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The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 25 (New
International Version) …

Matthew 25:1-46 (New International Version)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like
ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to
meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their
lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The
wise, however, took oil in the jars along with their
lamps. 5The 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 and meet him!’ 7“Then all
the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The
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 of 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. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said, ‘Open
the door for us!’ 12“But he replied, ‘I tell you the
truth, I don’t know you.’ 13“Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day of the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,

who called his servants and entrusted his property
to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to
another two talents, and to another one talent,
each according to his ability. Then he went on his
journey. 16The man who had received the five
talents went at once and put his money to work
and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the
two talents gained two more. 18But the man who
had received the one talent 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. 20The man who
had received the five talents brought the other
five. ‘Master’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five
talents. See, I have gained five more.' 21“His
master replied, ‘well done, god 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
the two talents also came. ‘Master’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained
two more.’ 23“His master replied, ‘well done, god
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 the one talent
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.
25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent
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?
27Well 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“
‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one
who has ten talents. 29For everyone who has will
be given more, and he will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. 30And throw the worthless servant
outside, into the darkness, where there will
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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 thrown in
heavenly glory. 32All 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. 33He 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.
35For 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, 36I
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? 38When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to
visit you?’ 40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for the least of these
brothers 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. 42For I was hungry and you
gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me nothing to drink, 43I 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, ‘I tell you
the truth, 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.”

Background Information …

Background of Matthew
…
Matthew is the Gospel of the King. It was most likely
written to convince the Jewish people that Jesus
was their Messiah--the “long-awaited” King. We
assume this Gospel was written by Matthew. The
bishop of Hierapolis, Papias, was quoted by the
fourth century Church historian Eusebius, that the
Logia (sayings of Jesus) preserved by Matthew was
written in either Hebrew or Aramaic. Some believe
this record of Jesus was originally written in Greek,
and then translated into other languages. The date
of this Gospel could be after A.D. 70, due to the
destruction of Jerusalem (Hobbs 9). Hobbs writes,
“...if one accepts the deity of Jesus Christ, there is
no reason why it could not have been written prior to
that time," i.e., before A.D. 70 (9).[1]

Overview of Matthew 25
…
Matthew 25 may be divided into 3 sections: the
parable of the ten virgins (vv 1-13), the parable of
the talents (vv 14-30), and the sheep and the goats
(vv 31-46). The first parable is a story about ten
young women taking their lamps to meet the
bridegroom for a nighttime wedding. Five of them
brought oil and were able to go into the wedding
banquet with the door shutting behind them. The
other five forgot oil and while they were buying
more, the doors shut on them and they were not
allowed in. The man said he did not know them. This,
I believe, is a metaphor depicting us entering the
kingdom of heaven.

The second parable is about a master's servants. He

gave each of them different amounts of precious
metal. One servant received the weight of five
talents. He went out and invested his wealth to
produce five more talents of silver or gold. The
second servant received two talents and was able to
produce two more. The last servant got one talent
and was frightened. So he buried and hid that single
talent. Thus, he did not produce anymore than he
started with. The last servant was fired. The one
talent he had been given to invest was taken away
from him, because he did not multiply what was
given to him. God gives us the tools to go out and be
fruitful. Basically, this story teaches us to go out and
multiply with what is given to us by God.

The story of the sheep and the goats is a metaphor

for a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats;
just like God will separate the righteous from the
non-righteous. The righteous, on the right, will have
served Christ through serving others, and because
of this they will be allowed into the kingdom of
heaven. Those who are not righteous, on the left, will
have not served Christ through serving others. They
will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. All
three of these stories are about how to live in
eternity with Christ.

Background of Matthew 25
…
This chapter of Matthew was most likely written by
Matthew himself. According to Senior, the reason we
can assume it is Matthew is because, “...the parable
harmonizes with Matthew’s theology and his style”
(Senior 274).[2] The literary context of this chapter
has been said to be allegory and it’s obvious that
he[3] uses parables. Originally though, these
parables “may” have come from Jesus. We can’t
ever know for sure since we were not in that place at
that moment. It is only speculation and faith. The
first and last parables do not have parallels in other
Gospels. However, the second parable, in vv. 14-30,
has a parallel in Luke 19:12-27. The last parable, of
the sheep and the goats, is the last instruction from
Jesus in the First Gospel. It is, as Ulrich Luz says,
the “...last before the story of the passion begins”
(264).

1. ↑ This argument presumes that the only

objection to a date before A.D. 70 is that it
would require the ability to know the future for
Jesus to have predicted the destruction of
Jerusalem before it occurred. First, he
mistakenly assumes that this would require him
to have been divine. Numerous OT prophets
predicted events in the near future; they were
not divine. Second, the problem is that
Matthew seems to have used Mark. Dating
Matthew requires a date after the writing,
publication, and distribution of Mark. When did
that occur? This objection is naive.

2. ↑ You misunderstand Senior's point. He is

claiming that this is not from Jesus. Matthew
invented these stories and credited them to
Jesus. They reflect Matthew's theology, not
Jesus'.

3. ↑ What is the antecedent? Who is he?

Purpose of Matthew 25
…
Like Matthew 24, Matthew 25 continues with the
series of parables. The purpose of the parables in
this chapter is for Jesus to give time between his
death, resurrection, and his second coming. If you
pay attention to these parables you will see that the
other purpose of this chapter is to speak to those
who are going to be judged. They will be judged
accordingly and either will be rewarded with the
Kingdom of God or they will be condemned to Hell.
Another purpose of this chapter is to bring people to
the realization of the responsibilities of being a
“Christian”. As we read with the story of the Sheep
and the Goats, we all have the same responsibilities,
but it is up to us to respond to them.

Purpose of Each Parable/Story

…
Parable of the Ten Virgins
…
This parable teaches us the importance of being
prepared. According to Don Schwager, the wedding
customs in ancient Palestinian times were way
different from now. Instead of going away for one’s
honeymoon, generally the couple would stay and
celebrate with the families for a week. Usually, in
order to get into the celebration you had to have a
wedding garment and a lamp. If you did not have
these things then you were not permitted into the
celebration. They were like tickets. The purpose of
this parable is for us to understand there are
consequences for not being prepared. As Schwager
puts it, “There are certain things you cannot obtain
at the last moment”. On the Day of Judgment, we
better be prepared if we want to be invited in for the
celebration.

Parable of the Talents

…
This parable has the purpose showing us that we
need to be trusted with whatever it is that God gives
us. Essentially, this parable is about responsibility.
God gives us gifts and grace and entrusts us with
things that are to be used. If we do not use them
then we are just digging a hole and burying the
things we are entrusted with. We are not multiplying.
Schwager explains the purpose in one easy
sentence, “We either advance towards God or we
slip back." Being entrusted with certain gifts, such
as talents, gives us the responsibility to do
something with those gifts. God gives us the means
and all we have to do is use them.

The Sheep and the Goats

…
The last part of Matthew 25 is a story about the
Sheep and the Goats. The purpose of this story is to
explain how the Last Judgment will happen.
According to Schwager, Goats were more restless
then sheep and this is why they are referred to as
the evil of the two. Schwager defines The Day of
Judgment as the day that will reveal “who showed
true compassion and mercy toward their neighbor,”
and obviously who did not. Many believe that God is
going to judge the wrong that we do. This story
reveals that God is also going to judge the things we
have not done or fail to do.

Paraphrase

Verse-by-Verse Analysis

Parallel of Matthew 25

Word Study

Observations/Questions

Theological
Implication/Application

Bibliography

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