35. Matthew 23-25 (3)

Matthew 25:1-13: The Parable of the Bridesmaids

“In the Middle East, to this day, there are some places where the customs at a wedding are quite similar to the ones described here. In the modern West, people don't normally get married in the middle of the night! But in that culture torchlight processions, late in the evening, are certainly known, and it seems as though the proceedings might have several stages, with the bridegroom likely to be delayed at an earlier venue before he arrives for the banquet itself, to be greeted at last by the bridesmaids.”

Thus Tom Wright sets the scene for us Westerners for whom this scene is unfamiliar and seems more than a little bizarre.[1] But what’s its point?

It’s the difference between sleeping (v.4) and staying awake (v.13). The foolish and the wise (v.2). Readiness for a great event and being taken by surprise by it. By now it should be clear that Jesus refers here to the great crisis in Israel evoked by his coming between Israel’s call to be God’s Abrahamic Israel or some other kind of national entity.

It is likely that Passover lies in the background to this story and lends not only color but pathos to it. That great event heralding God’s rescue of his people from slavery in Egypt is typologically related to this even greater rescue of his people from the New Egypt Israel had become. Both Passover and the arrival of our bridegroom occur at midnight (Ex.12:29). Both herald judgment and deliverance for those prepared and unprepared for his coming. Both anticipate the wedding of God (the bridegroom) with his people (Jer.31:31-33; Hos.2:14-20). Jesus coming precipitates, as we have seen, the great New Exodus of God.

Leithart calls attention to the parallels between this parable and Jesus’ teaching in ch.7 of the Sermon on the Mount. 

“In both passages, Jesus refers to a door that must be entered. In Matthew 7, He warns, “Enter by the narrow door; for the door is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many. For the door is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” In Matthew 24-25, the door image reappears. On the day of the Bridegroom’s arrival, Jesus will admit those properly prepared (25:10; 7:21). But then the door will be closed; the opportunity to enter will come to an end, and the foolish will find themselves standing outside.

“Likewise in both passages, Jesus contrasts “wise” and “foolish,” terms that appear together only in these passages in Matthew. In Matthew 7, Jesus contrasts wise and foolish builders; the wise builders are those who hear and act on His words, and their house stands. The foolish builders may hear Jesus’ words, but they do not do them, and their house will fall. In Matthew 25, Jesus contrasts the wise and foolish virgins, the wise ones who have an extra supply of oil for the bridegroom’s coming and the foolish who are unprepared. Matthew 7 and Matthew 25 both include the sentence ‘I never knew you,’ spoken first to those who performed signs but did not obey, then to the foolish virgins. At some point, the door closes, and the unprepared, foolish virgins are left outside.”[2]

The difference between the wise and foolish bridesmaids is the oil (often used as a symbol of the Spirit). The Spirit and the good works the Spirit generates in them is why the one group gains entrance and the other does not. Both kings and priests where anointed with oil (the Spirit) as equipping for the vocations to which they were called. How appropriate, then, that God’s “royal priests,” his human creatures called to serve in his creational temple bear that same equipping gift.

Staying awake, then, points to living by the Spirit and thereby doing the work of God, remaining alive to God and living expectantly as his people. This is wisdom.

The Parable of the Talents (Mt.25:14-30)

If the last parable contrasted the wise and the foolish (Abrahamic Israel and ethnic Israel) in regard to the coming crisis of the war with Rome and destruction of the temple, this parable similarly contrasts slaves who are productive with their master’s resources and one who is not.

A talent, btw, is a monetary unit worth about 15 years of a laborer’s work. God had richly bestowed his resources on Israel – “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah” (Rom.9:4-5) as Paul puts it – to be invested in his work in the world. Rightly invested God would grace this work with abundance.

Israel and in particular its leadership had misused and wasted these precious resources throughout its history (see Mt.23). They buried God’s resources and did not act on them. His kingdom work did not grow under their stewardship into the greater future God intended. They risked nothing for God and, hence, had nothing to show him at the time of his visitation (in Jesus). Their future as wastrel stewards was only “the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v.30) of the Roman sword and occupation. What had been entrusted to them, the call to be God’s Abrahamic Israel, would be given to those who wisely and faithfully invested God’s resources.

Some few, however, had fulfilled their responsibilities as stewards of God’s resources by embracing Jesus as Israel’s true Messiah. They will receive greater responsibilities and resources to administer on God’s behalf in service of his kingdom (v.23).

The differences in the amount of resources given to each of the slaves should probably not be pushed for particular significance. That s a necessary feature to tell the kind of story Jesus intended to tell. To focus on the presumed meaning of such literary devices detracts from the sharp point he puts on it. Again, the message for Israel is fidelity to its calling and resisting every temptation to deviate from it.

