Last Sunday
Mt
25:1-13
11/23/25
See! I was telling the truth.
It’s all about the kingdom of God. Last Sunday I spoke about how the
central feature of Jesus’ preaching – the phrase he used to summarize his
ministry – was “the kingdom of God.” We
discussed the fact that the phrase kingdom of God – or “kingdom of heaven” as
we often find it expressed in Matthew’s Gospel – refers to the reign of God
that was present in Jesus Christ. We heard the parable about the unforgiving
servant, as we learned what life is like for those who have received the reign
of God in Jesus Christ. Those who have
received forgiveness from God in Christ, share it by forgiving others.
And now, in this morning’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is talking about
the kingdom of God once again. Our text
begins with the words, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten
virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God. But if you listen carefully you will hear a
small change in language, and this difference is very important.
Last Sunday Jesus said, “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.” More
literally we can translate this as “the kingdom of heaven is like.” Today, Jesus says, “the kingdom of heaven will
be like.” Last Sunday we heard about
how things work as we experience the reign of God in the present. But today we
hear about what the reign of God will be like in the future.
So which is it? Is the
kingdom of God now, or is it something coming in the future? The answer is
“Yes” because it is both. This what we often describe with the phrase “now and
not yet.” The kingdom of God – the reign of God – is present now. It arrived in the incarnation of the Son of
God. Jesus Christ was the presence of
God’s reign overcoming Satan, sin, and death.
Jesus carried out the central event of this saving reign on Good Friday when he died on the cross. Christ committed no sin. But he took our sin as his own. St Paul says of God that “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” But Jesus was also the second Adam through who God overcame the presence of death as he raised Christ on Easter. Paul told the Corinthians, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
This reign of God is present here for us now. We receive it through the Means of Grace as the Spirit gives forgiveness and sustains faith. As the Small Catechism says, “The kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father give us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” The presence of God’s reign means that we are living in the end times. The last days have begun in the death and resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Paul told the Corinthians, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
We are in the last days. But
we are still waiting for the Last Day – the return of Jesus Christ in
glory. And so we find that we are also living in the “not yet.” We still face
temptations from the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature. We live in a world of sickness, death, and
suffering. We want these things to end.
In our text this morning, Jesus teaches us that there is also a
future aspect to the kingdom of God – the reign of God. It is present now, but
it will also arrive in a final and complete form when Jesus Christ returns in
glory. We look for the consummation of
God’s kingdom.
Jesus teaches us about this future aspect of God’s kingdom this
morning. Just as with last week, our
text today is part of one of those blocks of teaching material found in
Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord is in Jerusalem during Holy Week. This section is
introduced with the information that as Jesus was going away, the disciples
pointed out to him the buildings of the temples. A product of King Herod the
Great’s building program, the temple in Jesus’ day was one of the wonders of
the ancient world.
But Jesus answered them: “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I
say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will
not be thrown down.” Talk of the
destruction of the temple was shocking.
It was something that surely would be part of God’s end time action. So
as they were seated on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him and
asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered their question first by talking about the events
surrounding the temple’s destruction, and how believers should not be misled
during this time by false christs and prophets.
Then later in the discussion, he shifted to the topic of his return in
glory and the end of the age – the Last Day.
In our text, and in the surrounding material, Jesus teaches us
three things about his return on the Last Day and the consummation of the
kingdom of God. First, from our perspective, it will be delayed. Second, when
it does arrive it will be sudden and unexpected. And finally, because of these
first two points, we must keep watch and be ready.
Jesus teaches in a parable as he says, “Then the kingdom of heaven
will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to
meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.” We may not know about all of the details of
first century Jewish weddings, but it is clear that the virgins are to be ready
to greet the bridegroom and accompany him into the marriage feast. However,
there is a distinction among them because five are wise and five are foolish.
We learn that the wise ones brought flasks with extra oil for their lamps,
while the foolish did not.
However, things did not go as expected. We learn that the
bridegroom was delayed. He didn’t arrive right away, and the virgins found
themselves waiting for him. As the hours passed and it got later in the night,
they all became drowsy and slept.
Now it’s not hard to identify the bridegroom in the parable.
Earlier in the Gospel the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked
him why they and the Pharisees fasted, but the disciples of Jesus did not. Our
Lord responded, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with
them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
As the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus is the bridegroom. The
parable teaches us that the return of Jesus will seem delayed to us. After two
thousand years that certainly is the case. But just as God sent the Son into
the world “in the fullness of time” – when it was exactly right according to
God’s plan – so also the return of Christ will occur at exactly the right
moment according to his plan.
I don’t have much use for speculation about how things work because
our experience of time doesn’t apply to God. It’s enough to know he sees things
differently. As Peter says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that
with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day.” Therefore we need to trust that our sense of “delay” is exactly that – our
perception. God’s plan is on schedule and we can trust him while we
wait.
The virgins were sound asleep as they were waiting. But suddenly,
at midnight there was a cry: “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”
There was no warning or time to get ready.
