Keep watch and be ready! Perhaps you think we overdid that point in recent articles? But I cannot have overdone it since in Matthew 25 (the next chapter) Jesus continues His teaching on the Mount of Olives by adding three more parables that also warn us to watch and be ready. The first is the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins. The second is the parable of the talents (money). The third is the story of the separation of the sheep and the goats.

Each parable makes its own points but taken together they intensify and even broaden Jesus’ warnings. Instead of speaking of people who are obviously saved or lost, such as those who perished in the flood or the wicked, careless servant, Jesus seems to speak of people who look like believers and who even think they are but who will not be ready when He comes.

There are three ways in which the stories are the same.

First, in each case the return of the Lord is sudden and unexpected. In the story of the wise and foolish virgins, the cry, “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” comes at midnight, when the women are asleep. The cry awakens them, and they rise up suddenly. In the story of the talents, the master returns “after a long time” when he is least expected. In the case of the sheep and the goats, the decisive moment arrives “when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him.”

This is the chief point Jesus has been making from the very beginning of the discourse in chapter 24. The disciples wanted to know when Christ would return, and Jesus replied that they could not know. They would see many signs that would not be true signs of His coming. When He actually does come, His coming will be so sudden and unexpected that no signs of it can be given. Therefore, they must be ready.

Second, in each case the Lord’s return results in an unalterable division between two groups of people. The division is between those who are ready when Jesus returns and those who are not ready. In the case of the women, five go into the wedding banquet and five are shut out. In the case of the servants, two are commended and one is judged. In the case of the sheep and the goats, the sheep inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for them while the goats receive eternal punishment.

Finally, in each case the people who are lost are utterly surprised at their rejection. This is the most striking feature of these stories. The women who are shut out of the banquet can hardly believe that the door has been closed to them. The wicked servant thinks he has done right by burying the talent he was given. He expects to be praised and is astonished that he is rebuked and cast out. The goats do not understand the Lord’s disapproval. “Lord, when did we…not help you?”

When we think about this feature of the stories, we realize that they are not about people who have no use for Christ or His Gospel. They are about people who are part of what we would call the visible Church. Like many in our Churches today, these people think they are saved and that they are on their way to heaven, but their actual destiny is hell. Is it any wonder the Lord states His warning to “keep watch and be ready” so forcefully?

Maranatha!

(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)

Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org