Interpretation Project

Step 1: What is the central message of each episode?

Matthew 24:36–44

Matthew 24:45–51

Matthew 25:1–13

In this passage we learn that Jesus is warning us to be ready for the second coming.  A quote from Roger E. Van Harn about this passage reads, “Its declaration of eschatological ignorance grounds the entire section: one must be ever prepared for what may come at any time.”^[1]  Something must be said about the references he makes.  He compares the second coming to the flood experienced by people who lived in Noah’s time.  He points out that these folks were not ready.  Jesus is trying to highlight the importance of being ready again when He talks about the homeowner who would guard his home if he knew when the thief would come.  The point is that if we as followers of Christ are looking for a short cut, there is none.  We cannot know when Jesus will return but instead we must remain ready by wholeheartedly following Christ.

It is interesting that Jesus finishes off talking about responsibility.  Here Jesus describes how a master delegates the important role of managing a household and the servants within to his sensible servant.  But he is emphasizing what exactly the master expects of the servant.  Jesus is telling us that He expects us to serve others and care for eachother so as to bring glory to His kingdom.  He is telling us that the Father will be in great despair if when the Son returns He finds we failed to manage the responsibility we were given.  There will be a great consequence to pay as a result.  The point of this message is to whom much is given much is required and we should be ready for Jesus to return at any moment.    “Now the application of this case, or parabolical way of speaking, is to the coming of Christ, and the watchfulness of every good man who has notice of it, that he may not be surprised with it, but be in a readiness to receive him.”^[2]

The central message in this excerpt is that we are each responsible for our spiritual fitness and we must be ready for Jesus to return.  The bridesmaids were waiting for the bridegroom just like we are waiting for Jesus.  When the bridegroom returned we see that those who had prepared were able to partake in a grand feast yet for those whom hadn’t thought enough to bring what was necessary they found themselves locked out.  We also notice that once the door is locked the bridegroom tells the women who were outside that he did not know them.  The difference between to foolish bridesmaids and the rest of the bridesmaids is salvation.^[3]   It is crucial to realize that we are all aware of the coming of Christ and if we are not prepared then He too will tell us that He does not know us.  

Step 2: What is the gospel writer trying to communicate to his readers by the way he connects the 3 stories together?

Matt 24:36–44; Matt 24:45–51; Matt 25:1–13

These passages were recorded and written out as to emphasize the points Jesus was trying to stress.  In the days the Bible was written we must consider the authors didn’t have recorders they could use when Jesus was speaking.  So it is assumed that everything they wrote was derived from their memory of the event they were recording.  It is pretty obvious that what the Apostle Matthew heard in these passages was, “we must be ready.”

Matthew realized that it was important to Jesus to tell these parables and it was his duty to record each of them so we could also see the importance of what Jesus had to say.  These messages are that of life and death.  They warn us of what we are at risk of losing by not being ready, a relationship with Jesus.  These messages tell us that we like the bridesmaids can be locked out and told “I do not know you” by our savior!  

Step 3: Application - How do we apply the message of these gospel stories to our lives today?

Applying the message of these gospel stories to our lives today is a daily mission.  We must be ready for the return of Jesus.  We have to consider what the consequences are in either case.  

There are good consequences and bad consequences.  If we live out our lives so that we are ready without notice of Jesus’s return then we will reap the benefits of Heaven and the beautiful relationship we gain with Jesus.  If we are not ready because we have gotten lazy in our faith or we are abusing Jesus’s people and abusing the resposiblity He has entrusted us with then we will suffer because God will turn His back to us and we will be thrown to a place of weeping and gnashing of the teeth.