Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Part III

When we examine Augustine’s interpretation of this verse, it appears that he was directing his remarks more to his audience than explaining what Jesus meant. It appears that he’s worried over the spiritual condition of many who attended his church, that they have become foolish in their living and are not putting God first. But he goes on to say: “And what is this mocking? ‘Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves,’ you who never desired to live well but because people praised you, who sold you oil. Who are these who ‘sold you oil?’ They are the ones who sell praises. And who sells praises but flatterers? How much better would it have been for you not to have given in to flatterers, and to have carried oil within, and for the sake of a good conscience to have done all good works.”¹

So, Augustine was basically saying to believers in his day that those who were not really doing the work God willed them to do, yet were still willing to accept praise from their fellow believers, were like these foolish bridesmaids. In other words, this is a satirical way of saying: When resurrection day comes and your good works prove insufficient for you to rise to meet the groom, then go to those who falsely praised you and see if their congratulations will count enough to make up for what you lack.

Finally, Augustine says: “Go then to those who deal in human praise, as you have been accustomed to doing but do not expect the wise to give you oil at this crucial moment. Why? ‘Lest there not be enough for both of you.’ What is ‘lest there not be enough?’ This was not spoken in any lack of hope but in a sober and godly humility. For though the good person has a good conscience, how does he know how the final judge, who is deceived by no one, will judge? He has a good conscience; no sins conceived in the heart argue with him. Yet, though his conscience is good, because of the daily sins of human life, he says to God daily, ‘Forgive us our debts,’ on the assumption that he has already done what comes next, ‘as we also forgive our debtors.’² He has broken his bread to the hungry from the heart; from the heart has he clothed the naked.”³ This is a clear example of someone not practicing what they preach.

While this may fit well as a method of building a sermon on Jesus’ parable, but does not qualify as a full exegesis. We are not told where the ten bridesmaids got their oil, to begin with, whether it was given to them in preparation for their journey. And now that the foolish ones were unable to get additional oil from the original source, they were told to go and try to buy it from somewhere else. In this, I see where Jesus was saying that each believer is given the oil of love at their new birth.⁴ But if they use up that love for the things of this world rather than in their service to God, when the call is heard that the groom is coming, they will need to look for another source to replenish that love. And how impossible it will be to go to the flatterers of this world and find it. Notice, they were told to go buy the oil, not to receive it as a gift as they did in the beginning of their journey. But again, let’s not forget the main point in this parable is the foolishness of not taking the return of Christ seriously enough to constantly remain ready.

Verse 10: So the foolish girls went to buy oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The girls who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.

So five of the bridesmaids went off with their lamps lit in the direction of meeting the groom, and the other five set off in another direction with their flameless lamps in search of those who might sell them the oil they needed. This must have been difficult since it was still dark outside. No doubt, as the foolish bridesmaids left they were hoping and praying they would be able to get back in time before the wedding ceremony and celebration began.

Keep in mind, this is a part of the story, not the point of the story. The crux of this illustration is that all ten bridesmaids were given the same opportunity to be prepared to go out and meet the groom when he arrived. But only five of them took the time and had the wisdom to make sure they were ready when the time came. Thus, when the announcement was made, those who were prepared went out to meet the groom while they who were not prepared went out in search of what they needed to go along with them. This leads us to consider another factor in this parable. In Biblical days, light was a symbol of wisdom and darkness was a metaphor of ignorance. So it could be applied that all ten bridesmaids started out their journey to meet the groom with sufficient understanding to get them as far as they needed to go in order to wait for the call. But when the call came, only five of them had sufficient wisdom of the Word to know the signs and were, therefore, ready when it happened. The other five had not given enough time to this and were caught off guard and then went in search of more understanding of what just happened. However, once they did realize what took place, it was too late.

Augustine makes this comment: “It is no wonder that precisely while they were going out to buy, while they were seeking for praise from others and found none, while they were seeking for persons by whom to be comforted and found none—just then the shut door opened. Just then the groom came, and the bride, the church, was glorified then with Christ and all its members gathered together into one.”⁵ Then Bishop Hilary writes: “These foolish were not part of the group entering the wedding feast but late and unworthy of entering. They had lost their opportunity.”⁶

So, because the foolish bridesmaids were careless in not maintaining their oil supply, they lost their previously held opportunity to meet the groom when he came. Therefore, the emphasis here is not on the lamp or the oil, but on losing their place in the bridal party because of not being ready when the call to meet the groom was heard. But our Lord was not through with making His point. So He goes on to say:

Verses 11-12: Later, the other girls showed up. They said, “Sir, sir! Open the door to let us in.” But the groom answered, ‘Certainly not! I don’t even know you.’ So always be ready. You don’t know the day or the time when the Son of Man will come.”

The first thing we need to establish is that this parable was not just to tell a story, but about the spiritual lessons that can be learned and derived from the actions and attitudes of the characters in the story. It was a well-established Jewish custom that bridegrooms typically came for their brides in the middle of the night, to “steal them away.”⁷ The bride would have to be in place so the groom knew exactly where to find her. Her sisters or bridesmaids would also be waiting, keeping their lamps trimmed in anticipation of the late night festivities. So it was not a last minute decision. The plans were in place long before the wedding was to start. Only after the arrival of the groom could begin the proceedings.

In one of the lesser known Jewish stories, that may also have a bearing on this parable, as told by a Rabbi named Johanan ben Zakkai. He tells us: “A king summoned his servants to a banquet without setting the exact time. The wise ones adorned themselves and sat at the door of the palace asking, ‘is anything we can do in a royal palace?’ But the foolish ones went on about their work, saying, ‘how can there be a banquet without preparations’? Suddenly the king desired the presence of his servants: the wise entered adorned, while the fools showed up in soiled clothing. The king rejoiced at the wise but was angry with the fools. ‘For those who adorned themselves for the banquet,’ he ordered, ‘let them sit, eat and drink. But for those who did not adorn themselves for the banquet, he said let them stand and watch.’ So Rabbi Meir’s son-in-law said: Then, they would merely look as being in attendance. Even though both are sitting, the former are eating and the latter hungering, the former are drinking and the latter thirsting, for it is said, Therefore, says the Lord God, ‘Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry: behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you will be ashamed: behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart.‘⁸”⁹

Jesus wanted His disciples to know that the coming of the groom would be a time of celebration for those who were ready. This echoes what we hear from Isaiah: “At that time people will say, ‘Here is our God! He is the one we have been waiting for. He has come to save us. We have been waiting for our LORD. So we will rejoice and be happy when He saves us.”¹⁰ This points out the contrast between those who are ready and those who give it not thought. Those who are ready favor it, while those who are not ready, fear it.

In Malachi, we read: “Then suddenly, the Lord you are looking for will come…Yes, the messenger you are waiting for…is really coming!”¹¹ But this is not good news to those who are lazy and give no time to getting ready for the Lord’s return. Job’s friend, Bildad, has an interesting thought we can compare to this, “Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land? Can reeds grow without water? No, they will dry up before harvest. They will be too small to cut and use. People who forget God are like that. Those who oppose Him are hopeless.”¹²

And Solomon gives us a different graphic in which to see this same principle, “The path of those who live right is like the dawning of a new day. It gets brighter and brighter until it is fully illuminated. But the path of the wicked is like a day that keeps getting darker.”¹³ Then the Psalmist points out another aspect we find taught in this parable, “No one has enough money to buy back [a wasted life], and you cannot bribe God. You will never get enough money to ensure life. You will never have enough to buy the right to live forever.”¹⁴

So in a sense, that’s what these five foolish young women had done, they thought that at the last moment they could make up for lost time but it didn’t work. As for the wise young ladies, it was exciting! This was the hour they had waited for and they were eager to go. And they were not going to risk missing the wedding on account of those who fooled around and didn’t bring along enough oil for their lamps. Therefore, these foolish women became much like those described by Amos, “They will go back and forth looking for a message from the LORD, but they will not find it.”¹⁵ When they finally found their way to where the wedding was taking place, they found the same thing the people did who showed up too late at Noah’s ark, the door was already closed.¹⁶

