This is the third parable in Matthew Chapter 25, and oddly enough, many scholars do not even include it as a parable. These seem to take the position that it is more of a prophecy than a parable, and a case can be made for that, I suppose. I, on the other hand, treat it as a parable because it contains all of the elements of a parable, and parables are all prophetic in one way or another. I think you will see what I mean as we go through it.
At the beginning of our trip through Matthew 25, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, I said that I would give you the easy explanation first for this batch of parables in Chapter 25, and the hard part at the end. This is the hard part.
Matthew 25 is the second part of The Olivet Discourse which covers chapters 24 and 25, taking place immediately after Jesus pronounced the Seven Woes upon the Priests and Teachers of the Law in Chapter 23. The Discourse is Jesus’ answer to a question posed by His disciples in Matthew 24:3:
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
This is a two-part question, the first part is answered through the rest of Chapter 24, and the second in Chapter 25 in our 3 parables. The question that sets the context for all of Chapter 25 is 24:3b:
…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
If you would like to look further into this issue, here is a link to get you started in my posting for Matthew 24. There are several posts, this is the first.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats answers the question asked in 24:3b in a unique way, for here we are not dealing with virgins awaiting the bridegroom or servants awaiting the master’s return, but instead, with judgement day.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Matthew 25:31-33
The parable begins with Jesus sitting in judgment of the Nations where His followers (sheep) are at His right and His non-followers (goats) on the left. Then His judgment begins:
“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. 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, 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.’ (25:34-36)
The righteous want to know when they did those things… and Jesus answers:
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (25:40)
No doubt you will recall that Jesus spoke of “the least of these” several times in Matthew’s account already− what we are seeing here is what being “ready” for His return looks like. Those who took care of “the least of these” went into the Kingdom that was prepared for them, but the others went elsewhere (24:46).
How do we live our lives− are we kind, generous and attentive to the needs of others? Do we put others ahead of ourselves? Are we willing to give to those in need?
Or do we prefer to let others get their hands dirty… or reach for their checkbooks?
I remember how old Ebenezer Scrooge answered that question: “Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses… Surely the taxes I pay to support these institutions are enough…”
For a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is clearly not enough, for Jesus has made it crystal clear that the way we each live our lives is the determining factor in whether or not we are “ready” for His return… which could happen Today.
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