as a whole in their enmity are also exposed. They, too, are goats, and “ “will go away into eternal punishment””.

Love action

Whereas, true kingdom-members ministered to those in the kingdom who were destitute, sick, and imprisoned. To help these oppressed saints was to do these things to the Lord himself. These true sons of the kingdom will be reward with eternal life, for they are righteous.

Conclusion

Right to the end, to the last second on earth, there is an indissoluble division between true kingdom sons and the faux. True kingdom sons are marked out by their spiritual industry in the kingdom, by their ‘fruits’. Whereas, faux sons of the kingdom are just as pronounced in their credentials, for they are lazy in the kingdom, doing nothing for it that the Lord recognizes. There is no room whatever in this for a postmillennial ideal of the transformation of all things.

Moreover, it is not the Jews or the Old Covenant that is Jesus’ concern, but the nations as a whole and fake kingdom members. For all the nations will be judged according to the Gospel.

Most importantly, there is no hint, not even the slightest indication, that there are two phases to the Lord’s sudden return. Nor is there any suggestion that it was demarcated by an initial phase (the destruction of the temple). There is one return, one ‘phase’, the actual, in-person, visible, demonstrable, sudden, without warning, appearance of the Son of Man.