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Part II

Later on, in the early church, another writer gives us his interpretation of this parable. He writes: “Those ten virgins, whom the Lord compared with the kingdom of heaven, were set up as an example for all virgins. They went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. This means that they had received the grace of the Holy Spirit. They had come forth as virgins never stained by sin and had left behind earthly matters to meet Christ and the church. ‘But five were foolish and five wise. For the wise took oil with them along with their lamps. But the foolish did not take oil.’ Thus they were foolish because they were not prepared for the future but only for the present. Thus they were foolish because they did not have works of compassion. For the oil is compassion. But the wise took oil with their lamps. Thus they were wise because they took these things not on account of people but on account of God. Thus they were wise because they were virgins not for the sake of the present but the future. Thus they were wise because they had works of compassion. Thus they were wise because they were virgins in spirit and body.”¹

Thus, Epiphanius’ exegesis is close to that of Augustine’s, except he uses “works of compassion” instead of “love” as the oil fueling the lamp. But, it is impossible to have compassion without love. So it would be easy to understand his use of compassion as a synonym for love, and that love would be what motivates the individual to do all they do for the kingdom of God. As Augustine pointed out by using Paul’s words, that no matter how committed we are to the work God gives us to do and the gifts and talents He blesses us with, if they don’t operate on the oil of love they are worthless to Him. With this thought in mind, then Jesus’ use of the term “extra oil,” we could take as representing “enough oil.” In that case, then love would certainly qualify as a symbol for the oil.

But Augustine adds this to his sermon: “Of these good works the Lord says, ‘Let your works shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.’² Again He said to His disciples, ‘Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.’³ In the ‘girded loins’ is virginity. In the ‘burning lamps’ is good works.”⁴ And we may add, that the thing that makes these good works shine to the glory of God is the oil of love. So when the Groom comes, He will not be looking only for those who have lamps, or those who have kept themselves morally clean from the world, but those whose lamps are burning bright with the oil of love.

Verse 5: “When the bridegroom was very late, the girls could not keep their eyes open, and they all fell asleep.”

The first thing to notice is that Jesus attributes the dilemma of drowsiness as affecting all the bridesmaids mentioned in this parable. Over the centuries this has been a blemish on the church in that it grew cold and formal. This is the reason why there needed to be a Reformation led by Martin Luther in the 16th Century; the Puritan Movement led by John Winthrop in the 17th Century; a Revival Movement led by John Wesley in the 18th Century; the Holiness Movement lead by Edward Irving in the 19th Century; and a Pentecostal outpouring in Scotland, and in America led by the Azusa Street Mission in the 20th Century. But even today we see some of the most zealous churches growing weary of waiting for His return. So what great awakening does our Lord have in mind for this time period of grace?

As a matter of fact, those churches that have lost the vision of His coming, and are not convinced that it is even close at hand, have grown tired of going through the check list on how to stay ready. In some cases, that is why their worship services have developed into entertainment efforts, and their preaching has trended toward winning the whole world and setting up the kingdom of God now to take their minds off of the long wait for Christ’s appearance. But Jesus has given a clear warning, it will come when we least expect it. If we go back to what Augustine said about love being the oil in the lamp and what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus concerning they’re no longer loving Him the way they did in the beginning, we can see that loving the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves are still the greatest of the commandments.

When it comes to the fact that all the bridesmaids fell asleep, there is an interesting twist on the difference between napping and sleeping in Jewish literature. We find where one Rabbi talks about people who may fall asleep during the Passover meal: “If they napped — they may continue to eat, but if they fell asleep, then they may not continue to eat.”⁵ In his commentary on this section, Rabbi Maimonides states, “A person who slept in the midst of the meal and then woke up, does not begin to eat again. However, if some members of a company dozed in the middle of a meal, they may eat again. If they all fell into a sound slumber and then awoke, they should not eat. If they all merely dozed, they may eat.”⁶ So Jesus was using a well-known tradition to make His point. Could it be that the five foolish had fallen into a deep sleep while the five wise were only napping?

Verses 6-7: At midnight the call was heard, “The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!’ Then all the girls woke up. They began to light their lamps. But the foolish girls said to the wise girls, ‘Give us some of your oil! The oil in our lamps is all gone!’”

Again, let’s make note that all of the bridesmaids woke up. It wasn’t that only the five wise awoke and took off leaving the foolish asleep on the ground. They were all awakened when the call went out that the groom was on his way. They all then began to light their lamps, no doubt because it was in the middle of the night. It was at this point that five of them discovered their foolishness by not bringing along extra oil. So let’s see what the Jewish listeners to Jesus may have thought about this lack of oil.

Jewish scholars tell us that based on what the Psalmist says, that the Commandments are what gives us light to understanding His will.⁷ But in order for a lamp to shine, it must have oil, and in their eyes oil is equivalent to truth. It was Baruch ben Neriah who wrote: “For at that time the lamp of the eternal law shone on all those who sat in darkness, which announced to them that believe the promise of their reward, and to them, that deny, the torment of fire which is reserved for them.”⁸ Therefore, the more truth, the brighter the light.⁹ In fact, it was Solomon who said: “Your parents give you commands and teachings that are like lights to show you the right way. This teaching corrects you and trains you to follow the path to life.”¹⁰ So in the case of these bridesmaids, five of them took the coming of the groom very seriously and were prepared. The other five did not take it that seriously and were caught unprepared when it happened.

One Rabbi said: “The path of life is taken to mean the result of punishment;”¹¹ and in another place he said: “Result of punishment is the way of life.”¹² In other words, life is more than just walking along leisurely, enjoying all the good things with no interruptions, obligations, or responsibilities. That’s the kind of life many Christians want in this world, and unfortunately, many try to arrange their spiritual walk with God that way. Likewise, Job’s friend Bildad had this to say: “The light of those who are evil will go out. Their fire will stop burning…The lamps next to them will go out.”¹³ So there is some reason to believe that while Jesus was talking, some of those in the group understood His use of oil in this context. But our Lord continues:

Verse 9: The wise girls answered, “No! The oil we have might not be enough for all of us. But go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.”

Were these five bridesmaids who brought extra oil being selfish and unfair by not sharing? The answer comes from what they gave as their reason. Why should all ten of them not make it because everyone’s lamp went out? At least, by their readiness and preparation, some would be able to meet the groom. But they just didn’t walk off and leave the foolish bridesmaids in tears. They told them to go to where such oil may be purchased. Keep in mind, the groom had not yet arrived. It was only that the call had gone out that he was on his way.

Early church scholars had their own interpretations of what happened here. Epiphanius gives his understanding: “The blessed apostle, Paul, declared, ‘For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.’¹⁴ So those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ Their spiritual virginity was running out and failing because they did not have works of religious devotion and compassion. But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ For on the day of the resurrection and judgment, however, much anyone might be rich in holy works, he will fear for himself, lest he does not have enough.”¹⁵

But taken that way, good works becomes the oil that allows those who died to be resurrected to meet the groom in the air. Augustine gives another opinion: “But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ This is hardly the voice of those who give counsel but rather those who rebuke. Why are they scornful? Because they were wise, because wisdom was in them. For they were not wise by anything that belonged to them. Rather that wisdom was in them of which it is written in a certain Scripture that wisdom will say to those that despised her when they have fallen upon the evils which she threatened them, ‘I will laugh over your destruction.’¹⁶ No wonder the wise mock the foolish virgins.”¹⁷

As we can see, even for those who lived a few hundred years after our Lord told this parable it was very difficult for them to decipher its meaning by taking it apart. There is certainly nothing wrong with exploring our Master’s teachings to discover new truths. But in the end, the purpose of the whole story is what comes at the end. Those who were ready got in, and those who were not ready got left behind.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Part I

Verse 1: “At that time, God’s kingdom will be like ten bridesmaids who went out to wait for the bridegroom, taking their oil lamps with them”.

