Chapter XXIV
Ver. 1-51. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Warnings suggested by it to Prepare FOR His Second Coming. (=Mark 13. 1-37; Luke
21. 5-36.) For the exposition, see on Mark 13. 1-37.
CHAPTER XXV.
Ver. 1-13. Parable op the Ten Virgins. This and the following parable are in Matthew alone. 1. Then— at the time referred to at the close of the preceding chap-
ter, the time of the Lord's Second Coming to reward His faithful servants and take vengeance on the faithless. 27ien shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, -which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom—This supplies a key to the parable, whose ol>ject is, in the main, the same as that of the last parable—to illustrate the vigilant and expectant attUtide of faith. In respect of which believers are described aa "they that look for Him" (Hebrews 9. 28), and "love His appearing" (2 Timothy 4. 8). In the last parable It was that of servants waiting for their absent Lord; in this it is that of virgin attendants on a Bride, whose duty It was to go forth at night with lamps, and be ready on the appearance of the Bridegroom to conduct the Bride to bis house, and go In with him to the marriage. This ei»- Ureaod beautiful change of fignrt brings out the lesson
27te farable of ike Tin Virgins. MATTHEW XXV. The Parahlt of tlie Talent*.
as the foolish. The world "slumbered" sigmfles, simply, 'nodded,' or, 'became drowsy;" while the world "slept"
becomes ours thereby In Inalienable possession. (Of. for the language, Proverbs 23. 23; ch. 13. 44.) 10. And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came ; and they tliat were ready went In wltli him to the marriage : and the door was shut—They are sensible of their past folly; they have taken good advice: they are in tlie act of getting what alone they lacked : a very little more, and they also are ready. But the Bridegroom comes ; the ready are admitted ; " the door is shut," and they are undone. How graphic and appalling this picture of one almost saved—but lost .' 11. Afterward tame also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us—In ch.
Is the usual word for ' lying down to sleep ;' denoting two stages of spiritual declension—first, that half-involuntary lethargy or drowsiness which Is apt to steal over one who
falls into inactivity; and then a conscious, deliberate yielding to it, after a little vain resistance. Such was the state alil^e of the wise and the foolish virgins, even till the cry of the Bridegroom's approach awoke them. So likewise in the parable of the Importunate "Widow: "When the Sou of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" fLukelS. 8). 6. And at midnight—i. e., the time when the Bridegroom will be least expected ; for " the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5. 2)—there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him—/. e., ' Be ready to welcome Him.' T. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps—the foolish virgins as well as the wise. How very long do both parties seem the same almost to the moment of decision ! Looking at the mere form of the parable, it is evident that the folly of "the foolish" consisted not in having no oil at all; for they must have had oil enough in their lamps to keep them burning up to this moment: their folly consisted in not making provision against its exhaustion, by taking with their lamp an oi?-r(?ssei wherewith to replenish their lamp from time to time, and so have it burning until the Bridegroom should come. Are we, then—with some even superior expositors— to conclude that the foolish virgins must represent true Christians as well as the wise, since only true Christians have the Spirit, and that the difference between the two classes consists only in the one having the necessary watchfulness which the "other wants? Certainly not. Since the parable was designed to hold forth the prepared and the unprepared to meet Christ at His coming, and how the unprepared might, up to the very last, be confounded with the prepared—the structure of the parable behooved to accommodate Itself to
7. 22 this reiteration of the name was an exclamation rather of surprise; here it is a piteous cry of urgency, bordering on despair. Ah! now at length their eyes are , wide open, and they realize all Jhe consequences of their past folly. I'Z, But he answered and said. Verily I say unto you, I know you not—The attempt to establish a diflference between " I know you not" here, and "I never knew you" in ch. 7. 23—as If this were gentler, and so implied a milder fate, reserved for "the foolish" of this parable—is to be resisted, though advocated by such critics as Olshausen, Stier, and Alford. Besides being Inconsistent with the general tenor of such language, and particularly the solemn moral of the whole (v. 13), it is a kind of criticism which tampers with some of the most awful warnings regarding the future. If it be asked why unworthy guests were admitted to the marriage of the King's Son, in a former parable, and the foolish virgins are excluded in this one, we may answer, in the admirable words of Gerhard, quoted by Trench, that those
festivities are celebrated in this life, in the Church militant; these at the last day, in the Church triumphant; to those, even they are admitted who are not adorned with the wedding-garment ; but to these, only they to whom it
is granted to be arrayed In fine linen clean and white, which Is the righteousness of saints (Revelation 19. 8); to those, men are called by the trumpet of the Gospel ; to these by the trumpet of the Archangel; to those, who enters may go out from them, or be cast out; who is once introduced to these never goes out, nor is cast out, from them any more : wherefore it is said, "The door is shut." 13. Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor. the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. This, the moral or practical lesson of the whole parable, needs no comment.
