1750 | Matthew 24:36
The Day and Hour Unknown
24:37-39pp— Lk 17:26,27 24:45-51pp— Lk 12:42-46
36“ But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the an gels in heaven, nor the Son, a but only the Fa ther. l 37 As it was in the days of Noah, m so it will be at the com ing of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days be fore the flood, peo ple were eat ing and drink ing, marrying and giving in marriage, n up to the day Noah en tered the ark; 39 and they knew noth ing about what would hap pen un til the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the com ing of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. o 41 Two women will be grind ing with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. p
42“ There fore keep watch, be cause you do not know on what day your Lord will come. q 43 But un der stand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, r he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be bro ken into. 44 So you also must be ready, s be cause the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not ex pect him.
45“ Who then is the faith ful and wise ser vant, t whom the mas ter has put in charge of the ser vants in his house hold to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that ser vant whose mas ter finds him do ing so when he re turns. u 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his pos ses sions. v 48 But sup pose that ser vant is wicked and says to him self,‘ My mas ter is stay ing away a long time,’ 49 and he then be gins to beat his fel low ser vants and to eat and drink with drunk ards. w 50 The mas ter of that ser vant will come on a day when he does not ex pect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and as sign him a place with the hyp o crites, where there will be weep ing and gnash ing of teeth. x
24:36 l Ac 1:7 24:37 m Ge 6:5; 7:6‐23 24:38 n Mt 22:30 24:40 o Lk 17:34 24:41 p Lk 17:35
24:42 q Mt 25:13; Lk 12:40
24:43 r Lk 12:39 24:44 s 1Th 5:6 24:45 t Mt 25:21, 23 24:46 u Rev 16:15 24:47 v Mt 25:21, 23 24:49 w Lk 21:34 24:51 x Mt 8:12
25:1 y Mt 13:24 z Lk 12:35-38;
Ac 20:8; Rev 4:5 a Rev 19:7; 21:2
25:2 b Mt 24:45 25:5 c 1Th 5:6 25:8 d Lk 12:35
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25“ At that time the king dom of heaven will be like y ten vir gins who took their lamps z
and went out to meet the bride groom. a 2 Five of them were fool ish and five were wise. b 3 The fool ish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, how ever, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bride groom was a long time in com ing, and they all be came drowsy and fell asleep. c 6“ At mid night the cry rang out:‘ Here’ s the bride groom! Come out to meet him!’ 7“ Then all the vir gins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The fool ish ones said to the wise,‘ Give us some of your oil; our lamps are go ing out.’ d
9“‘ No,’ they re plied,‘ there may not be enough for both us and you. In stead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for your selves.’
a 36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.
certain than even the present universe, which must give way one day to a new heaven and earth. 24:36 that day or hour. Does not mean that people should try to predict the month, year, generation, century, or millennium! After all, Acts 1:7 uses the broadest terms in Greek for“ times or dates” when Jesus says his followers will not know when the kingdom will be restored to Israel, i. e., when the remaining OT prophecies that will accompany his return will be fulfilled. 24:37 – 41 Indeed, for unbelievers( or believers not living with alert faithfulness), the end will come as a complete surprise, just as the flood did for the people who paid no attention to Noah building the ark( Gen 6 – 7). The rising water“ took them all away”( v. 39), i. e., they perished in God’ s judgment on the earth. The imagery, therefore, of two men in a field and two women grinding with a hand mill, in which one will in each case be taken and the other left( vv. 40 – 41), also suggests that the one taken away will be judged. Thus there does not appear to be any secret rapture of believers taken away from the earth in this passage. 24:42 do not know. Jesus repeats the point from v. 36( see note there) that no one can know when he will return. His followers, however, must always be prepared and alert. 24:43— 25:46 Jesus’ sermon concludes with a series of parables that reinforce the need for faithful service for however long or short the interval before Christ’ s second coming. 24:43 – 44 Christ likens himself to a burglar, not in that he comes to steal something, but in terms of the surprise factor. Just as wise homeowners never leave their houses unprotected, Jesus’ followers should never stop being ready for his return. 24:45 – 51 The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Servant.“ The faithful and wise servant”( v. 45) is the slave put in charge of the other slaves during his master’ s absence. Faithful performance of the tasks delegated to him may lead to his becoming the manager over the entire estate( vv. 45 – 47). Disorderly and abusive conduct, however, may be interrupted by the master returning home earlier than expected and severely punishing the slave( vv. 48 – 51). At the spiritual level, this parable refers to heaven and hell as the destinies of the two kinds of servants.
25:1 – 13 The Parable of the Ten Virgins. In the previous two parables, the figure representing Christ( or God) arrives at a time that surprises the owner of the house( 24:43 – 44) and arrives early( 24:45 – 51). In this parable Jesus arrives surprisingly late. Jesus covers all possible options. Christians really must stop pretending to know or trying to predict when Jesus will return. 25:1 – 5 In an ancient Israelite village wedding, the father of the groom would negotiate the price of the bride’ s dowry at the bride’ s parents’ home. Then the couple would proceed through the streets, accompanied by the wedding party, to the groom’ s parents’ home, where the festivities would be completed. 25:1 virgins. Bridesmaids. lamps. Oil-lit lamps to light the way for the procession. Because they may need to wait awhile before the bridegroom emerges from the bride’ s home, they need a good supply of extra oil. 25:6 – 9 In this case, the bridegroom seems to have been considerably delayed. The young women who did not bring extra oil realize, when they trim the wicks of their lamps, that they have already used up all their oil. They ask those with extra to share with them, but the other bridesmaids do not have enough for everyone. At a real wedding, traders would have remained available precisely for last minute provisions like this on the night of a wedding.