CHAPTER XXV. _The parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and_ _five foolish_, 1-12. _The necessity of being constantly prepared to appear before_ _God_, 13. _The parable of the talents_, 14-30. _The manner in which God shall deal with the righteous and the_ _wicked in the judgmen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:2. _FIVE OF THEM WERE WISE_] Or, _provident_, φρονιμοι - they took care to make a proper provision beforehand, and left nothing to be done in the last moment. _FIVE_ WERE _FOOLISH_] μωροι, which might be translated _careless_, is generally rendered _foolish_; but this does not agr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:4. _TOOK OIL IN THEIR VESSELS_] They not only had a sufficiency of oil in their lamps, but they carried a _vessel_ with oil to recruit their lamps, when it should be found expedient. This the _foolish_ or _improvident_ neglected to do: hence, when the oil that was in their lamps bur... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:5. _THE BRIDEGROOM TARRIED_] The coming of the bridegroom to an individual may imply his death: his coming to the world-the final judgment. The _delay _- the time from a man's birth till his death, in the first case; in the second, the time from the _beginning_ to the _end_ of the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:6. _AT MIDNIGHT THERE WAS A CRY_] The Jewish weddings were generally celebrated in the night; yet they usually began at the rising of the evening star; but in this case there was a more than ordinary _delay_. _BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH_] What an awful thing to be summoned to a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:7. _TRIMMED THEIR LAMPS._] εκοσμησαν, _adorned_ them. I have seen some of the eastern lamps or lanthorns, the body of which was a skeleton of wood and threads, covered with a very thin _transparent membrane_, or very fine _gauze_, and _decorated_ with _flowers_ painted on it. It is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:8. _OUR LAMPS ARE GONE OUT._] σβεννυνται, _are going out_. So then it is evident that they were _once_ lighted. They had once hearts _illuminated_ and _warmed_ by faith and love; but they had _backslidden_ from the salvation of God, and now they are excluded from heaven, because, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:9. _LEST THERE BE NOT ENOUGH FOR US AND YOU_] These had all been _companions_ in the Christian course, and there was a time when they might have been _helpful_ to each other; but that _time_ is now _past_ for ever-none has a particle of grace to spare, not even to help the soul of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:10. _WHILE THEY WENT TO BUY, THE BRIDEGROOM CAME_] What a dismal thing it is, not to discover the emptiness of one's heart of all that is good, till it is too late to make any successful application for relief! God alone knows how many are thus deceived. _AND THEY THAT WERE READY_]... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:11. _AFTERWARDS CAME ALSO THE OTHER VIRGINS, SAYING, LORD,_ _LORD_] Earnest _prayer_, when used in _time_, may do much good: but it appears, from this parable, that there may come a time when prayer even to Jesus may be too late! - viz. when _the door is_ _shut _- when death has sep... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:12. _I KNOW YOU NOT._] As if he had said, Ye are not of my company - ye were neither with the bride nor the bridegroom: ye slept while the others were in procession. I do not _acknowledge_ you for my disciples - ye are not like him who is _love _- ye refused to receive his grace - y... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:13. _WATCH THEREFORE_] If to _watch_ be to employ ourselves _chiefly_ about the business of our salvation, alas! how few of those who are called _Christians_ are there who do _watch_! How many who _slumber_! How many who are asleep! How many seized with a _lethargy_! How many _quite... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:14. _CALLED HIS OWN SERVANTS_] God never makes the children of men _proprietors_ of his goods. _They_ are formed by his power, and upheld by his bounty; and they hold their lives and their goods, as in many of our ancient tenures, _quamdiu domino_ _placuerit - at the will of their L... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:15. _UNTO ONE HE GAVE FIVE TALENTS - TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING_ _TO HIS SEVERAL ABILITY_] The duties men are called to perform are _suited_ to their situations, and the _talents_ they receive. The _good_ that any man has he has _received from God_, as also the _ability_ to _improve_ t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:27. _WITH USURY._] συν τοκω, _with its produce _- not _usury_; for that is _unlawful_ interest, more than the money can properly produce.