When we come to Matthew 25, we see it is a continuation and the conclusion of Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse concerning the Great Tribulation and the coming Kingdom. Keep in mind that the Rapture of the Church is not mentioned here because the church had not begun until Acts 2 after Christ ascended. So, we begin to see the context of the parables in Matthew 25.

There are five parables in Matthew and one in Mark that encourage people going through the Great Tribulation to keep awake and be ready for Christ to come, which is called His Second Coming. (The first time He came to this earth was when He was born as a virgin. The Second time He comes for all the world to see will be at the conclusion of the Tribulation Period at the Battle of Armageddon where He comes with His saints who were caught up previously and taken to Heaven during this time.)

Here are those 6 parables about being ready when He comes:
1. The Parable of the Master of the House. Matthew 24:42-44
2. The Parable of the Faithful Servants and the Evil Servants. Matthew 24:45-51
3. The Parable of the Ten Virgins. Matthew 25:1-13
4. The Parable of the Talents. Matthew 25:14-30
5. The Parable of the Sheep and Goats, also known as the sheep and goat judgment. Matthew 25:31-46
6. The Parable of the Porter. Mark 13:34-37.

We can see that they are told to watch and be ready for His coming. Keep in mind that the emphasis here is about the Tribulation and God’s dealing with the Jews who rejected Him. He came to set up His kingdom as their long-awaited Messiah and they turned against Him. So, these parables are to a Jewish audience and have meaning as such. Those who make it through the Tribulation and follow Christ will go into the Millennial Kingdom in their own bodies, not resurrected bodies as will the Church earlier.

It is important to keep in context. I am not advocating that I understand it all or know about every detail, but this is my attempt to put things into proper time, situation, and placement and to keep it simple. One can take some of these parables and preach about a person not being ready for the rapture. That is fine to use it as a secondary meaning to emphasize a point, but it is important for us to understand the significance of time and place and who these words are directed to in context.  I, myself, have preached on the Ten Virgins and related it to the Rapture and I have used the Parable of the Ten Talents to emphasize responsibility, but their primary meaning is not related to the Church Age, but to the Great Tribulation. The older I get, the more I seek to stay in the meaning of the passage as it was intended and not skew it to fit a profile for a sermon.

Now, in each of these parables, we see that they are cautioned to be ready and keep watching. Being prepared for the Lord to come was paramount to their eternal survival. Those who come through the Tribulation Period rejecting Christ Jesus will go into eternity where there will be complete darkness, weeping and in their anger, they will be grinding their teeth.

If you read all of these parables on your own, you will see their meaning. They are simple concepts Jesus taught so all could be prepared. I will not go into each of them to dissect them verse by verse, because I think they are self-explanatory. However, I will make some comments on the Parable of the Sheep and Goats because they are often used out of context and placed into our Church Age when they are regarding the Tribulation Period.

Keep the context in mind.  Verse 34 of Matthew 25 is a key. Those who had followed a right path were invited to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” So, we see it was concerning the time of the Tribulation that precedes the Millennial Kingdom.

If you will look at these verses and remember that Jesus was referring to the treatment of the Jews during the tribulation, you will understand their meaning.

Verse 35 For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home. Verse 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me.”
Those who refused to help “my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.”

Seeing it in context, makes sense. Otherwise, in verse 46, you could make a case for a works based salvation. Salvation is by faith and faith alone, apart from works. When we are saved, then we are to be faithful at working for our Lord. However, these folk, in verse 46, were condemned to eternal punishment.

During the Tribulation Period and especially the Great Tribulation which is the last 3 1/2 years of the 7 year period, the Jews were persecuted viciously by Satan, the Beast, False Prophet, and the Antichrist.  Those who helped the Jews were rewarded and praised.  Those people and nations who did not help the Jews were condemned to eternal punishment.  The Tribulation was concerning judgment for the Jews rejection of their Messiah.  Those who were faithful during that time to God and endured until the end were allowed into the Millennial Kingdom.

Sometimes people are confused about the word kingdom.  When you come to Christ and place your faith in Him, you enter into what we could call a spiritual kingdom.  When the Millennial Kingdom comes, it will be a literal physical kingdom.  This was the long awaited and prophesied kingdom that God promised the nation of Israel and due to their rejection of the promised Messiah, it was postponed until later, specifically, after the Tribulation period.

So if you are looking at a general timeline from the cross to the new heavens and new earth, you would see The Church Age, The Rapture of the Church out of this world along with the first resurrection of the just or saved, The Tribulation Period of 7 years, The Millennial Kingdom of 1,000 years, The Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers in a second resurrection which consists of the unjust or unsaved, The Devil, Beast, False Prophet, and unbelievers cast into eternal hell, then The Creation of a New Heavens and a New Earth that will be without the curse of sin, and forever we will be with the Lord.

Keeping in context is keeping us on the right path Biblically. There is much misinformation in the Christian world from verses taken out of context or out of their original meaning. We must always be careful to rightly divide the word of truth.

This is not an exhaustive commentary on these two chapters, but I hope you got a glimpse of what The Olivet Discourse was all about. I trust the Lord blesses you as you study His precious Word.

God bless,
Ken Lewis Th.D.