Jesus just finished telling a story to illustrate how His return will be treated by some who grew tired of waiting for His coming, and would not be ready when He did arrive. In fact, they would have completely abandoned their posts and were living as though there was nothing to fear. So they will get caught living foolishly, filled with greed. Therefore, since they were living like unbelievers, they were treated and punished like unbelievers and dismissed from God’s kingdom as unworthy servants.

But, that one parable was not enough. So our Lord embarks on another story about the conditions that would prevail when He abruptly returns. Only this time, while some have not taken the time or effort to make sure they were ready, some did. As such, Jesus wanted to give His followers some measure by which they could judge themselves as to being prepared when the call to meet Him came. So our Master begins to tell about a wedding and how those who were invited to the ceremony prepared themselves for the moment when the call went out for them to meet the groom.

Augustine in the early church era understood it this way: “So then let us understand, dearly beloved, that this parable relates to us all, that is, to the whole church together, not to the clergy only, or to the laity only but generally to all. Why then are the virgins five and five? These five and five virgins are all Christian souls together. But that I may tell you what I think by the Lord’s inspiration, it is not souls of every sort but such souls as have the catholic faith and seem to have good works in the church of God. Yet even of them it is said, ‘Five are wise, and five are foolish.‘”¹

So it is clear, that Augustine saw these virgins as all belonging to the congregation of believers. However, while some had remained vigilant expecting our Lord’s return, some had not. This is a very salient point because all ten are called virgins. So, in relationship to sin, we could say that all ten of them were not involved in worldly pleasures and sinfulness. But, what made some wise and some foolish is that half of them held to the firm belief that the groom could call at any time and they must be ready to go on a moment’s notice. The others did not take it so seriously, and obviously spent more time on what they needed to do to look pretty than on what they needed to do to be prepared to meet the groom.

Verse 2: “Five of the girls were foolish, and five were wise.”

Being foolish or wise had little to do with their intellectual quotient. It was how they treated the possible sudden coming of the groom for the wedding that had already been announced would take place, with invitations going out long ago. In fact, I dare say they knew very well who the bride and groom were.

Bishop Hilary explains it this way: “The wise virgins are those who, embracing the time available to them, were prepared at the first onset of the coming of the Lord. But the foolish were those who were lax and unmindful. They troubled themselves only over present matters and, forgetting what God said, did not direct their efforts toward hope for resurrection.”²

Then Augustine of Hippo gives his interpretation. He writes: “Every soul that animates a body is denoted by the number five because it makes use of five senses. For there is nothing of which we have perception by the body except through this fivefold gate, either by sight, or hearing, or smelling, or tasting or touching. Whoever abstains from unlawful seeing, unlawful hearing, unlawful smelling, unlawful tasting, and unlawful touching by reason of blamelessness, is here called by the name of virgin.”³

As a spiritual exposition, Augustine makes the readiness or lack of preparedness on the part of these virgins a matter of keeping themselves free from the pollution of sin. But that in itself is not enough to declare them wise or foolish. Augustine goes on to say: “It says that even of these, who were virgins and carrying lamps, some are wise and some foolish. How is this distinction made? By what clue do we tell the difference? Only by whether the oil is present or missing.”⁴

Verse 3: “The foolish girls took their lamps with them, but they did not take extra oil for the lamps.”

It is important to take note that all ten girls carried lamps with them. First of all, we know that the main purpose of a lamp is to light the way in darkness so that the person carrying the lamp can see where they are going. And once the call comes, by being able to see their way they will arrive at their destination. Jesus does not say that they went out at night, but that they took their lamps with them just in case the groom arrived at night, and they were called to the wedding. So, in bringing their lamps along all ten were proven to be wise up to this point. However, five of them are called foolish even with their lamps because they did not take any extra oil along in case they had to wait a long time, they would be able to refill their lamps and make it to the marriage ceremony. It is important that the lamps and oil are not unnecessarily focused on in the believer’s life just to find matching elements.

Nevertheless, let’s denote the meaning of the lamp. By itself, it is an instrument made to provide light. But if it is not taken any further than that, then a lamp becomes a trinket or part of home decorations. It may be fancy or plain, it may be made to hold oil, it may contain a wick, and it may even have a shield against the wind so its light is not easily extinguished. But without oil, it has no other function. So then, oil becomes the main factor.

Here, the early church scholars offer their understanding of what the oil represents. For instance, Augustine says: “It is some great thing, some exceedingly great thing, that this oil signifies. Do you think it might be love? If we try out this hypothesis, we hazard no hasty judgment. I will tell you why love seems to be signified by the oil. The apostle says, ‘I will show you a still more excellent way.’⁵ ‘If I speak with the tongue of mortals and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.’⁶ This is love. It is ‘that way above the rest,’⁷ which is with good reason signified by the oil. For oil swims above all liquids. Pour in water, and pour in oil upon it; the oil will swim above. Pour in oil, pour in water upon it; the oil will swim above. If you keep the usual order, it will be uppermost; if you change the order, it will still be uppermost. ‘Love never fails.’⁸”⁹

However, we must ask at this point what does love have to do with whether or not these virgins were ready for the coming of the groom. What role does love play in our attitude and actions related to keeping ourselves ready for His return? There is little doubt that in Paul’s mind, love was the one thing that would outlast everything else.¹⁰ In other words, these girls had the instrument that would provide light when needed, but five of them lacked the one thing that made the instrument work and that was the oil of love.

When we apply this same principle to marriage, work, one’s career, parenting, business, and especially to one’s commitment to their faith, the church, the Word of God, the work of God, etc., love is the strongest of motivators. But it also acts as a basic resource as we see in the apostle Paul’s teaching on the fruit of the Spirit. All the fruit involved are based on love and operate best out of love.

Verse 4: “The wise girls took their lamps and more oil in jars.”

So Augustine continues with his sermon: “What is the meaning of ‘took no oil with them?’ What is ‘in their lamps?’ In their hearts. For this reason the apostle wrote, ‘Indeed, this is our glory, the testimony of our conscience.’¹¹ There is the oil, the precious oil. This oil is a gift from God. We can put oil into our lamps, but we ourselves cannot create the olive. See, I have oil. But did I create the oil? It is a gift from God. So you have oil. Carry it with you. What does it mean to ‘carry it with you?’ To have it within, where it is pleasing to God. Note: those ‘foolish virgins, who brought no oil with them,’ wish to please a human audience by that abstinence of theirs by which they are called virgins, and by their good works, when they seem to carry lamps. But wishing to please human spectators, doing praiseworthy works, they forgot to carry with them the necessary oil.”¹²

In other words, all ten virgins went out with their hearts set on meeting the groom and going to the wedding. They all started out with enough love to keep them going. But only five of them took extra love just in case their waiting for the groom to call took longer than what they thought. So when the time came, and the call went out, only those with full and unconditional commitment to their calling were able to be ready. In reading this, it reminds us of what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, the one that John pastored before he was exiled on Patmos: “I know what you do, how hard you work and never give up. I know that you don’t accept evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not. You found that they are liars. You never stop trying. You have endured troubles for my name and have not given up. But I have this against you: You don’t love me the way you did in the beginning.”¹³

While love is certainly necessary in the believer’s life, it would be hard to explain how a person can carry along extra love just in case things did not happen as planned. Some scholars, therefore, suggest that we should understand the lamp as expressed by the Psalmist: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my pathway.”¹⁴ Others point to the teaching of Solomon.¹⁵ Yet, these do not explain the factor of extra oil. Unfortunately, Jesus did not give a more definitive explanation of this parable as He did before, such as the one of the farmer sowing seed. So we must look for the core meaning in this illustration. And, when all is said and done as part of deciphering the message, we come away with one clear lesson: Be prepared and ready at all times for His sudden return, no matter how long it takes.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR  SUMMARY

At the beginning of this chapter, we saw how Jesus walked away from the Temple area, thereby finishing His public teaching ministry. It was time now to prepare His disciples and followers for the events to come. As they were leaving, Jesus pointed around at the beautiful and impressive structures that made up the Temple courts and made a startling prediction that it would not be long before all of this would be destroyed. In fact, He said, not one stone would be left upon another.