Again, though our situation differs in some key respects from 1^st century Israel, Jesus message of the urgency of intentional faithfulness to our life together as God’s people is as crucially relevant for us as it was for them. For we are no more immune from God’s judgment for our handling of the resources and calling he has graciously entrusted to us than they were. We are saved by grace, as were they. That action rests solely with God and he his unconditionally committed to it. But how we live out and demonstrate that salvation in and to the world is another matter altogether. The New Testament is clear that we will face judgment for that (see for instance 1 Cor.3:10-15; 2 Cor.5:10). Even severe judgment, tough love. Even rejection within history as serviceable for God’s purposes. We may well still be saved (that is an open question, but likely, in my view) but we will live eternally with our loss of the chance to live as we were meant to in this earthly life. And that’s the point, in my judgment, of life – to live as God’s royal priest in his creation temple. Not to get to heaven! God will, I believe, see to that. But only we can see to how we handle the extraordinary privilege of being alone of all creation caretakers and protectors of God’s creation tasked with leading it toward its full flourishing.

Israel failed substantially in its role in the historical outworking as we’ve seen in their response to Jesus Messiah. The church too has had many bad moments in its journey, along with some signal successes in faithfulness along the way. The question for us, of course, is what will we do with our time and opportunity to live as God’s royal priests.

The Sheep and the Goats (Mt.25:31-46)

This well-known picture of Jesus’ judgment of the sheep and the goats is usually thought to portray something happening at the end of human history, a final reckoning of what has been done here on earth. But I want to question that understanding, at least in part.

The first question we need to ask is when is this event happening. We have seen reason already to question whether Jesus’ talk of “the end” means the end of human history and all things. In ch.24 we argued it refers to the end of Israel’s role as the bearer of God’s blessing to the world for its consistent default on that mandate. Its judgment and the destruction of its temple was tantamount to the “end of the world” for it. When Rome rolled through town destroying everything in its wake this was a sign of the victory and vindication of Jesus and his role as the ruler of the world carrying out God’s justice in that role.

“According to the rest of the New Testament, not least St Paul, Jesus is already ruling the world as its rightful lord (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15.25-28). Should we not say, then, that this scene of judgment, though in this picture it is spoken of as a one-off, future and final event, may actually refer to what is happening throughout human history, from the time of Jesus' resurrection and ascension to the present? Could it be that the final judgment, in some sense, comes forward to meet us?”[3]

I think this is precisely what is happening here. Jesus already is what he will be then and is actively serving in the capacity of world ruler and judge. The final judgment at the end – and the New Testament assures us there will be one – is of a piece with what is pictured here. Remember, we are still operating under the “this generation” time frame!

Next question, who is involved here? It seems almost universally assumed that Jesus is saying here that the criterion of judgment is the treatment of the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned (vv.35-36). What’s more, Jesus says he himself is present in and the ultimate recipient of the care given to such folks. What a powerful incentive to service and mission to the last and the least! And so it has been used throughout the history of the church.

Still, I believe this interpretation of this passage is wrong. Hear me carefully here, the meaning assigned to this text, though not correct for it, is a correct reading of the biblical message. Many other passages support and insist on this kind care being given to all in need from the beginning to the end of the Bible. That is text is not one of them does not detract from that message at all!

Who then are the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned? Jesus calls them the “the least of these who are members of my family” (v.40). It’s Jesus’ followers he refers to here. Further, it is “nations” and not individuals who are judged (v.32). When we remember that Jesus is regathering and reconstituting Abrahamic Israel and sending them out first to Israel and ultimately to the rest of the world (28:18-20), and that part of the promise given to Abraham included the provision “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse” we can see that what is pictured here is the outworking of that divine promise. Abraham’s true family, the bearer of the world’s hope and destiny, is protected by God such that when they are mistreated or deprived or cared for and ministered to, curses and blessings will be visited on those nations based on how they treated Israel.

This picture of the judgment of the sheep and the goats forms a fitting conclusion to this final great discourse of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. His admonitions to readiness, wakefulness, and alertness are capped off with this assurance that whatever hardships they encounter in their faithfulness will meet with care and compassion by some peoples and justice levied on others who treat them badly. Divine care all attend them throughout their journey.

What is all this for? The blessing of the world! Discipling the nations (28:18-20) and spreading Jesus’ way of life everywhere they go in anticipation of the fullness of life in God’s kingdom to come.

I believe this understanding does justice to the place and details of this passage better than the usual view.

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[1] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 132-133.

[2] Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew: 3582-3588.

[3] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 143.