this, by making the lamps of the foolish to burn, as well as those of the wise, up to a certain point of time, and only then to discover their inability to burn on for want of a fresh supply of oil. But this is evidently just a structural device; and the real difference between the two cl.i-sses who profess to love the Lord's appearing is a radical one —the possession bj' the one class of an enduring principle
of spiritual life, and the want of it by the other. 8. And the foolish said unto the wise. Give us of your oil ) for our lamps are gone out—rather, as In the margin, 'are going out;' for oil will not light an extinguished lamp, though it will keep a burning one from going out. Ahl now at length they have discovered not only their owu
14-30. PARABiiE OP THE Talents. This parable, while closely resembling It, Is yet a different one from that of The Pounds, in Luke 19. 11-27; though Calvin, Olshau8EN, Meyer, &c.,. identify them—but not De Weite and Neander. For the difierence between the two parables, see the opening remarks on that of The Pounds. Wlille as Trench observes with his usual felicity—' tiie virgins were represented as waiting for their Lord, we have the servants working for Him ; there the inward spiritual life of the faithful was described; here his external activity.
folly, but the wisdom of the other class, and they do homage to it. They did not perhaps despise them before, but they thought them righteous overmuch ; now they are
forced, with bitter mortification, to wish they were like them. 9. But the >vlsc ansvrered, [Not so] ; lest there be not enough for us and you—The words " Not so," it will be seen, are not in the original, where the reply is very el-
If is not, therefore, without good reason that they appear In their actual order—that of the Virgins first, and of the Talents following—since it is the sole condition of a profitable outward activity for the kingdom of God, that the
liptical—
' In case there be not enough for us and you.' A truly wise answer this. 'And what, then. If we shall share it with you? Wliy, both will be undone.' but go ye ratJicr to flu'isi that sell, and buy for yourselves Here again It would be straining the parable beyond its legitimate design to make it teach that men may get salvation even alter they are supposed and required to have
life of God be diligently maintained within the heart.' 14. For [the kingdom of heaven Is] as a man—The
ellipsis Is better supplied by our translators In the corresponding passage of Mark (13. 34), " [For the Sou of man Is] as a man," <fcc., travelling Into a far country—or more simply, 'going abroad.' The Idea of long "tarrying" is certainly implied here, since It Is expressed in v. I'J. who called his own servants, and delivered unto Uiciu his goods—Between master and slaves this was not uncommon In ancient times. Christ's "servants" here mean all who, by their Christian profession, stand In the relation
It already gotten. It is merely a friendly way of reminding them of the proper way of obtaining the needed and precious article, with a certain reflection on them for having It now to seek. Also, when the parable speaks of "selling" and "buying" that valuable article, it means simply, 'Go, get it in the only legitimate way.' And yet the word " buy" is significant; for we are elsewhere bidden, " buy wine and inlllc without money and without price," and. "buy of Christ gold tried in the fire," &c. (Isaiah
to Him of entire subjection. His "goods" mean all their
gifts and endowments, whether original or acquired, natural or spiritual. As all that slaves have belonK«i to their master, so Christ has a claim to everything which belongs to His people, everything which may be turt-ed
55. 1; Ilevelutlon .). 18). Now, since what we pay the demanded price for becomes thereby our own property, the salvation which we thus take gratuitously at God's bauds, beli'g bought la His own senae of thai word,
to good, and He demands Its appropriation to His service,
or, viewing It otnerwisc. they first offer it up to Him; M
The Parable of the Talents. MATTHEW XXV. Deseriplion of the Last Judgment.
