"The Last Parables" Matthew 25a March 16 2025

Intro & Passage

Good morning

Today - The two parables of Matt 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

The Parable of the Talents

These two parables are the last in Matthew

Sermon: “The Last Parables”

We are in the final weeks before Christ is crucified

Before getting into these parables, I want to read an excerpt from the Parable of the Ten Virgins

These are the words of Jesus

Matthew 25:11–13 ESV

Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

(Pray...)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

As we take a look at Matt 25, I want to point out that this is a continuation of the Matt 24

We are still in the Olivet Discourse - and Jesus is still talking to, and talking about Israel during the tribulation

This chapter immediately starts off with this parable about the ten virgins

Notice that verse 1 of Chapter 25 begins with a conjunctive sentence

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”

Last week, we took note when Jesus said for us to “stay awake” in verse 42

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

And now, in Matt 25, Jesus is emphasizing that theme by giving us two parables

Although, this these parables are intended for a specific audience - Israel during the time of the future tribulation - we can obviously draw applications for our lives

Jesus has essentially been telling us

Stay awake

You don’t know the day or hour when I will return, so be ready

There is a major sense of urgency in what he says

In fact, both parables have elements of sad endings

Both end with stern warnings from Jesus

So, Jesus gives us this marvelous parable of the ten virgins

These ten virgins are off to meet the bridegroom

Five were foolish - five were wise

And here is the simple distinction between the two

They all had oil lamps with them in search of the bridegroom - and part of this parable takes place at midnight

The foolish ones had their lamps with them, but they had no oil for their lamps

But the wise ones had their lamps with oil

The bridegroom represents Christ

And the oil represents the Holy Spirit

The ones without oil can’t shine their lights because they are phonies

Again, this parable is about Israel, but we can still draw an application for ourselves

In end-times, the Church will already be married to the Bridegroom

And this is a picture of the Bridegroom who has come to take these virgins to the wedding party

In the story, all ten virgins go out to meet the bridegroom - the wise and the foolish

But the Bridegroom becomes delayed - and all ten virgins become drowsy and fall asleep

Then right at midnight, there is a loud cry:

“The bridegroom is here! Come out now and meet him!”

As soon as they heard the announcement, they shot up and got themselves ready - they all trimmed the wicks of their lamps

Now, back then, a lamp was usually made of clay and filled with oil

There would be a short wick sticking out and it would stay lit because it was soaked with the oil

This was midnight, and you needed to have a lamp that worked

So the foolish ones demanded from the wise virgins, “Give us some of your oil quickly! Our lamps are going out!”

“We don’t have enough oil for you,” said the wise virgins. “You should go to the market where they sell oil, and get some yourself.”

The foolish ones went out - but as they were frantically trying to buy oil for themselves - in the middle of the night, btw - the bridegroom already came

Those who were ready, the wise ones, went with the bridegroom

They wasted no time - they went to the beautiful mansion where the marriage feast was -

In they went, and the door was shut behind them

When the foolish ones finally came to the mansion, they found themselves locked out

They knocked loudly and cried out, “Lord, lord, open to us!”

Now the bridegroom heard them - but responded with the saddest thing he could say to them, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

And Jesus ends this tragic parable by saying, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Parable of the Talents

Now we’ve come to the last parable from Jesus

The Parable of the Talents

In this parable, Jesus touches on a theme he established back in Matt 21, in the Parable of the Tenants

As that parable comes to a close, Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits”

Again, in this Mt 25 parable, Jesus ends the story with the master taking away the one talent and giving it to the one who had ten

A secret to understanding parables is to first look at them within the context of the story itself -

First, take the story at face value

Do this before you start assigning a deeper meaning and application

Understand the historical and social setting within the parable before drawing analogies and interpretations

In other words, know the story really well - and who Jesus was talking to

What was the context and the overall setting did Jesus tell this story?

How would his listeners back then be affected by this story

Once you’ve done all that, then you can look to a deeper meaning and application

When we say the Parable of the Talents, we’re not talking about different talents people had - (America’s Most Talented)

The word comes from Greek - it is a measurement in weight, of precious metals

Each talent would be worth a lot today

The story starts off with a man who is about to leave on an extended journey

He calls in his servants, and entrusts them with his property while he’s gone

He gives five talents to one - another, two - and the last, one - each according to their ability

Then the he went away

As the story goes - the man who had five talents went out and used that money to trade with

He went out wheeling and dealing - striking up deals here and there

In the end, that servant doubled his money - he ended up with an incredible ten talents

The other guy - the guy with two did the same thing - and he ended up with double!

He started off with two, and ended up with four

But the third guy - the third guy was afraid of his master

He didn’t know his master very well and thought of him as shrewd and unfair

So the third guy took his one talent and buried it in the ground

Then, after a long time, the master returned to settle his accounts

And this is the result - starting in verse 20 -

Matthew 25:20–21 ESV

And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘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.’

I want you to notice two things

When I was a kid growing up hearing this - I thought “five talents” was a lot!

I wasn’t wrong, actually - today, scholars have estimated the value of one talent somewhere around $1 mil!

So, this guy took $5 mil and turned it into $10 mil!

But look what the master said to him - “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.”

He was faithful over a little?

The other thing I want you to notice is that the servant never hands over these talents to his master

Even though, in v.19 says that the master came back to “settle” his accounts

Let’s keep reading - verse 22

Matthew 25:22–23 ESV

And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘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.’

