Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00021B
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00:01 MTBOTBOOO21B
00:02 We're back to our discussion on Matthew Chapters 24 and 25. 00:04 We've just looked at the first couple of the parables 00:08 that Jesus tells to help us know how to be ready. 00:11 Yes. 00:12 Ranko, let's unpack a little bit more. 00:13 So let's go one more time. 00:16 What was the problem with the unfaithful servant? 00:20 He lived on the assumption that the Second Coming is delayed. 00:27 What about the wise servant? 00:30 He lives on the assumption that the master can come at any time. 00:35 Uh huh. 00:36 Let's keep that in mind. 00:37 But now there is another parable that Jesus said that actually 00:43 functions as a supplement to this first parable. 00:47 We call it the parable of the ten virgins. 00:50 Glenn, I'd like for us to explore this parable, so please, 00:53 would you read us verses 1 through 13? 00:55 Of Chapter 25. 00:57 Chapter 25; moving in Chapter 25. 00:59 And you know, Ranko, this parable really came to life 01:01 to me a few years ago when I was in the country of Lebanon. 01:04 We were camping in the mountains, and that evening, 01:08 in the dark, we saw a wedding take place in one village. 01:11 Then we saw the bridegroom go with the bridal party. 01:15 We saw their lights. 01:16 We saw the lamps moving to the brides house and so forth. 01:20 With that in mind, Matthew Chapter 25. 01:23 Actually, Glenn, a few scholars who lived in the beginning 01:28 of the Twentieth Century, who went there to Palestine there 01:33 to Arabic villages, and naturally who witnessed almost 01:37 an identical wedding. 01:38 What was going on as Jesus was described in Matthew 25. 01:41 So we don't have here a product of imagination. 01:45 It was really rooted in the reality of the people who lived 01:49 at those times. 01:50 Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be compared to ten maidens; 01:53 Ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 01:56 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 01:59 We should pause. 02:00 They're all going to meet the bridegroom. 02:02 This is not unbelievers. 02:03 Hey, they're the ones waiting. 02:06 They're all Adventists in the sense of waiting for the advent. 02:09 Waiting for the advent of Jesus Christ. 02:12 Yes. 02:13 For when the foolish; five of them were foolish, 02:16 and five were wise. 02:17 For when the foolish virgins took their lamps, 02:19 they took no oil with them. 02:21 But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 02:24 As the bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept. 02:27 But at midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! 02:30 Come out to meet him! 02:32 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps, 02:35 and the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil 02:38 for our lamps are going out. 02:40 But the wise replied, Perhaps there will not be enough for us 02:44 and for you. 02:46 Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourself. 02:49 And when they went to buy the bridegroom came, 02:51 and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast 02:55 and the door was shut. 02:56 Afterward the other maidens came and said, 03:00 Lord open up to us. 03:02 But he replied, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. 03:06 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day, nor the hour. 03:13 You remember when we talked about the parables? 03:16 What is the purpose? 03:17 To tell us that we don't know when He will come. 03:21 There are a few things here that we have to mention. 03:23 Let's remind them one more time, sorry. 03:26 The unfaithful servant lived on the assumption that the coming 03:31 is delayed. 03:32 The wise servant believes he can come at anytime. 03:35 Now we have here a completely opposite situation. 03:39 What is that? 03:40 The wise virgins, they made provision on the assumption 03:46 that the coming can be delayed; like the unfaithful servant. 03:50 A completely different attitude toward the coming. 03:54 You see, the unfaithful servant, he believes that the coming 03:58 is delayed, and what does he do? 04:00 He treats his fellow servants in a bad way. 04:06 Okay? 04:08 So it's a completely different attitude. 04:10 Completely different attitude. 04:11 How did they deal with the delay? 04:12 How to deal with the delay. 04:13 One abuses others, one is unjust, the others are prepared. 04:16 So the matter is not if the Second Coming of Christ 04:21 is delayed. 04:22 Evidentially there is the delay, but Jesus presents here two 04:26 different attitudes toward the delay: positive and negative. 04:30 So in light of the fact that the Second Coming of Christ 04:34 is delayed, it gives us an opportunity to make 04:37 the preparation. 04:39 And what is the preparation according to the parable 04:41 of the virgins? 04:42 It's to have the oil, the reserve of the oil, 04:46 which is in reference to the Holy Spirit, who can give us 04:50 strength and prepare us to be ready for the Second Coming 04:55 of Christ. 04:56 What about the foolish virgins that are there? 04:58 They believe that the coming will be immediately; 05:02 very similar to the wise servant there. 05:06 But you see what a completely different attitude it is. 05:10 Okay, the Second Coming of Christ, 05:12 it's not in that to make us that He will come; that it will 05:18 happen tomorrow. 05:20 So we speculate on a certain date, you see, the date it is. 05:24 No, it's like the wise virgins. 05:26 Yes, He can come at any time; He can come very soon, 05:30 but I have to be ready for that. 05:33 Actually it impacts my daily life. 05:37 Their faith couldn't handle the delay. 05:40 So it's important. 05:41 It's important, yes. 05:43 Whether Jesus will come tomorrow, or His coming 05:50 is delayed, that doesn't matter. 05:52 We are not the ones who are deciding when He will come. 05:55 Ours is to have the oil. 05:58 And the question is, do we have that reserve of the oil 06:04 given to us, which is the Holy Spirit? 06:07 It's only the Holy Spirit that will put us, and make us with 06:12 the right attitude as we are awaiting the Second Coming 06:15 of Christ. 06:16 This is such an important point because I meet many, many 06:18 Christians who are sincere in their desire to be ready. 