The Gospels · Chapter 25 of 28

Matthew 25

Jesus tells three parables about readiness and judgment. Ten virgins await the bridegroom, but only the five with oil are ready when he comes. A master entrusts talents to servants and rewards those who use them, condemning the one who hid his. Finally the Son of man, coming in glory, separates the nations as sheep and goats by how they treated the least of his brethren.

What happens in Matthew 25

Jesus likens the kingdom to ten virgins with lamps awaiting the bridegroom. Five wise ones bring extra oil, five foolish ones do not. When the delayed bridegroom comes at midnight, the wise enter the marriage, but the foolish, gone to buy oil, find the door shut and are unknown. Next a man entrusts his servants with five, two, and one talents according to their ability. The first two trade and double what they received and are welcomed as good and faithful.

The third, afraid, buries his talent and is condemned as wicked and slothful. Then Jesus describes the Son of man coming in glory to judge, gathering all nations and separating them as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. The righteous inherit the kingdom because they fed, welcomed, clothed, and visited him in the least of his brethren, often unaware. Those who neglected such need depart into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.

Matthew 25 in context

These three parables continue and conclude the Olivet Discourse, applying the call to watchfulness with vivid pictures of what readiness looks like. A wedding involved the bridegroom coming to fetch his bride, sometimes with long delays. A talent was a large sum of money, not a natural ability, though the word has since taken that meaning.

The judgment scene draws on Old Testament imagery of God as shepherd and judge, and it closes Jesus's public teaching before the passion begins.

Main themes of Matthew 25

Matthew 25 (KJV)

1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. 14For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Verses to carry from Matthew 25

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”Matthew 25:13

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”Matthew 25:21

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”Matthew 25:40

Reflection

It is possible to wait without oil, to bury a gift in fear, to pass by the hungry and the sick without seeing Christ in them. Readiness is not a last-minute scramble but a life prepared. Whom have you overlooked? In serving the least, you serve the King, and to the faithful he says, enter into my joy.

A prayer from Matthew 25