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _UNTO EVERY ONE THAT HATH SHALL BE GIVEN_] Matthew 13:12, Matthew 13:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH._] Matthew 8:12, Matthew 8:12, a note necessary for the illustration of this, and the foregoing parable.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME_] This must be understood of Christ's coming at the _last day_, to judge mankind: though all the preceding part of the chapter may be applied also to the destruction of Jerusalem. _HOLY ANGELS_] The word αγιοι is omitted by many excellent manuscripts, versi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _ALL NATIONS_] Literally, _all the nations _- all the _Gentile_ world; the Jews are necessarily included, but they were spoken of in a particular manner in the preceding chapter. _HE SHALL SEPARATE THEM_] Set each kind _apart_ by themselves. _AS A SHEPHERD DIVIDETH_, c.] It does not appe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _HE SHALL SET THE SHEEP_, c.] The _right hand_ signifies, among the rabbins, _approbation_ and _eminence_: the _left_ _hand, rejection_, and _disapprobation_. Hence in _Sohar Chadash_ it is said, "The _right_ hand is given, the _left_ also is given - to the _Israelites_ and the _Gentiles_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _YE BLESSED OF MY FATHER_] This is the king's address to his followers; and contains the _reason_ why they were found in the practice of all righteousness, and were now brought to this state of glory - they were _blessed _- came as _children_, and received the _benediction_ of the _Father_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _I WAS AN HUNGERED, AND YE GAVE ME MEAT_] Every thing which is done to a follower of Christ, whether it be _good_ or _evil_, he considers as done to himself, see Matthew 25:40; Acts 9:4; Hebrews 6:10. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, none are mentioned here but those that spring from _lov... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _I WAS SICK, AND YE VISITED ME_] Relieving the strangers, and visiting the sick, were in high estimation among the Jews. One of their sayings on this head is worthy of notice: "He who neglects to visit the sick is like him who has shed blood." That is, as he has neglected, when it was in h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _LORD, WHEN SAW WE THEE AN HUNGERED_, c.] This barbarous expression, _an hungered_, should be banished out of the text, wheresoever it occurs, and the simple word _hungry_ substituted for it. Whatever is done for Christ's _sake_, is done through Christ's _grace_ and he who does the work at... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:40. _INASMUCH AS YE HAVE DONE_ IT _UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF_ _THESE MY BRETHREN_] The meanest follower of Christ is acknowledged by him as his _brother_! What infinite condescension! Those, whom many would scorn to set with the _dogs_ of their flock, are brothers and sisters of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:41. _DEPART FROM ME, YE CURSED_] Or, _Ye cursed!_ _depart. _- These words are the address of the king to the sinners; and contain the _reason_ why they are to be separated from blessedness: _Ye are cursed_, because ye have _sinned_, and _would not_ _come unto me that ye might have l... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:42. _I WAS AN HUNGERED, AND YE GAVE ME NO MEAT_] I put it in your power to do good, and ye would not. A _variety_ of occasions offered themselves to you, but ye neglected them all, so that my _blessings_ in your hands, not being _improved_, according to my order, became a _curse_ to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:43. _I WAS A STRANGER_] If men were sure that Jesus Christ was actually somewhere in the land, in great personal distress, hungry, thirsty, naked, and confined, they would doubtless run unto and relieve him. Now Christ assures us that a man who is hungry, thirsty, naked, c., is his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:44. _LORD, WHEN SAW WE THEE AN HUNGERED_, c.] It is want of _faith_ which in general produces _hard-heartedness_ to the poor. The man who only sees with eyes of flesh is never likely to discover Christ in the person of a man destitute of the necessaries of life. Some pretend _not to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 25:46. _AND THESE SHALL GO AWAY INTO EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT_] No appeal, no remedy, to all eternity! No _end_ to the punishment of those whose _final_ impenitence manifests in them an eternal _will_ and _desire_ to sin. By dying in a _settled opposition_ to God, they cast themselves in... [ Continue Reading ]