06:22 They spend so much time looking at every current event. 06:26 They spend so much time involved in all kinds of speculation: 06:30 Is it going to be this, is it going to be this? 06:31 And I sometimes wonder if we spent that much time seeking 06:35 the Holy Spirit that we'd be ready. 06:38 Do you remember when we read in the book of Acts that the 06:41 disciples asked Jesus, When? 06:43 Are you going now? 06:44 Jesus says, It is not given to you. 06:46 But there is something that is given to you. 06:48 What is that? 06:49 To be My witness. 06:51 By the way, this is what the rest of Chapter 25 is all about. 06:56 We have two parables that are left. 06:59 What is the first parable? 07:00 The parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep 07:03 and goats. 07:04 Actually, in these two parables Jesus is teaching us how to 07:10 live as we are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ. 07:15 How we live in the light of the fact that the Second Coming 07:19 of Christ is delayed. 07:20 I hope we didn't miss that because we might have thought 07:22 some other parts of Matthew didn't relate too much. 07:26 They all do, but this Chapter, this section, how to live with 07:31 the day; we're living in the delay right now. 07:33 Jesus hasn't come as quickly as was hoped, so now what do we 07:38 learn, Ranko? 07:39 So, Glenn, there are very long passages. 07:42 Please, can you provide a summary to us 07:45 from Verse 14 to 30? 07:47 What is this parable of the talents? 07:49 See if you can just in a nut shell give us the content of 07:53 this parable. 07:54 So there's a businessman who goes on a journey. 07:56 He leaves certain parts of his property to his servants. 08:02 One receives five, another receives two, 08:06 another receives one. 08:07 Obviously he's made some decisions. 08:09 He's observed them. 08:10 He gives the distinctions here. 08:13 So each one receives from the master talents according 08:16 to his ability. 08:17 Yes. 08:18 Alright, now Ranko, the master's delayed. 08:20 It says that after he'd been gone for a long time 08:23 he comes back. 08:24 Glenn, can we stop here for a minute? 08:27 Alright. 08:28 Did Jesus try to tell His disciples that He will not come 08:33 very soon? 08:34 Yes! 08:35 Since in the parable He said that the master, 08:37 he left for a long time, and after a long time he came back. 08:41 You see, the disciples could get some insight about what Jesus 08:45 was trying to say. 08:46 When He comes back there's accountability, 08:49 and He calls each of the individuals in. 08:52 The one who has five says, Look, I have five more. 08:54 The one who has two has also multiplied his. 08:58 But the one who has one only brings what he has. 09:01 And I think it's significant for us to hear what he says. 09:03 Master, I knew you were a hard man, reaping where you did not 09:07 sow, and gathering where you did not winnow, so I was afraid, 09:10 and I went and hid your talent in the ground. 09:12 Here's what is yours. 09:14 So what did the master say to him? 09:16 I gave this to you not to hide, not to keep, but you had to 09:21 work with that talent that I gave to you. 09:24 So what is the purpose of this parable that Jesus tells us? 09:26 Jesus has gone. 09:29 Uh huh. 09:30 Okay? 09:31 Represented by the master of this house. 09:35 As we are waiting for His coming, what He has entrusted 09:40 to us, those talents, we have to use for the spreading of the 09:44 kingdom, for the increasing of the property of the master. 09:48 And you know, I think it's significant for us to know it's 09:51 the one who doesn't do it right is the one who's motivated 09:53 by fear. 09:54 Yes, so we have the next parable. 09:56 Alright. 09:57 Let's just go to that. 09:58 Actually, the next parable really clarifies the first one. 10:01 Glenn, we just have a very short time. 10:03 Can you just provide in a nutshell what we have here? 10:05 Jesus says before Him will be gathered all the nations. 10:08 He'll separate them one from another as a shepherd separates 10:12 the sheep from the goats, Verse 32. 10:13 And He'll place the sheep on His right side and the goats 10:16 on his left. 10:17 Then the king will say to those on his right, Come blessed of my 10:21 father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 10:24 foundation of the world. 10:25 The He describes what they have done. 10:27 What have they done? 10:28 They have done numerous things. 10:30 I was hungry; you gave me food. 10:31 I was thirsty; you gave me drink. 10:33 I was a stranger; you welcomed me. 10:34 I was naked; you clothed me. 10:36 I was sick; you visited me. 10:38 I was in prison and you came to me. 10:40 And they said, When? 10:41 They were surprised! 10:42 When did we do it? 10:43 What did Jesus say? 10:44 He said, essentially He said, As you did it, Verse 40, 10:48 to one of the least of these, you did it to me. 10:50 But then He said to another group, Go! 10:54 Part from me! 10:55 Go to the fire that is prepared for you. 10:56 Why? 10:57 Those on the left. 10:58 And they said, Lord, when did we see you? 11:00 When were you in the prison? 11:03 When were you hungry? 11:04 And Verse 45, Then he'll answer them, Truly I say to you, 11:09 as you did not to one of the least of these, 11:11 you did it not to me. 11:13 So as we are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ 11:17 we have a task to fulfill. 11:20 The talents that Jesus Christ has given to us; 11:23 those God given talents. 11:24 Those talents can be of different kinds including money, 11:27 maybe my speech, maybe my love toward people, 11:32 helping people, the task of the spreading of the gospel. 11:36 All of these talents are given to Christians who are waiting 11:41 for the Second Coming of Christ. 11:43 Our task in this world is not to speculate the hour 11:49 and the time of the Second Coming of Christ. 11:51 According to Jesus we have to help those who are in need, 11:55 to care for people, to help them and to treat them in the way 11:59 that Jesus would treat them. 12:01 We have to fulfill that special service in this world 12:05 to represent Jesus Christ to the people as we are waiting 12:09 for the Second Coming of Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17