It must have stunned His disciples into silence because it was not until they crossed the Kidron Valley and Jesus was sitting in a familiar spot on the Mount of Olives that His disciples came to Him, out of hearing of those who followed along, to ask Him privately when all of this would happen. Jesus then launched into a series of warnings about terrible things to come both in their lifetime and in the future.

His disciples must have looked bewildered as He told them about persecution, terror, abominations, betrayal, and death that would follow His leaving. Even false Messiahs would come and try to mislead those who had been given the Good News that He was the true Messiah. But those living at this time should remain faithful and steadfast because His return would be coming soon to sent out His angels to collect all the faithful who were alive and awaken those who were asleep in the grave to meet Him in the air.

Of course, the disciples were confused and wanted to know when all of this would take place. Jesus told them not to worry that just as Noah was given time to build the ark and preach to those around him that God was going to destroy with a terrible flood all the wicked who did not listen and go into the ark, so there would be warning signs before His return. He said to them, only my Father in heaven knows the exact hour when this will take place. It will be like a thief suddenly breaking into a house, so they had to be alert and ready when that moment came.

But there was another thing He wanted them to know, and He illustrated it with a parable about servants that were left in charge of a master’s estate and were told to keep things running and in order until he returned. But as days and weeks and months and years went by, they became more and more careless with his property and the way the lived their lives. Even the head servant became corrupt and began to beat and oppress the other servants. That’s when, Jesus warned, the master suddenly appeared at an hour when it was totally unexpected. As a result of their disobedience to their master’s instructions and their lack of remaining faithful, they were cut off from having any part of his estate and were thrown out into the darkness with all those who had already walked away to live their lives as they wished. It will be a time of anguish and sorrow, Jesus said. Don’t be careless and become part of the crowd that will be left behind when He returns.

But no doubt Jesus could see the worried look on the faces of His disciples, so He continues telling them parables in order to make His return more understandable, and how all those who diligently await His return must prioritize their spiritual life over their physical life in order to be ready. This is the subject of Chapter twenty-five, which we will begin on Tuesday.

Thank you to all of you who have remained faithful in your study of Matthew. You are a blessing to me and I’m sure God is looking on your faithfulness with joy. God bless you richly for your love for His Word.

In today’s political climate, the words of the venerable Mahatma Gandhi, a political and spiritual leader during India’s struggle to gain their independence from England, comes to mind: “Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err and even to sin. If God Almighty has given the humblest of His creatures the freedom to err, it passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”¹

While many accept Gandhi’s statement as his opposition to repressive overregulation by the government. It applies to the principle that by doing so, the government is implying that people have no right to try anything new or different because they may make a mistake in doing so. Gandhi’s appeal to God’s creating mankind with a free will is also a sign that he knew the Christian view. But the one element that must be factored in: Does such freedom to make mistakes depend on whether such errors are done inadvertently or done on purpose.

In the case of Adam and Eve, they knew better. They went against God’s commandment not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As such, their sin was worthy of rebuke and punishment. Yet, when the woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus, even though she knew what she did was wrong, it was God’s grace that allowed Jesus not to condemn but to forgive her. So as we look around us today, the final question that must be asked is this: Do we want others doing to us, what we are doing to them? – Dr. Robert R Seyda

LEARNING TO BE A LEADER CAN BE HARD – PART TWO

After reaching the shore, the disciples emptied their net and in amazement found 153 large fish and were astonished that the net had not ripped in two. The mystery man who called out from the shore and encouraged them to go back out and fish some more, now cordially invited them to have breakfast with him. The disciples were petrified and dared not ask, “Who are you?” But in their hearts, they just knew it had to be their Master who had been crucified and then risen from death. This gracious stranger now took the bread and passed it around to them and did the same with the fish already on the grill. That’s when their eyes were opened the same way as those whom Jesus met on the road to Emmaus and they too realized they had been walking with the risen Lord. Little did they know at that moment, but this would truly be their last supper with Him.

But the real intrigue in this incident and the soon to be revealed personal conflict between Peter and John, the one all the other disciples believed was Jesus’ closest friend, began to unfold. Jesus already knew the future laid out for John as an evangelist; writer of the Gospel that includes the famous words in 3:16; and the prophet who would receive the Revelation of the end times. But He also knew about Peter who would be a leader and teacher; preaching on the Day of Pentecost; taking the message of Spirit baptism to Cornelius the Gentile; writing letters of encouragement to the churches; and a nemesis for Paul the Apostle.

After they had eaten the meal provided by Jesus, He pulled Peter aside to go for a little walk and ask him an important question. In addressing him, Jesus used a common practice employed when a person is taking an oath. For instance, when taking the oath of the office of President of the United States, the chief justice of the Supreme Court addresses the individual by their first, middle, and last name.

On this occasion, Jesus looked Peter straight in the eyes, and as He pointed at the other disciples loading up the fish to be taken into town He asked him, “Simon son of John, is your love for me greater than that of those others over there?” Peter looked over at Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John, and two other disciples, and somewhat cautiously replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you like a brother.” Jesus looked into Peter’s face somewhat disappointed. You see, Jesus used the word “agape” for love, which means to love with all one’s heart. But Peter had replied with the word “phileo”, which means to be fond of someone as a friend. However, Jesus then encouraged him to be an instructor for the new followers He would leave behind. Jesus called them, “lambs.”

They continued walking, and Jesus turned to Peter again and repeated His inquiry, “Simon son of John, do you love [agape] me with all your heart?” Somewhat surprised that he was being questioned again, Peter answered once more with a little edge in his voice, “Yes, Lord, you know that I’m fond [phileo] of you as a good friend.” Perhaps, reaching out and patting Peter on the shoulder, Jesus said in a cordial way, “Then take care of those who have been following me and really believe in me,” This time He called them His “sheep.”

But Jesus wasn’t done, now comes the clincher and shocker. After walking a little further, Jesus once more turns to Peter and this time queries as if seeking the honest truth, “Simon son of John, is loving me [phileo] like a friend the best you can do?” Peter’s eyes opened wide and the shock of Jesus’ question was not only the fact that he was being asked a third time but this time Jesus used the same word for love [phileo] that Peter did. Hadn’t Peter once said he would die for Him? Now this was as a far as he could go in his commitment? With quivering lips and the scene of his triple denial flashing through his mind, Peter looked at his Lord and with an aching heart and tears in his eyes and replied, “Lord, you know me better than anyone; you know what a dear friend [phileo] you are to me.” Jesus once more spoke quietly and said, “Then feed my sheep.”

Just think, after all they had been through over the last 3½ years, that was the best Peter could do in pledging his love and loyalty to his Lord and Master. But that’s when things really got interesting.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part XX

Verse 49: “He will begin to beat the other servants. He will eat and drink with others who are drunk.”

