Matthew 25

—for ye know neither the day nor the hour] From the complete uncertainty at what time “the Son of man cometh,” we should be impelled immediately to reconcile ourselves to God by a sincere and hearty repentance, that the terrible day of God’s wrath may not find us unprepared. We should be ever on our guard, and frequent in all acts of piety and devotion, that we may make a daily advancement towards Christian perfection. We should humbly pray to God that the day of judgment may not overtake us unawares; but that, by patient continuance in well-doing, we may wait for glory, honour, and immortality. Nelson.

—the least of these my brethren.] That is, the meantest among true Christians. Bp. Pearce. This memorable and gracious answer of our Saviour is fit to be engraven in the hearts, and ever sounding in the ears, of all industrious promoters of charity. True it is, our Saviour says, Me in person ye never relieved, supported, comforted; but since ye performed these kind offices to others, who belonged to Me, at My command, and for My sake; I consider what you did to them (even to one of the least of them) as done to Myself, and shall accordingly give you a most valuable recompense. These words, considered as they ought to be as to their general drift, press upon us two powerful motives to the practice of charity; the one, that upon this point, we shall certainly be tried and examined at the great day of account; the other, that acts of mercy done to the poor will then be accepted and rewarded, as done to our Saviour Himself. Bp. Atterbury.

Chap. XXVI. ver. 2.—[the feast of the passover.] The account of the Institution of the feast of the Passover, H 2 The rulers conspire against Christ. Judas selleth him. Anno DOMINI 33.

Matthew 25:2

2. — five of them were wise, and five were foolish.] The wise virgins represent those who had not only embraced the Christian religion, but who likewise persevered in that profession, and brought forth fruits answerable to it.

Matthew 25:4

4. — oil in their vessels] In many parts of the East, and particularly in the Indies, it is the custom, instead of torches and flamboaux, to carry a pot of oil in one hand, and a lamp, which is thus supplied with oil, in the other. Candles are seldom used in the East, especially among persons of higher rank. Sir J. Chardin.

Matthew 25:5

5. — they all slumbered and slept.] This did the wise virgins, as well as the foolish. Thus, too often, even the best and most considerate sort of Christians, are not so watchful as they ought to be, to prepare for death and judgment. In many things, says St. James, we all offend, even the best of us; and who is there that does not, some time or other, remit of his vigilance and care, so as to be open to temptation, for want of a sufficient guard on himself? Blessed are those servants, and wise indeed, whose lamps always burn bright, and whom the Bridegroom, when He comes, shall find watching, and in a fit posture and preparation to meet Him. Abp. Tillotson.

Matthew 25:6

6. — at midnight there was a cry &c.] In “the Customs of the East Indians and the Jews compared,” a statement is given of the marriage ceremonies of the former, remarkably resembling the usages of the latter. It is mentioned, among other circumstances, that the

The parable of the ten virgins, and of the talents. Anno DOMINI 23. going out. a Chap. 24. 45. Mark 18. 33. Luke 19. 12.

Matthew 25:10

10.—the bridegroom came.] We should well observe here the fatal effects of putting off the necessary preparations for meeting our Judge. We ought to be always ready whenever He may please to come. When that time shall be, it is not in our power to know. Bp. Mann. —and the door was shut.] The patience of God will not always last: the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night, and will surprise the careless world at once, and give them no time to trim up their lamps and get oil; but in an instant the door will be shut, and they shall never enter into the kingdom of God. Let the sinner be wise in time, and improve the present opportunities of life with all his might, with all possible care and diligence, lest judgment find him unprepared. Abp. Tillotson.

Matthew 25:13

13. Watch therefore.] This is the application which our Saviour makes of the parable; we hence learn that the design of this parable is to instruct us that we ought to be continually vigilant, and always on our guard, and in a constant readiness and preparation to meet the Bridegroom, because we know not the hour of His coming to judgment; nor yet, which will be of the same consequence and concernment to us, do any of us know the precise time of our own death. Either of these may happen at any time, and come when we least expect. It behoves us therefore to make the best and speediest provision that we can for another world, try, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Matthew 25:14

14. For the kingdom of heaven is &c.] By a man travelling into a far country, is here represented our Saviour’s leaving this world, and ascending into heaven, after He had finished the great work of our redemption: and by His delivering to His servants His goods, is signified His strengthening His disciples with sufficient grace for the performance of their duty and service towards Him. By the Lord’s returning after a long time, and reckoning with the servants, is represented the coming of Christ to judgment at the end of the world, then to inquire into every man’s works, and to reward or punish, as there is just occasion. Bragge. Anno DOMINI 23. 1871. 10s. ch. 18. 24. The parable of the talents. Anno DOMINI 33.

Matthew 25:21

21. — enter thou into the joy of thy lord.] The word, translated “joy,” is applied particularly to a feast. The metaphor is still used of representing the joys of heaven by a feast; and the master, in reward for his servant’s good conduct, invites him to feast with him. Dr. Whitby.

Matthew 25:24

24. — that thou art an hard man.] The pretence here made by the servant is false and groundless. God requires not of His servants more than He has given them power to perform. But certainly, the stricter we imagine Him to be, the more careful we ought to be, in improving the talent He has committed to our charge. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 25:26

26. — thou knewest that I reap &c.] This is not a concession that the master was truly so, but it is an argument out of the servant’s own mouth to condemn him, for not acting suitably to his own hard conceptions of his lord. Dr. Whitby. He means, Though it were true, as you say, that I reap where I sow not, and you durst not risk the money in merchandise, still you should have put it out to interest, to the publick moneys-changers: some exertions ought to have been made. Thus God only requires service from us, in proportion to the means, and to the degree of grace which He grants. Dr. Lightfoot.