and slothful servant—" Wicked" or " bad" means ' falsehearted,' as opposed to the others, who are emphatically styled "good servants." The addition of "slothful" is to mark the precise nature of his wickedness : it consisted,
Ijelne "not their own, but bought with a pric*. ' (1 Corin-
thians fi. 13, 20). and He "delivers it to them" again to be put to use in His service. 15. And unto oi»e I»e gave live
taleiit^, to aiiotlier two, and to another one—While
Ihe proportion of ffifls is different in eacli, tlie same ftdelity
it seems, not in hisdoing anything, against, butsimply nothing for his master. Thou knewest that I reap where
is required of all, and equally rewarded. And tlius there
.S perfect equity, to every man according to his several •bllity—his natural capacit.y as enlisted in Christ's ser-
I sowed not, and gather where I have not straived He takes the servant's own account of his demands, as expressing graphically enough, not the "hardness" wliicU he had basely imputed to him, but simply his demand i)f " a profitable return for the gift entrusted." 27. thou oughtest therefore to liave put my money to ttie exchangers—or, 'the bankers'—and then at my coming 1 should have receive<l mine own with usury—or ' in-
vice, and his opportunities in providence for employing the gifts bestowed on him. and straightway took his Journey — Cf. eh. 21. 33, where the same departure is ascribed to God, after setting up the ancient economy. In both case.s, it denotes the leaving of men to the action of
all those spiritual laws and Influences of Heaven under
whicli they have been graciously placed for their own salvation and the advancement of tlieir Lord's kingdom. 16. Then he that liad received the five talents went and traded wltli the same—expressive of the activity whicli lie put forth and tlie labour he bestowed—and ma<le tliem other five talents. 17. And likewise lie that ha<l received two—rather, ' the two'—he also gained other two—each doubling what he received, and there-
terest.' 89. For unto every one tliat hath sltall be given, &c. See on ch. 13. 12. 30. And cast ye—'cast ye out' — the unprofitable servant— 'the useless servant,' that does his Master no service—Into outer darkness 'the darkness which is outside.' On this expression see on ch. 22. 13. there shall be weeping and gnashing ofteeth —See on ch. 13. 42.
31-46. The Last Jxjdgment. The close connection between this sublime scene—peculiar to Matthew—and the two preceding parables is too obvious to need pointing
fore botft equally faithful. 18. Bnt he tliat had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money—not misspending, but simply making no use of it. Nay, his action seems that of one anxious that the gift should not be misused or lost, but ready to be retufned, just as he got it. 19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them—Tliat any one—within the lifetime of the apostles at least — with sucii words before them, should think tliat Jesus had given any reason to expect His Second Appearing within tliat period, would seem strange, did we not know the tendencj"^ of enthusiastic, ill-regulated love of His appearing ever to take this turn. SJO. Lord, thon dellveredst luito me five talents ; behold, I Ikave gained besides them five talents more—How beautifully does this illustrate what the beloved disciple says of " boldness In the day of judgment," and his desire that "when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming!" (1 John 4. 17; 2. 28.) 31. His lord said unto him. Well done—a single word, not of l>are satisfaction, but of warm and delighted commendation. And from what Lips!—thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things . . . ^'i. He also that had received two talents came . . . good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things Both are commended in the same terms, and the reward of both is precisely the same. (See on v. 15.) Observe also the contrasts: 'Thou hast been faithful as a servant; now be a rulei—thou hast been entrusted with a
out. 31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory —His personal glory—and all the holy angels w ith him —See Deuteronomy 33. 2; Daniel 7. 9, 10; Jude 14; with Hebrews 1.6; 1 Peter 3.22—then shall he sit upon the tlirone of his glory—tlie glory of His judicial authority, 32. And before him shall be .gathered all nations—or,
