Matthew
24:32-25
Today’s
parable comes about in a different way in that it is part of a larger discourse—the
“Olivet Discourse” that we find fills chaps. 24 & 25 of Matthew. His disciples
have heard about the end of the Temple, and they ask Jesus to tell them more
about the “end of the age.”
Jesus
begins with descriptions rivaling the Old Testament prophets or John’s visions
from the Revelation—famines, earthquakes, persecution, “the abomination that
causes desolation,” false prophets, and more. Then Jesus tells the parable (“lesson”)
of the fig tree. Jesus uses the fig tree—one of the last trees to get its sap
up after the cold of winter. Just as the fig tree is late in budding, so the
coming of the “end of the age” will be late in coming. But, Jesus indicates we’re
to keep our eyes open for that time.
Jesus
then tells three parables in a row to drive his own point home. He tells the parable
of the ten virgins (or bridesmaids), the parable of the talents, and the
parable of the sheep and goats. The first focuses on the five wise and five
foolish virgins. The second considers three servants who have the opportunity
of make the most of their time…and one is fearful, unimaginative, and overly
careful—and suffers for this behavior. Finally, the sheep and the goats actually
relates to the “end times,” to a time of judgement. Those who do the good work
of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, caring
for the sick, visiting the imprisoned are received into the Kingdom…and those who
do not are “cursed,” expelled from Kingdom.
Interestingly,
in Jesus’ response to his disciples’ questions about the “end of the age,”
Jesus talks very much about the here-and-now. This long discourse shows us that
we find our place at the end of time through how we live today. While some in modern
Christian culture have thought of “professing their faith” as assuring their
place in the future reign of God, as a sort of ‘fire insurance,’ Jesus teaches
us that our place in the future is assured by how we live today. Living
faithfully and wisely now means we don’t have to worry about our place with God
in the future. Or, in other words, a profession of faith without a life that reflects
that faith is useless.
Today,
Jesus does assure us once again that this life and this world is not the end. Something
more awaits us…a world set right, a world of justice and goodness and God. But,
we do not need to sit around thinking about that. Rather, Jesus tells us to
live today…to live faithful and wise lives. That “eternal life” of the Gospels,
that “life to the full” Jesus talks about—these are not some far-off, future realities.
They are the realities we begin living now…today.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
“Parables: Faithful and Wise”
Watch/Listen: HERE
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