As this undisciplined servant becomes more and more self-indulgent, he will grow more and more abusive to those who serve under him. Early church Bishop Cyril of Alexandria had this to say: “Those who pretend to understand the principles of the good life are not thinking as they should but are only clothing themselves in the appearance of virtue. They will be cut down on that fearful day of judgment. This is a judgment from the Spirit and results in a perpetual alienation.… Grace will be stripped away from his polluted soul, and his part will be reckoned with the hypocrites. Jesus calls hypocrites those who are so stripped and yet continue to teach others how to live. They succeed only in making things worse for those learning the life of discipleship. Further, Jesus teaches that those who have not carried out faithfully the ministry given to them in this present life from the Lord will not receive another from Him.… For the removal Jesus reveals is not a bodily one but the stripping of their adoption as sons from the Spirit. Moreover, they are punished because they lived a life of disrespect. They will gnash their teeth when they consider the reason for their pain and the exceedingly severe character of their punishment.”¹

The implication here is that the servant in charge totally dismisses ever having to answer to the head of the house for his degrading actions since he does not expect him to return anytime soon. If you examine the genesis of the Catholic and Protestant denominations, you will find that at their beginning they were committed and dedicated to the truth and the power of God’s Word, especially the coming Judgment Day. But as time went by, the more they became comfortable being part of this world’s order, the less they insisted on the virtues and morals of God’s kingdom. Soon, it became hard for people to see any difference between those who claimed to be in Christ with those who are in the world. Today is would be hard to spot any believer on city sidewalks who truly stand out because of their obvious dedication to the holy virtues in Christ’s teachings.

Verse 50: “Then the master will come when the servant is not ready, at a time when the servant is not expecting him.”

But it will all come to a screeching halt. The Master will find this disobedient servant and give the proper punishment for his failure to remain faithful and true. In one early church writer’s mind, this will be done in this world. He writes: “He will cut him off means that the Lord will cut him off from the fellowship of Christians. The unfaithful servant will neither be glorified with the saints nor gently punished with those who have committed venial sins. Instead, he will be thrown in with the hypocrites and infidels, where he will suffer the destruction of those whose behavior he imitated. A good priest is glorified above all others, not only on account of his own righteousness but also on account of theirs as well since he is the inspiration for their righteousness. In the same way, a sinful priest is punished more severely than anyone else, not only for his own sins but also for theirs, since he made himself the cause of their sin. The Lord calls them not only hypocrites but also infidels because every hypocrite is an infidel, but not every infidel is a hypocrite.”²

But bishop Cyril of Alexandria has a different view. He says: “When in ancient times Adam came into being, God made him a partaker of His own Spirit, giving to his nature a most perfect beauty. For ‘He breathed on his face the breath of life.’³ For to truly give life is to have the Spirit of life, that is, of Christ. But because Adam was deceived and slipped into sin, he was cut off from the Spirit. For it pleased our God and Father “to bring all things together under one head in Christ.’⁴ and to restore the ancient beauty to human nature. We have received this through grace, but the stealthy entrance of sin stripped it from us. For Christ breathed into us after the resurrection, restoring ancient beauty to us. ‘Receive,’ He says, “the Holy Spirit.’⁵ And so the Spirit is united with us. For ‘he who unites himself to the Lord is one with Him in spirit.’⁶ Surely, just as we have been compelled to be zealous in our efforts by a sense of devotion, we are receiving the utmost fullness since we now have the pledge of the Spirit at the appropriate time. We are deprived of that same foretaste of the Spirit when we stand accused in our own sin since the gift of the Spirit is cut off and sent away from us as in the time of the judgment. We affirm that it is this judgment that Jesus speaks of when He mentions cutting something apart. For one such as this who has the Spirit is not delivered over to punishment.”⁷

Verse 51: “Then the master will punish that servant. He will send him away to be with the hypocrites, where people will groan and grind their teeth in anguish.”

Here is where we need to remind ourselves that Jesus is telling a parable intended to warn His followers that because He has not, nor will not, give them the exact day and hour when He will return, that they may be tempted to begin believing that such return has been put off or even canceled. Furthermore, that they will then become neglectful in carrying out His great commission, and serve as the salt of the earth and light of the world. He wants them to know that the period of grace given by God to all who desire to be part of the great kingdom of heaven coming into the world, will not last forever. So we should refrain from trying to find an application for every bit and piece of this story to the church. The lesson is to remain faithful, steadfast, and unmovable. In everything you do, calculate the fact that time is slowly running out on the church, just like it did on Noah. So keep the light shining, continue to spread the good news, and let God take care of the rest. The reason this is so important is that those who forsake the narrow path of forgiveness and holiness and begin walking on the broad way of immorality will ensure their destination to destruction, not everlasting life.

So as we see in this story, the actions of these servants might be explicable if they have come to the conclusion that they miscalculated the time, and even forgivable if they start thinking it has been delayed. But some have even given up on it ever happening. That may be due to what the Preacher in the Old Testament said: “Sometimes people are not immediately punished for the bad things they do. Their punishment is slow to come, and that makes other people want to do bad things too.”⁸ That, my dear friends, is frightening.

Ezekiel learned a lesson when the Lord spoke this to him: “Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Son of man, why do people quote this saying about the land of Israel: ‘Trouble will not come soon; what is seen in visions will not come’? Tell the people that the Lord God will end that saying. They will not say that about Israel anymore. Now they will quote this saying: ‘Trouble will come soon; what is seen in visions will happen.’”⁹ No doubt Jesus was thinking the same here. He didn’t want His disciples and followers to put off getting ready for a more convenient time. As Isaiah was told, “The shepherds don’t know what they are doing. Like their sheep, they have all wandered away. They are greedy. All they want is to satisfy themselves. They come and say, ‘I will drink some wine. I will drink some beer. I will do the same thing tomorrow, but I will drink even more.’”¹⁰

Anyone who has read Eusebius’ Church History will find out how soon this happened in the early Church when Paul and Peter had their confrontation in Antioch, Syria over believing Jews not eating with their Gentile brothers. The Lord expresses even more disappointment on those who were supposed to be leaders not doing their job, “You shepherds of Israel have only been feeding yourselves. It will be very bad for you! Why don’t you shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat sheep and use their wool to make clothes for yourselves. You kill the fat sheep, but you don’t feed the flock. You have not made the weak strong. You have not cared for the sick sheep. You have not put bandages on the sheep that were hurt. Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep.”¹¹

This attitude can only develop when such leaders do not believe God is watching or that the Son may not be on the doorstep ready to appear. The words “cut him asunder” in the KJV of verse 51 may give some the wrong impression. The context of, “appoint him his portion with the hypocrites,” suggests what we label today as “being fired,” or “being dismissed,” to join the other pretenders. However, others believe that our Lord was saying that such incompetent and deceiving leaders will be cut off, much like the branches of the vine Jesus spoke about earlier and sent to join those who were unproductive. As a matter of fact, the Persian Version of Matthew reads, “he will separate him from himself,” and the Arabic version renders it “he shall cut him in the middle.” This shows the Middle East concept that such words implied “dismembering”.

Since Jesus was speaking to Jewish followers, some say that the Jews did not have such a form of punishment. However, in the book of Hebrews we read: “Some were killed with stones. Some were cut in half. Some were killed with swords.”¹² We read the following account written around 100 AD on the death of Isaiah: “Beliar lived in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the twelve princes of Judah and Benjamin and of the eunuchs and of the councilors of the king. And the words of Belchira pleased him exceedingly, and he sent and seized Isaiah. And he sawed him in two with a wood-saw. And when Isaiah was being sawn in two Balchlra stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because of Isaiah.”¹³

A similar Arabian document written around 100 AD also speaks to Isaiah’s death: “Ibn Ishaaq also reported an Israelite interpolation which said that when Isaiah was passing by a tree, it opened, and he entered therein; but Satan saw him and held onto the loop of his garment so that it stuck out. When they saw it, they brought a saw and sawed the tree, and him with it. Indeed, from Allah we come and to him we return.”¹⁴

This account in the Arabic story actually comes from a Jewish source. There it says:

“Manasseh killed Isaiah. Raba said: Manasseh brought him to trial and then killed him. Manasseh said to him: Your teacher Moses said, ‘For men shall not see Me and live,’¹⁵ and you said, ‘I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up’.¹⁶ Your teacher Moses said , ‘For what great nation is there, that has God so close to them, as the Lord our God is available whenever we call on him’,¹⁷ and you said, ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found’.¹⁸ Your teacher Moses said, ‘The number of your days I will fulfill¹⁹ but you said, ‘And I will add on to your days fifteen years’.²⁰ ‘I know’, thought Isaiah, ‘that whatever I may tell him he will not accept; and should I reply at all, I would only cause him to be a willful murderer.’ So He quickly pronounced the Divine Name and was swallowed up by a cedar tree. The cedar, however, was brought and sawn asunder. When the saw reached his month he died. And this was his penalty for having said, ‘And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.’²¹”²²

And, according to John Gill, such type of death is spoken of by the Jews where they say: “the priests went before Mordecai, and proclaimed, saying, whoever does not salute, or wish prosperity to Mordecai, and to the Jews, ‘he shall be cut into pieces’, and his house be made a dunghill’.’”²³ But writers point out that cutting people in half was also practiced by those generally called heathens.²⁴

However, Gill goes on to say, “It must not here be understood literally, that this wicked servant should be put to such a corporeal death; but that he should be punished in the severest manner, and should be the object of the fierce wrath and sore displeasure of God.”²⁵ I’ve taken the time to point all this out so that you may get a better idea of what the disciples of Jesus and the early followers and leaders of the church may have understood by our Lord’s comments here. But there is little doubt that Jesus was speaking of people being cut off in the spiritual sense of their being separated from true believers and any inheritance that will come to those who remain true and faithful to their calling. Unfortunately, that cutting off will not be temporary, it will be forever.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part XIX

Verses 45-47: “Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. Who is the one the master trusts to do that work? When the master comes and finds that servant doing the work he gave him, it will be a day of blessing for that servant. I can tell you without a doubt, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns.”

Jesus knew what His disciples and followers would be facing after His ascension back to the Father. Just like the caterpillar must fight to exit its cocoon as a butterfly, so those disciples must go through trials and tribulations in order to become apostles so they could lead the church as it grew. He did not want untrustworthy servants as the Jewish leaders had become. Jesus was echoing what we find in Ezekiel, “Son of man, speak against the shepherds of Israel for me. Speak to them for me. Tell them that this is what the LORD God says: ‘You shepherds of Israel have only been feeding yourselves. It will be very bad for you! Why don’t you shepherds feed the flock?’”¹

We can see in Acts of the Apostles which disciples became those leading the flock.² They fulfilled the words in Daniel, “The wise people will shine as bright as the sky. Those who teach others to live right will shine like stars forever and ever.”³ One Rabbi believes this is illustrated by what we find in Nahum where it reads: “The chariots rush madly about in the streets, jostling each other in the open places; their appearance is like torches, they run here and there like lightning.”⁴ He says they will do this as they turn people to righteous living.⁵

But our Lord always presented a balanced concept. Often when He talked about good, He also spoke about evil; when He taught what was right, He also pointed out what was wrong. In reading this, it inspired Chrysostom to preach the following: “It is an honor to be entrusted with the responsibility of someone else’s resources. This happens to the faithful… What can be equal to this honor? What sort of speech would be fitting to this dignity? What sort of blessedness would accompany it? Here we are speaking of nothing less than the King of heaven who possesses all things. It is He who is setting a person ‘over all his possessions.’ This is why He calls him to be wise. He must not spend large sums for small benefits. It is only having been responsible here in this life that he will receive the riches of heaven.”⁶

Then bishop Hilary sees this as a message to the church. He writes: “Although He urged everyone to exercise a tireless vigilance, Christ commanded the princes of the people, the bishops, to demonstrate a special attentiveness in expectation of His advent. The bishop is represented in this parable by the faithful and wise servant who was set over the household. He is fully equipped and enabled to care for the people entrusted to him. He needs to be attentive to his instructions and obedient to the commandments. When he speaks the truth and prudently applies doctrine, he will confirm the weak, heal the broken, convert sinners, and feed his household with the Word of life—their eternal food. If he is found performing these tasks diligently, he will receive glory from the Lord as a faithful servant and effective steward. He will be set over all his possessions. In other words, he will be established in the midst of the glory of God. Nothing could possibly be better than this.”⁷

Then British scholar John N. Darby (1800-1882), one of the most prominent of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren, offers us his interpretation of what Jesus is illustrating here. He writes: “What is it that has happened to those who had the place of service in the house of God? The consequences on either hand are these: the faithful servant, who from love and devotion to his Master applied himself to the welfare of His household, should be made ruler on his Master’s return over all His goods; those who have been faithful in the service of the house will be set over all things by the Lord, when He takes His place of power and acts as King. All things are given into the hands of Jesus by the Father. Those who in humility have been faithful to His service during His absence shall be made rulers over all that is committed to Him, that is, over all things-they are but the ‘goods’ of Jesus. On the other hand, he who during the Lord’s absence had set himself up as master, and followed after the spirit of the flesh and of the world to which he had united himself, should not merely have the world’s portion: his Master should come quite unexpectedly, and he should receive the punishment of hypocrites.”⁸

Darby then goes on to say: “What a lesson for those who take to themselves a place of service in the assembly! Observe here, that it is not said he is drunken himself, but that he eats and drinks with those that are so. He allies himself with the world and follows its customs. This moreover is the general aspect which the kingdom will assume in that day, although the heart of the evil servant was wicked. The Bridegroom would indeed tarry; and the consequences that might be expected from the heart of man will not fail to be realized. But the effect, we then find, is to make manifest those who had really the grace of Christ and those who had not.”⁹

Darby also gives his personal thought on this revelation of those who were recipients of God’s grace and those who were not. He says: “How solemn the testimony given here to the effect of the assembly’s losing the present expectation of the Lord’s return! What causes the professing church to run into hierarchical oppression and worldliness, so as to be cut off in the end as hypocrites, is saying in the heart, My lord delays His coming-giving up the present expectation. That has been the source of the ruin. The true Christian position was lost as soon as they began to put off the Lord’s coming; and they are treated, note, though in this state, as the responsible servant.”¹⁰

So it is obvious, that by this time Darby was concerned about the church’s theology and how the return of Christ had been put on the back burner while they became more enamored with the luxuries available down here. As a result, he resigned as curate in the Church of Ireland and became an evangelist converting those in the Roman Catholic church to accept salvation by grace not by works. The whole basis for his ministry was encapsulated in a tract that he wrote entitled “How the Lost Sheep was Saved.”

Verse 48: “But what will happen if that servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon?”

Now our Lord addresses the virtues of patience and perseverance. As a child growing up in the 1940’s, and early 1950’s it seemed that every other sermon was on the imminent return of Christ. Many books were written, magazines published, and one of the most well-known radio programs with Herbert W. Armstrong was dedicated to this subject. But over time, the topic has waned, until today it is seldom heard on Christian radio and TV, except as a comment now and then. Perhaps that is because the Church found favor with the world and gained freedom and privileges that none of the Protestant Reformers ever dreamed of. So our Lord’s warning is more pertinent today than ever before.

I would never suggest or promote that today’s Bible-believing Christians go back to the dress, lifestyle, social, or financial status of those in days gone by. But we can emulate their conduct when their main goal was preparing for the coming of the Lord, and telling as many people as possible so they could be ready when He called for them to join Him in the sky. There is something to say about how we hear less and less about the return of Christ as believers get more and more comfortable in this world in their quest for prosperity and popularity.