'all the nations.' That this sliould be understood to mean the heathen nations, or all except believers in Christ, will seem amazing to any simple reader. Yet this is the exposition of Olshausen, Stiek, Keil, Alfokd (tliough latterly with some diffidence), and of a number, tliough not all, of those who hold that Clirist will come the second time before the millennium, and that the s.aints will be caught up to meet Him in the air before His appearing. Their chief argument is, the impossibility of any that ever knew the Lord Jesus wondering, at the Judijment Day, that they should be thought to have done—or left undone—anything "unto Christ." To that we shall advert when we come to it. But here we may just say, that
If this scene do not describe a personal, public, final judgment on men, according to the treatment tliey have given to Christ—and consequently men within the Cliristian pale—we shall have to consider again whether our Lord's teaching on the greatest themes of human interest does Indeed possess that incomparable simplicity and transparency of meaning wliich, by universal consent, has been ascribed to it. If it be said. But how can this be the general judgment, if only those within the Christian pale be embraced by It?—we answer. What is here described, as it certainly does not meet the case of all the family of' Adam, is of course so far not general. But we have no right to conclude that the whole "judgment of the great day" will be limited to the points of view here presented; Other explanations will come up in the course of our exposition, and lie shall separate them—now for the first time; the two classes having been mingled all along up; to this awful moment — as a shepherd dlvideth his sheep from the goats—(See Ezekiel 34. 17.) 33. And: he shall set the sheep on his right hand—the side of honour
/eif things; now have cZoffiiriion over many things.' enter tliou into the Joy of thy lord—thy Lord's own joy. (See John 15. 11 ; Hebrews 12. 2.) 24. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard—or 'harsh'—man—The word in Luke (19. 21) Is " austere"—reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed— The sense is obvious : ' I knew thou wast one whom it was impossible to serve, one whom nothing would please: exacting what was Impracticable, and dissatisfied with what was attainable.' Thus do men secretly think of God as a hard Master, and virtually throw on Him the blame of their fruitlessness. 25. And I was aflraid—of making matters worse by meddling with
(1 Kings 2. 19; Psalm 45.9; 110.1, &c.)—but the goats on the left—the side consequently of dishonour. 34. The» shall the King—Magnificent title, here for the first and only time, save In parabolical language, givex] to Himself by the Lord Jesus, and that on the eve of His deepest humiliation! It is to intimate that in then addressing the heirs of the kingdom. He will put on all his regal majesty—say unto them on his right hand, Come— the same sweet word with which He had so long invited all the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him for rest. Now it Is addressed exclusivel.v to such as have come and found rest. It is still "Come," and to "rest" too; but to rest in a higher style, and In another region—ye blessed of my Father, Inherit the kingilom prepaa-ed for you from the foundation of the world—The whole story of
it at all—and went and hid thy talent In the earth —This depicts the conduct of all those who shut up their gifts from the active service of Christ, without actually prostituting them to unworthy uses. Fitly, therefore, may it, at least, comprehend those, to whomTKENCH refers, who, in the early Church, pleaded that they had enough to do with their ow n souls, and were afraid of losing them in trying to saveothers; and so, instead of being the salt of the earth, thought rather of keeping their own galtness by withdrawing sometimes into caves and wildernesses, from all those active ministries of love by which they might have served their brethren. Thou wicked 51
5d.-
Description oj ihe Last Judgment. MATTHEW XXVI. The Sentence of the AecuTsed.