Matthew 25:27

27. Thou oughtest—to have put my money to the exchangers.] Meaning, that he ought to have turned it to profit by some honest way of trade. He uses this expression to upbraid the folly and sloth of the servant. Dr. Lightfoot.

Hence we are instructed, that he who has received much grace, must be eminent for much holiness. His piety must rise proportionably to the communications of the Holy Spirit which he enjoys; and his diligence be commensurate with his strength. He that hath received five talents, must gain other five with them; and no man must be without some increase, though he hath received but one. Bragge.

Matthew 25:29

29. For unto every one that hath &c.] To him that

uses and duly improves God’s spiritual gifts, so much shall by degrees be given, that at the last he shall have all abundance; but from him who doth not so, that which he formerly had shall be taken away. Dr. Hammond.

The moral of this parable is, that Jesus will reward and punish Christians according to their behaviour, under the means of grace afforded them; and that what will be required from every one will be in proportion to that which has been given him. Bp. Pearce.

In the foregoing parable we see, on the one hand, all possible encouragement given to diligence and industry, and a lively improving piety, in an abundant increase of grace, with all the blessed attendants of it in this world, and a full enjoyment of God in heaven. On the other side, we are presented with considerations which, if duly weighed, will make any one afraid of spiritual sloth and idleness, and not dare to neglect the improvement of his talent; for, by so doing, he will be deprived of God’s grace here, and doomed to eternal misery at the day of judgment. Bragge.

Matthew 25:31

31. When the Son of man shall come &c.] Our blessed Lord, after the admonitory parables which precede, containing exhortations to prepare for the last great day, is naturally led on to a description of the day itself. He represents Himself as a great and mighty King, the Supreme Lord of all, sitting on the Throne of His glory, with all the nations of the world assembled before Him, and waiting their final doom from His lips. What an astonishing and stupendous spectacle is this! He then at one glance, which penetrates the heart of every individual of that immense multitude, discerns the respective merits or demerits of every human being there present, and separates the good from the bad, with as much ease as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. He proceeds to question them on one most important branch of their duty, as a specimen of the manner, in which the inquiry into the whole of their behaviour will be conducted; and then, with the autho-

H The description of the last judgment. Anno DOMINI 33.

Matthew 25:32

32.—shall be gathered all nations:] That is, all mankind that ever lived in any nation on the face of the earth, from the creation of it to that day. Bp. Beveridge.

The doctrine of a future judgment, to be executed by that Divine Person who came down from heaven to be crucified, in order that He might deliver us from death eternal, is the strongest argument that was ever urged, or that can be conceived, to make men good. It has an efficacy proper to work on every disposition; to restrain the rash, to recover the fallen, to confirm the wavering, to soften the obdurate, to save the presumptuous, to encourage and animate the desponding and weak, and to improve and exalt the virtuous and good of every degree, to perfection. Dr. Ogden.

—he shall separate them one from another.] It is to be observed that all mankind, when assembled before the judgment seat of Christ, are divided into two great classes, the wicked and the good: those who are punished and those who are rewarded. There is no middle, no intermediate station provided for those who are lukewarm and indifferent, who are “neither cold nor hot,” who do not reject the Gospel, but give themselves very little concern about it; who, instead of working out their salvation with fear and trembling, leave that matter to take care of itself, and are at perfect ease as to the event. Such persons hope probably to be exempted from punishment at least, if not entitled to reward. But how vain this hope is, our Saviour’s representation of the final judgment most clearly shows. Those who are not set on the right hand, must go to the left. Those who are not rewarded, are consigned to punishment. There are, indeed, different mansions both for the righteous and the wicked; there are different degrees of punishment for the one, and of reward for the other; still it does not appear that there is any middle or intermediate state between punishment and reward. Bp. Portens.

Matthew 25:33

33.—on his right hand,—on the left.] Here seems to be an allusion to the received custom of the Jews in capital causes, of placing criminals who were acquitted on the right hand of the Sanhedrim, and those who were to receive the sentence of condemnation, on the left hand. Dr. Whitby.

Matthew 25:34

34.—prepared for you from the foundation &c.] That is, which God ordained from the beginning of the world, to take place at the proper season. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 25:35

35. For I was an hungred, &c.] It is an observation

Matthew 25:40

40.—Inasmuch as ye have done it &c.] It is in vain to search among the works of any sage of antiquity for so pathetic a recommendation of benevolence to the distressed, and enforced by such assurances of a reward, as is here given by Christ. S. Jenyns.

Anno DOMINI 33. The description of the last judgment. Anno DOMINI 33. Ps. 6. 2. ch. 7. 22. unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25:41

41.—[Depart from me, ye cursed, &c.] O terrible sentence of the most righteous Judge! a sentence as full of wrath and vengeance, as that of the righteous (ver. 34.) is full of grace and favour. To the righteous He says, “Come, ye blessed of My Father;” to the wicked, “Depart from Me, ye cursed.” He does not add “of My Father,” because it is not God, but they who have brought this curse upon themselves. To those on His right hand He says, “Inherit the kingdom;” to those on His left, “Depart into everlasting fire.” He tells the former, that the kingdom, which they shall inherit, was “prepared for them from the foundation of the world;” the latter, that the fire, to which they must go, was “prepared,” not for them, but “for the devil and his angels;” by this He signifies, that the place of punishment, to which they are condemned, was at first designed only for the devil and the fallen angels; but, seeing they have done the works of the devil, and would not be persuaded to turn to God, and serve Him, they must now go to the same place, and there live for ever with the fiends of hell. Bp. Beveridge.

Matthew 25:46

46.—[the righteous into life eternal.] The doctrine of life everlasting is the greatest spur to obedience and the practice of virtue, not only out of love and thankfulness to our Divine Benefactor, but out of regard to our own interest. The richer the reward, the more it deserves 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.