Early church patriarch Cyril, has this to say about such errant church leaders: “This teaching is directed against the rulers who are leading a luxurious and leisurely lifestyle. He calls the negligent teacher a wicked and evil servant because he takes advantage of the judge’s absence and believes he will not be observed because of the judge’s forbearance. So he beats harshly those over whom he holds power and associates with those who are in love with the flesh. They sin both because the judge is not present and because they don’t think judgment will ever arrive. By wounding some of them, he points out those who are disabled in their soul because of the luxury of their exalted positions. Just as the apostle says, ‘When you sin against your brothers in this way [you] wound their weak conscience.’¹¹ Therefore He threatens to introduce the most severe punishments to those living self-indulgently.…”¹²

It is easy to get off track here by concentrating on the actors in the parable, rather than the spiritual lesson contained in their actions. Jesus was aiming at the degrading conduct of those who are convinced that any judgment for their life choices is still far off, and they will be given plenty of time to turn things around. But what keeps most drivers on the highway traveling at a reasonable speed? Is it not the fear of being caught and given a substantial ticket for speeding? In the same way, those who reverence the Lord and know that He keeps His promises are devoted to maintaining their dedication to the One who loved them so much He sent His only Son to die for their freedom from the bondage of sin, so that they could enjoy everlasting life with Him after He sends His risen Son back to gather all believers whether they are asleep or alive to their eternal home. Unlike the speeding driver, however, the believing saint does not remain right with God out of fear of being caught but based on their love, trust, and faith in being caught-up with others to meet Jesus in the air and complete their life’s journey.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part XVIII

A contemporary scholar of Chrysostom’s in the early church viewed our Lord’s saying about His coming, this way: “This teaching means that the separation of the faithful from the unfaithful will consist in one being accepted and the other abandoned. For, like the prophet says, when the wrath of God rises, the saints will be hidden in God’s chambers but the faithless will be left exposed to celestial fire.¹ The two in the field, therefore, represent the faithful and the unfaithful, both of whom will be surprised by the day of the Lord in the midst of the world, in the course of their life’s work. They will be separated, one taken and the other left. It will be the same for the two grinding at the mill, which represents the work of the law. For only some of the Jews, like Elijah, believed through the apostles that they must be justified by faith. One group will be taken up through the faith that produces good works, and the other group will be abandoned in the fruitless works of the law, grinding in vain at a mill that will never produce heavenly food. The two lying in bed are proclaiming the repose of the Lord after His Passion, which both Catholics and nonconformist confess alike. But because the truth of the Catholic faith preaches the unity of the Father and the Son, which we call their deity, whereas the false doctrine of nonconformist attacks this unity with many different insults, one of the two lying in bed will be taken up but the other will be left behind. For by accepting one and rejecting the other, God’s judgment will prove the merit of each confession.”²

So Chrysostom goes on in his commentary to add the following: “If ordinary persons knew when they were going to die, they would surely be striving earnestly at that hour. In order, therefore, that they may strive not at that hour only, He does not tell them the hour or day. He wants to keep them on their toes looking for it, that they may be always striving. This is why He made the end of each person’s life so uncertain.”³ So it is clear that this early church preacher does not tie Jesus’ words here to His sudden appearance in the sky to transform the living and resurrect dead believers to meet Him in the air, but to their appointed time of death.

Chrysostom continues: “In this passage, Jesus openly implies that He Himself is Lord. Nowhere before has He spoken of this so distinctly. But here He seems to me also to be putting to shame those who remain careless about His lordship. They take much more care about a thief taking their money than about their own soul. Those who care about their house and do not want their possessions stolen take measures against the thief. They watch; they are prepared for the thief. So it is with you. You do not know when he will come. But you know assuredly that he will come. If you do not continue to watch, you will not be ready on that day. You will be unprepared. Destruction will come in your sleep. If the person had known when the thief was coming, he would have been prepared. So be like the one who is prepared at all times, so you will escape free. Having then mentioned the judgment, He directs His thoughts next to teachers, speaking of honorable and dishonorable actions. His discourse closes with that which is alarming, for He speaks first of those who do right, then of those who continue in sin.”⁴

This certainly allows for a question on whether or not those who examined and interpreted these verses within the first 400 years after our Lord’s ascension back into heaven, are more accurate than any exegesis by Reform church doctors, Wesleyan theologians, Baptist scholars, Pentecostal expositors, or current writers are today. Since all of them are examining the same documents written by the original apostles, then it must be a matter of perspective relative to time. In other words, the closer one gets to an object, the better they are able to see and define what comes into view. This means, that what was once said in the form of a metaphor or a figurative speech, takes on a form more easily identifiable. By that I mean, what was once described by John in his Revelation as flying locust with men’s faces that could destroy, may today be seen today as Black Hawk or Apache helicopters with missiles.⁵ But one thing that will remain constant is that this pertains to those living at the time this happens. And, according to what Jesus said, those who remain steadfast and committed in their faith will be the ones who will be saved.

Verses 43-44: “What would a homeowner do if he knew when a thief was coming? You know he would be ready and not let the thief break in. So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect Him.”

Scholars take the words that Matthew records here to indicate that Jesus is laying the groundwork for explaining the reason why this date and time was being kept secret. His intention was to forewarn that if people knew the exact time, they would then be able to live the way they wanted to up until the last moment before they finally repented and made themselves ready for His coming. However, since the precise time is not announced, they must be ready at all times for His sudden appearance.

Then Jesus adds the value of being prepared for His coming. This time, He focuses on those who are chosen to warn others about getting ready. He uses the idea of someone breaking into a house unexpectedly. We find a similar comment by a well-known Jewish Rabbi who asked: “Why does the Torah mention ‘breaking in,’ because it is the general practice for thieves to break in at night.”⁶ Paul used this same metaphor,⁷ as well as the apostle John in his revelation.⁸

Bishop Hilary gives us his impression of what Jesus is trying to say with this illustration. He writes: “It is to teach us that our ignorance of the date of His return (which His silence has kept hidden from everyone) is not without its usefulness, Christ warns us to keep all His commandments. We should also be occupied with constant prayer in order to guard against the coming of the thief. For the thief is the devil who seeks to invade our bodily homes with the darts of his thoughts and allurements in order to ruin us while we are sleepy and careless. It is good therefore that we are prepared. Our ignorance of the day of Christ’s return should provoke us to be careful as we eagerly await His coming.”⁹

It appears that the bishop does anticipate the return of Christ and does not solely tie this to one’s death when He sends His angels to gather their soul. But later on, one church scholar gives his impression: “Does the soul not know when the thief has gained access through one of these entrances? Indeed, it does not know until it has been led into sin. The soul must be vigilant, therefore, and close all its ports of entry. The mouth should be occupied with holy speech, the ears with pious sounds; the eyes with a vision of the wondrous works of God; and the mind with heavenly thoughts. It is not sufficient merely to refrain from speaking, hearing, seeing or thinking evil things. For to do that is only to block the access of good spirits along with the bad. Whoever renounces evil but fails to take up the good is said to have left the gates to his soul open. The enemy enters easily when he finds them vacant. It is necessary therefore that the portals to the soul of the just not only be free of evil but also be fully occupied with the good, lest evil find a way to gain access.”¹⁰

But there would be no reason for our Lord to talk about such a sudden and spectacular event if it only pertained to being vigilant against the temptation of sin that could lead to death. However, this anonymous writer goes on to explain: “The head of the household represents the human soul, the thief is the devil, the house is the body, the doors are the mouth and ears and the windows are the eyes. Like the thief who gains access through the doors and windows to despoil the householder, the devil also finds easy access to the soul of a man through his mouth, ears, and eyes to take him captive. This is why Jeremiah wrote, ‘For death entered through our windows.’¹¹ If you wish to be secure, install a bolt on your door, which is to say, put the law of the fear of God in your mouth so that you can say with the psalmist, ‘I will guard my ways that I might not sin with my tongue. I will put a guard at my mouth.’¹²”¹³

So we can see that from the earliest times in Church history scholars and theologians were like those who are looking through a distorted glass, trying to figure out what they were seeing. Even the apostle Paul admitted this to the Corinthians when we said: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”¹⁴ If God would have wanted us to know the exact time and date of Jesus’ birth, He would have told the prophets of old. But He did give them signs to look for. Even then, many did not believe that the baby born in Bethlehem of a virgin was the Son of God. So it is obvious that He also had no interest in telling His children the exact day and time of His Son’s return to gather the faithful. But He did give signs to look for. And as in the first event, there will be some who will still not believe in His return even after it happens. But for those who want to be part of His return, His message was clear: Live each day as though it could happen at any time. Just be ready when it does.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part XVII

Verses 37-39a: “When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as what happened during Noah’s time. In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married right up to the day Noah entered the boat. They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them all.”