this their lilessedness is given by the apostle, in words
represented?' Nay, rather, is it conceivable that they should tioi be astonislied, and almost doubt their own ears, to hear such an account of their own actions upon earth from the lips of the Judge? And remember, that Judge has come in His glory, and now sits upon the throne of His glory, and all the holy angels are with Him; and that it is from those glorified Lips that the words come foi-tli, ' Ye did all this unto Me.' Oh can we imagine such a word addressed to ourselves, and then fancy ourselves replying, 'Of course we did—To whom else did we anything? It must be others than we that are addressed, who never knew, in all their good deeds, M'hat they were about?' Rather, can we imagine ourselves not overpowered with astonishment, and scarcely able to credit the testimony borne to us by the King? 41. Then sliall he say also nnto tltcm on the left hand, Depart from me, yecnrsed, &c.—'As for you on the left hand, ye did nothing for Me. I came to you also, but ye knew Me not: ye had neither warm alfections nor kind deeds to bestow upon Me : I was as one despised in your eyes.' 'In mir eyes. Lord? We never saw Thee before, and never, sure, behaved we so to Thee.' ' But thus ye treated these little ones that believe in Me and now stand on My right hand. In the disguise of these poor members of Mine I came soliciting your pity, but ye shut up your bowels of compassion from Me: I asked relief, but ye had none to give Me. Take back therefore your own coldness, your own contemptuous distance: Y^e bid Me away from your presence, and now I bid you from Muie—Depail from Me, ye cursed.'' 46. And these shall go away these "cursed" ones. Sentence, it should seem, was first pronounced—in the hearing of tlie wicked—upon the right-
wliii li ^s^'cm but an e:rfpression of these: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; aecordiug as lie hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without l)lanie liefore Hmi in love." They were cliosen from everlasting to the possession and enjoyment of all spiritual blessings in Christ, and so chosen in order to be lioly and blameless in love. This is the holy love whose prac-
tical manifestations the King is about to recount in de-
tail; and thus we see that their whole life of love to Christ
is the fruit of an eternal purpose of love to them in Christ. 35. For 1 was an Hmigeretl . . . thirsty . . . a stranger
. . . 3G. KaJsed . . . sick . . . prison, and ye came nnto me. 37-39. Tlien sliall tlie rigl»teons answer liim, &c. 40. And tile King sliall answer and say nnto them, Verily I say nnto yo\i, Ac.—Astonishing dialogue this between the King, from the Throne of His glory, and His wondering people ! " I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat," &c.—'Not we,' they reply. 'We never did that, Lord ; We were born out of due time, and enjoyed not the privilege of ministering unto Thee.' 'But ye did it to these My brethren, now beside you, when cast upon your
love.' ' Truth, Lord, but was that doing it to Thee ? Thy name was indeed dear to us, and we thought it an honour too great to suffer shame for it. When among the desti-
tute and distressed we discerned anj' of the household of
faith, we will not deny that our hearts leapt within ns at the discovery, and when their knock came to our dwell-
ing, " our bowels were moved," as though " our Beloved
Himself had put in His hand by the hole of the door." Sweet was the fellowship we had with them, as if we had "entertained angels unawares;" all difference between giver and receiver somehow melted away under the beams of that love of Thine wliich knit us together ; nay, rather, as they left us with gratitude for our poor givings, we seemed the debtors—not they. But, Lord, were we all that time in company with Thee?' 'Yes, that scene was
eous, who thereupon sit as assessors in the judgment npou the wicked (1 Corinthians 6. 2); but sentence is first executed, it should seem, upon the wicked, in the sight of the righteous—whose glory will thus not be beheld by the wicked, while their descent into "their own place" will be witnessed by the righteous, as Bengei, notes, into everlasting punishment— or, as in v. il, "everlasting
all with Me,' replies the King—' Me in the disguise of My poor ones. The door shut against Me by others was opened by you — " Ye took Me in.'' Apprehended and imprisoned by the enemies of the truth, ye whom the truth had made free sought Me out diligently and found Me; visithig Me in My lonely cell at the risk of your own lives, and clieering My solitude ; ye gave Me a coat, for I shivered ; and then I felt warm. With cups of cold water ye moistened My parched Hps; when famished with hunger ye supplied Me with crusts, and my spirit revived — "Ye did it unto Me."' What thoughts crowd upon us as we listen to such a description of the scenes of the Liist Judgment! And In the light of this view of the heavenly dialogue, how bald and wretched, not to say unscriptural. Is that view of It to which we referred at the outset, which makes it a dialogue between Christ and heathens who never heard of His name, and of course never felt any stirrings of His love in their hearts! To us it seems a poor, superficial objection to the C7iri.s/(nra view of this scene, that Christians could never be supposed to ask such questions as the "blessed of Christ's Fatlier" are made to ask here. If there were anj' difficulty in explaining this, the difll-
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Cf. ch. 13. 42; 2 Thessalonians 1. 9, &c. This is said to be "prepareil for the devil and his angels," because they were "first in transgression." But both have one doom, because one unholy (Character, hut the righteous into life eternal
'life everlasting.' The word in both clauses, being in the original the same, should have been the same in the translation also. Thus tlie decisions of this awful day will be final, irreversible, unending.