Another observation

This guy doubles his two into four - and the master says the exact same thing as he did to the guy who had ten

Notice the master acknowledges that they were both told that they were faithful over a little - but the master’s plan is to set them over much

I don’t know about you, but if $4 million and $10 million is “little,” I’d like to see what is “much!”

All along, we don’t read that the master is too interested in collecting this money

Now that’s either the end of the story, or I forgot to mention somebody

Oh yeah, the guy who had one talent!

How do you suppose it went for this guy?

At least you can say, he was careful to bury it

He wanted to make sure nothing happened

He put that one talent in a secret place - no one knew about it

Let’s read on and see what happens

Verse 24

Matthew 25:24–27 ESV

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

Part of the problem with this is that the master could have easily dug a hole in the ground and buried all the talents himself

We can agree that the master is God, right?

So God could have easily dug a hole and buried that one talent, right?

Let me ask - is it also possible for God to take five talents and manage to make them into ten?

And also take two talents and make them into four?

Of course!

But God has equipped us with gifts so that we can use those gifts for his purpose

God could easily do all the work himself, but he has given us the unbelievable privilege to be a part of his kingdom and to serve him -

Which is our ultimate purpose in life

What’s the message here??

Do something with what God has given you!

God has given each one of you gifts to serve him

Don’t take what God has given you and hide it away in a secret place that no one knows about!

The master is returning!

Jesus is coming for us -

Believe in Jesus

Don’t get caught in unbelief

I would be irresponsible to say that this is the intended message Jesus meant

Again, he meant this specifically for Jews during the tribulation - as an urgent message to place their faith in God

Because, as Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

But, we can certainly glean from this and apply it to our lives

We don’t know the day nor the hour when our lives will be called, or when the rapture will happen

Therefore, there is a sense of urgency for all of us

Here is the ending to this parable

Verse 28

Matthew 25:28–30 ESV

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Yes, this parable is a warning to the Jews who will get caught in the tribulation

But in a larger sense, I believe we can take these parables to teach us

The oil in the lamps in the first parable represents the Holy Spirit

I believe that our response to the talents God has given us is driven by the Holy Spirit within us

These are stories about the faithful - and the unfaithful

The five foolish virgins and the man with one talent are the phonies in the world

They are like a fig tree that doesn’t produce fruit

To the five foolish virgins, Jesus tells them, “I do not know you”

And in the next parable, Jesus calls that last servant, “worthless” and casts him into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

Friends, don’t let Jesus say this of you

Like in John 15 when Jesus is talking about abiding in him

And he is the true vine...and we are the branches...and the Father is the vinedresser

And any branch that is not producing fruit is not abiding in Christ

And those who are not abiding in him will be:

“thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Those are Jesus’ words, not mine

In the strongest sense, Jesus is talking about hell and is warning us to stay out of that place

We like to think that the parables are nice, sweet, little, cozy stories

Someone said that parables are like theological hand-grenades - because their truth blows-up in your face

Friends, don’t be like the foolish virgins, or like the worthless servant

Put all your trust in Jesus

Don’t just pretend that Jesus is your master

We only have oil in our lamps because of the Lord

We are only able to double our talents because of the Lord

These parables have nothing to do with self-effort - they are about having a true faith in Jesus Christ

Close

As I close, what do you think of in verse 19 where it says the master came and “settled accounts” with his servants?

What comes to mind?

Doesn’t that sound like he came back to gather his profits for himself?

In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matt 18, that same wording is there - the king who wished to settle his accounts

In that parable, the king was very interested in getting back what was owed

But in this parable, it’s the opposite

He makes no effort to take those talents back

We know that the guy with ten was given one more talent - so he ended up with eleven

And nothing is mentioned about the guy with four talents - so I can only assume that he got to keep his four talents

Then there’s the “worthless servant” with one talent - that’s the talent that was given to the first guy!

So, what did the master have in mind when he came to settle his accounts?

I think the master cared more for his servants, rather than millions of dollars

The talents were important to the servants - but to the master - he was more interested in his servants

He’s less concerned with collecting what is rightfully his and more focused on evaluating the faithfulness and stewardship of his servants

This master was focused more on rewarding his faithful servants and not just taking back what was his

Then he told them they were faithful over a little - the talents were, in a sense, just a tool to test these servants

Then he told the faithful servants, “I will set you over much”

Friends, this Master is Jesus

He’s more concerned with us, than with the stuff in our lives

The stuff is so important to us - but it’s just stuff

Jesus is more concerned with how faithful we are - and what do we do with our stuff - and what do we do with the gifts he’s given us -

What do we do with all the things God has entrusted us in order to serve him?

That’s what Jesus cares about

What a tender picture of Jesus, our Shepherd, who cares for his sheep

I think when the faithful are in heaven, he will set us over much

And when we see how much - it will blow our minds

The guy with one talent is the only one who offers the master his talent - v. 25

The other servants don’t offer their doubled talents

But v. 19 says that after a long time, the master came and settled accounts with his servants. What does it mean to “settle” those accounts?

It would seem that the middle of the parable is all about the master settling his accounts

But in v. 28, the servant with only 1 talent is instructed to give his one to the guy with ten. So the guy with the ten (and the other guy, who had four) were able to keep their talents? Even though the master came to settle his accounts? So did the master come to take his profits, or no? Again, what is meant by “settle?”

It's gotten me to think - that when the master came to settle his accounts - it's within a broader sense. That "settling his accounts" is really about dealing with his servants. (I think you intimated this.) I always used to think that five talents was a lot - "And now he has TEN!" But in reality (if I can keep the story going), the master allowed the first guy to keep eleven, and the next guy keep four because the master has plans to entrust his servants with hundreds