This is the second point that Jesus is making about what the arrival of
the kingdom of God will be like. It will
be sudden and unexpected.
Just before our text Jesus said, “But know this, that if the master
of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he
would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore
you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you
do not expect.” This metaphor of the thief in the night continues on in the
rest of the New Testament, such as we find in our Epistle lesson today.
Our Lord says that his return will be sudden and unexpected. Therefore, anyone who says that they have
figured when Jesus will return is a fool – and more foolish still is anyone who
listens to such nonsense. The history of
the Church is littered with people who said they knew the day … and were wrong.
There is absolutely nothing about events in the world that will give you
insight. This is all we can know for sure:
We have been living in the Last Days since the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, but the exact day of Christ’s return cannot be known.
When the cry about the bridegroom’s arrival sounded out, the
virgins arose and trimmed their lamps – most likely this means that they re-lit
them. Then the foolish ones said to the
wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” They weren’t going to be ready to greet the
bridegroom, and so they asked the other virgins to share. But the wise
answered, saying, “Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather
to the dealers and buy for yourselves.”
The foolish ones went away to purchase more oil. But while they were
gone, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him
to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Later, the foolish
virgins finally arrived at the closed door and said: “Lord, lord, open to us.”
However, the bridegroom replied, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
And when he had concluded the parable Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for
you know neither the day nor the hour.”
It should not escape our attention that all of the virgins thought
they would be going in with the bridegroom. Since the marriage feast stands for
the end time salvation of God, this is a warning that not all who think they
are going to enjoy God’s salvation on the Last Day will do so. Jesus says that we must watch, because we
don’t know when he will return.
But how do you watch in a way so that you are ready for Lord’s
return? The wise virgins were ready because they brought extra oil. Clearly there was a difference, but what is
it?
We gain some insight from what Jesus says just before and after our
text. Jesus says, “Who then is the faithful and wise
servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their
food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so
doing when he comes.” But then Jesus warns that if a wicked servant says “My
master is delayed,” and starts to be beat his fellow servants and gets
drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not
expect him and will cut him in pieces.
Once again we hear about a delay in arrival. Once again we hear
about a sudden appearance. We learn that the faithful and wise servant is the
one who is doing what the master has given him to do.
Immediately after our text, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. The word “talent” here refers to money, not
ability. Jesus said, “For it will be like a man going on a journey,
who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave
five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according
to his ability. Then he went away.” The master gave them great resources
and responsibility – a talent was the equivalent of twenty years wages.
The first servant traded with the five talents, and made five more.
The second servant used the two talents to make two more. But the third servant
took the one talent and hid it in the ground. After a long time the master came
to settle accounts. He commended the
first two servants as he said, “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.’” But he condemned the third
servant for doing nothing. Once again there is a delay. And here the faithful
servant is the one who has used the master’s blessings.
We do not keep watch and show ourselves ready for Christ’s return
by going up on hill and looking toward the eastern sky. Instead, we keep watch and are ready when we
focus on how the kingdom of God is present now and what it means for us
as we live each day in faith.
This means first that we shape our lives around the ways that we
receive God’s kingdom – his reign - today. We place the Means of Grace at the
center of our life. This begins as we
make each Sunday the day of the Divine Service – the day when we receive
Word and Sacrament. And then it extends throughout the week as we actually take
time to read and study God’s Word. When
we are receiving the kingdom of God now through Word and Sacrament, we are
keeping watch and are ready for its consummation when Christ suddenly returns
in glory.
And then it means that we live as those who have received God’s
kingdom by doing the things God has given us to do; by using the blessings he
has given to us. We do this by forgiving others, just as we discussed last
Sunday. We do this by faithfully
carrying out the vocations – the callings – God has given to us as husband and
wife, father and mother, son and daughter.
We do this by faithfully using the resources with which God has blessed
us to support the ministry of the Gospel here in this place.
Remember, the five foolish virgins thought they were going to be in
the marriage feast with the bridegroom. But when he arrived suddenly and
unexpectedly, they found that they were not. People will say, “I don’t go to
church, but I still believe in Jesus.” They will have sex and live together
outside of marriage, and tell themselves, “But I still believe in Jesus.”
However, you can’t willfully and persistently reject the ways that
God’s reign is coming to you; you can’t live in ways that reject what God’s
reign means for how we live; you can’t continually fail to live the life of
faith, then think that you still have faith.
That is self-deception which on the Last Day will be met by the Lord who
will declare, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
We listen to our Lord’s words this morning and give thanks that
already now we are receiving the kingdom of God – the reign of God. We have
forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His Spirit
keeps us in the faith through the Means of Grace.
We have this now, and we also know that the end of sin, death, and
suffering is coming when the Lord Jesus returns in glory. The kingdom of God –
the reign of God – will reach its consummation on the Last Day. Our Lord teaches us this morning that while
it may seem to be delayed, its arrival will be sudden, and unexpected. And so
Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
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