Matthew · chapter 25 of 28
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Matthew 25 completes the Olivet Discourse with three teachings on watchfulness and judgment: the parable of the ten virgins, which calls for being ready for the bridegroom's coming; the parable of the talents, which asks for faithfulness with what has been received; and the scene of the judgment of the nations, where Jesus separates sheep and goats according to how they treated the least of these.
Chapter 24 announced that the Son of Man will come and that no one knows when. Matthew 25 answers how to live in the meantime. Three parables and a scene of judgment teach that waiting for the Lord means being ready, serving with what has been received and loving those in need.
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who go out to meet the bridegroom with their lamps. Five are foolish and take no extra oil; five are wise and take oil in their flasks. At midnight a cry is heard that the bridegroom is coming. The foolish ask the wise for oil, who answer that there would not be enough and tell them to go and buy. While they are gone, the bridegroom arrives, those who were ready go in with him to the wedding feast and the door is shut. When the others come and knock, he answers that he does not know them.
Then he tells the parable of the talents. A man going on a journey entrusts his property to his servants, five talents to one, two to another and one to another, each according to his ability. The one with five and the one with two trade and double them. The one with one digs a hole and hides his master's money. When the master returns, the one with five and the one with two receive the praise: well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master. The third says he was afraid and returns the talent. The master calls him wicked and slothful and has him thrown into the outer darkness.
The chapter ends with the scene of judgment. When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on his throne and gather all the nations, and separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. To the sheep, on his right, he will say that they inherit the kingdom because he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and in prison, and they cared for him. They ask when they did so, and he answers that whatever they did for one of the least of these my brothers, they did for him. To the goats, on his left, he says they did not care for him, and they go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus concludes the parable of the virgins with a command: watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Being ready is not guessing the date but living with the right disposition every day.
The master praises the faithful servant for being faithful over a little and invites him to enter his joy. God values faithfulness in small tasks and rewards it with a shared joy.
The Son of Man says he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and in prison, and they cared for him. The judgment reveals living faith through concrete works of love toward those in need.
Jesus says that what they did for one of the least of his brothers, they did for him. He identifies himself with those in need, so that serving them is serving him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The wise took oil in their flasks along with their lamps; the foolish did not. — Matthew 25:2-4
Answer: That he did not know them. — Matthew 25:11-12
Answer: Five to the first, two to the second and one to the third, each according to his ability. — Matthew 25:15
Answer: He dug in the ground and hid his master's money. — Matthew 25:18
Answer: Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master. — Matthew 25:21-23
Answer: Because they cared for Jesus when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and in prison, by serving his least brothers. — Matthew 25:34-40
The three teachings complement each other: be ready, work and love. In a small group you can ask what it means to have oil today, that is, a faith of our own and not borrowed, and what talents, gifts or time we have hidden out of fear instead of putting them to service.
The judgment of the nations asks us to look at those near us. Ask who is hungry, lonely, sick or imprisoned in your surroundings, and what concrete act of love you can do this week, knowing Jesus receives it as done to him.
Matthew 25 shows that waiting for the Lord means being ready, being faithful and serving the least with love. In chapter 26 the passion narrative begins: the plot against Jesus, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the arrest and Peter's denial.
The text does not explain it. It has been understood in several ways: genuine faith, the Holy Spirit or a prepared life. The central point is that each person must have his own preparation, which cannot be borrowed at the last moment.
Interpreters understand it in several ways: the needy in general, or specifically the disciples of Jesus, whom the nations received or rejected. Both readings agree that how we treat those who suffer reveals our relationship with Christ.
No. The rest of the New Testament teaches that salvation is by grace through faith. Works of love are the fruit and evidence of that faith, which is why the judgment mentions them. The sheep are welcomed into a kingdom given to them as an inheritance, not one they earned.