Over the centuries, the Jews awaited the Messiah to reestablish the kingdom of Israel and free them from any ruling colonial power. So one day, some rabbis were discussing what the LORD said to Isaiah: “For the day of vengeance that was in my heart and my year of redemption have come.”¹ So one of them asked, “What do the words, ‘the day of vengeance that was in my heart mean’?” So Rabbi Jochanan said, he thought it meant that the LORD had revealed it to His heart but not to the other members of His body. But Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish commented that he thought it meant it had been revealed to His heart but not to the other members of His heavenly family, the ministering angels.²

So it was already a common perception among Jewish scholars that God’s day of redemption was known only to Him. So, what Jesus says to His disciples about God’s secret plan was not a surprise. He simply confirms what most of them had already heard from the Rabbis. Then Jesus draws a comparison between His return and the days of Noah. This was not meant to be a reference to the length of time it took Noah to build the ark but to Noah’s lack of knowing exactly the day or the hour when the rain would begin to fall. The fact that he had been told to build the ark, and with everyone seeing what was going on, there was certainly plenty of warning. I’m sure when God told Noah to go out and gather the animals, that he knew something was about to happen.

So it will be right before the coming of the Son of Man. Another factor that seems to indicate this is the rapture Jesus is talking about, comes from comparing the careless lifestyle that the people in Noah’s day were living. They no doubt laughed at Noah for being so committed to building the ark while they were having fun. But when the rain began to fall, they had a change of heart. However, by then it was too late to get into the ark. It is ironic, that for decades in Evangelical and Pentecostal churches there were many songs sung about Christ’s return and the saints wanting to go to heaven, but in recent years those songs are seldom heard. That why we should all check the oil in our lamps to make sure we are ready when the call comes to go out and meet the groom.

Isaiah defined the state of mind of such people very well when he said, “People like that don’t know what they are doing! They don’t understand. It is as if they have mud in their eyes so they cannot see. Their minds cannot understand. They don’t realize what they are doing. They aren’t smart enough to realize, ‘I burned half the wood I collected in the fire and used the hot coals to bake my bread and cook the meat I ate. Then I used the leftover wood to make this disgusting block of wood that I am worshiping!’ Someone like that is deceived. They don’t know what they are doing. They cannot save themselves, and they will not admit, ‘This image I am holding is a lie!‘”³

In one early church commentary, we find the following exposition: “Christ did not forbid eating, drinking, and marrying when he said ‘As in the days of Noah, they were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage.’ He would never destroy what He Himself established. Instead, He was commanding that what we do with our bodies, we do spiritually and to the glory of God so that our flesh might be made spiritual on account of the spiritual purposes for which we use it.…Before the flood, people were fleeing from the fear of God and doing nothing for His glory. Everything they did was only for their own flesh. Whenever they ate or drank, they ate and drank only to satisfy their bodily desires, not to glorify God as the apostle had commanded.⁴ What Christ wanted to say here is that it will be like this again near the end of the world.…At the end of the world, the destruction will be universal and sudden like it was ‘in the days of Noah.’ Just as every creature of the earth was destroyed in the flood, except only those who escaped in the ark, so also at the consummation of the world every heresy will be destroyed, but only one ark will be saved—the church of Christ, composed of the righteous. Everything outside of the ark died in the flood. Likewise, at the end of the world whoever is found to be outside the one true church will perish.”⁵

Verses 39b-42: “It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Two will be working together in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left. Two will be grinding grain at the mill. One will be taken and the other will be left. So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come.”

This one out of each pair suddenly disappearing denotes a surprise departure, not that only one our of two will be taken when our Lord returns to gather the saints. Based on the customs of those days, some translators have added “men” in the field, and “women” at the mill. But that is not in the original Greek text or the Aramaic text.

Here our Lord is not predicting that only those working in the field or those grinding at the mill, or what Luke adds, only when two are sleeping in the same bed. This was meant to show the time of day in different parts of the world when this will occur. It is generally understood that this signifies morning, afternoon and evening. But such designation of times must be understood as the different times of day around the world, not viewed as just one area of the world. Therefore, it is instantaneous for everyone no matter where they live on earth.

As mentioned earlier, Origen sees this being taken suddenly at anytime, anywhere to meet God pertains to one’s death. He writes: “All who listen to the depths of the gospel and live it so completely that none of it remains veiled from them, care very little about whether the end of the world will come suddenly and all at once or gradually and little by little. Instead, they bear in mind only that each individual’s end or death will arrive on a day and hour unknown to him and that upon each one of us ‘the day of the Lord will come like a thief.’⁶ It is important therefore to be vigilant, whether in the evening (that is, in one’s youth) or in the middle of the night (that is, at human life’s darkest hour) or when the cock crows (at full maturity) or in the morning (when one is well advanced in old age). When God the Word comes and brings an end to the progress of this life, he will gather up the one who gave ‘no sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids’⁷ and kept the commandment of the One who said, ‘Be vigilant at all times.’⁸ … But I know another kind of end for the righteous person who is able to say along with the apostle, ‘Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me and me to the world.’⁹ In a certain sense, the end of the world has already come for the person to whom the world is crucified. And to one who is dead to worldly things the day of the Lord has already arrived, for the Son of man comes to the soul of the one who no longer lives for sin or for the world.”¹⁰

We know, that the angst and concern that existed in the Thessalonian church about missing the return of Jesus was so great that as some believers began to pass away the others feared that lest they too should die that they would also miss the coming of the Lord. So the apostle Paul ended up writing two letters to this congregation in order to quiet their fears. In what we just read in Origen’s commentary, it now seems as though some 100 years later, believers had begun to have a different opinion and that was the return of Christ could not come until the whole world had been converted. Therefore, for some this text is to be understood as meeting Christ through death that may come early in life, in the middle of life, or late in life. But for sure, no one really knows when it will occur.

By Chrysostom’s time in the 4th century, here is what was being taught: “All these things are demonstrations that Jesus knew what was to come. It would be like the days of Noah: Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left, so unexpected will it be. It is without thought that they will be taken. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. This is not the employment of those who are contemplating such a calamity. From both employees and employers, some will be taken and some will be left. Among those who are at ease and those who labor, some will be taken, some left. Rank or station will not matter, as it says in the Old Testament: ‘From him that sits upon the throne to the captive woman who is at the mill.’¹¹ Even though He had said earlier that it is hard for a rich man to be saved, here He shows that not even the rich are altogether lost, neither are all the poor saved, but out of both groups people are saved and lost. And to me, He seems to indicate that the advent will come at night, like a thief, as Luke also indicates. It is amazing how fully he knows all things.”¹²

It is very clear that Chrysostom was only thinking about this happening where he was living because it cannot be simultaneously nighttime around the world. But just as trying to interpret what Jesus said in any chronological order or even as it relates to His coming to gather the saints or His return to set up His reign for a thousand years was confusing back in Chrysostom’s day, so it is today. But this was not given to us to decipher and spend endless hours trying to pinpoint the exact time. Rather, it was a warning that it will happen without a moment’s notice and that all we need to do is be ready while working hard for His kingdom. Just as we can see dark clouds on the horizon that portend a coming storm, so Jesus said to look for those signs that His coming was drawing nearer. So instead of stopping what we are doing for Him, we should work harder while we wait with patience.