Sunday 24th November 2024. Last Sunday of Trinity.
Pastor Pete Myers explains Matthew 25:1-13.
Is Jesus worth waiting for?
Is Jesus worth waiting for?
Is Jesus worth waiting for?
How do you prepare for the end of the world? Go carbon neutral? Buy Bitcoin?
The church has a calendar, and the purpose of the church calendar is to make sure that we cover the key teachings of the whole Bible every year.
And as we approach advent, this is the time of year we reflect on Jesus’ second coming the end of the world.
And Jesus teaches us that no one knows that day or that hour… …we don’t know when he will come back.
So, we have to be ready for him to return any moment. He could return right now. He could return in 1,000 years.
When people talk to me about preparing for the “end of the world”… …most of the time they imagine something dramatic that could happen any moment.
But, precisely because we don’t know when Jesus will return, we also have to be ready for the wait.
And that is the point of Jesus’ story in today’s Gospel passage, take another look at vv. 1-4:
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
Four times Matthew says “took”:
v. 1 “took their lamps”
v. 3 “took their lamps”
“took no oil”
v. 4 “took flasks of oil”
So, these ten virgins are a picture of people who have taken something or received something.
Light in the Bible often represents knowing God by faith… And virgins often represent purity …so the ten virgins represent people whose consciences have been made pure by receiving the light of God’s Word.
They represent people who have faith. And there’s lots of connections here to the Sermon on the Mount that re-enforce this idea:
Near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5, v. 14, Jesus calls Christians “the light of the world” and in 5:15 He refers to Christians as lamps. Here, the virgins each take a lamp.
At the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the story of the foolish man who built his house on the sand and the wise man who built his life on Jesus’ Word. Here there are virgins, representing believers, some of whom are wise and continue in faith, others of whom are foolish and do not continue in faith.
Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 7 v. 21 & 23, Jesus warns that:
“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,”… And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Showing there are people who look like Christians that never were. Here in vv. 11-12, Jesus warns:
Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Showing there are people who used to be Christians, but no longer are.
And it’s also no accident that Jesus uses the numbers 10 and 5. Ten in the Gospels often represents “all”. Five represents “some”.
So, these 10 virgins represent all of those who in this life will hear the Word of the Gospel and put their faith in Christ. But, only 5 will have oil, will continue to receive the Word, and continue in the faith until the end.
In other words: Jesus warns in this story that not everyone who starts will finish; not everyone who begins in the faith will end in it; that once saved, not everyone will always be saved.
And so, Jesus warns in v. 13:
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Jesus could return any moment, so of course we need to be ready for him to return now; but, the particular thing He warns us about here, is that we also need to be ready for Him to return later.
Which is what raises this question for us: Is Jesus worth waiting for?
There’s two ways Jesus’ story answers that question:
1) The alternative to Jesus is work and toil
2) Jesus is our husband who freely loves us
The alternative to Jesus is work and toil
The first part of that answer: The alternative to Jesus is work and toil. Please look again at v. 5:
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
Just like the disciples will, the night before Jesus will die. V. 6:
But at midnight there was a cry,
He comes at the darkest hour, when people are at their worst and least prepared. Now, vv. 6-7:
‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
That means they cut off the wick that had burned out. Faith burns, it needs something to sustain it. We need to keep hearing the Word or our faith will die.
The foolish virgins did not keep hearing the Word. They were presumptuous. They were arrogant about their faith. They relied on slogans and past experiences: “once saved always saved”.
But now, vv. 8-9:
And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you,
The foolish turn to the wise and ask for oil… …but the wise are those of faith …and the nature of faith is to have nothing, to rely on Christ alone, to depend and trust in His Word, not yourself.
And so the wise have nothing to give the foolish, they have nothing to share.
By allowing their faith to burn out, the alternative the foolish have turned to is spelled out by Jesus in v. 9:
go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
The foolish virgins try to put the effort in, try to buy acceptance into the party, try to make themselves good and just and right through works rather than grace.
This is the alternative to Jesus—it is the only alternative to Jesus. Even for those who, tragically, once had faith and once believed: The alternative to Jesus is work and toil.
The oil that sustains burning faith is the Word of the Gospel that tells you:
Christ has died for your sins,
Christ has risen to make you just,
Christ will come again to save you.
What is the alternative work and toil you turn to instead? Where do you go instead of Christ to make yourself feel just?
Do any of these false Gospels ring true for you?
“God loves me because I grew up in a certain church.”
“God loves me because I pray.”
“God loves me because I read the Bible.”
“God loves me because I look after my family.”
“God loves me because I’m a gentle person who doesn’t get angry.”
“God loves me because I treat women or men a certain way.”
“God loves me because I deal fairly with my clients.”
“God loves me because I tell the truth.”
“God loves me because I punish myself in my mind.”
All of these are false gospels. All of these are alternatives to Jesus. All of these are ways that I turn away from Jesus, and replace him with work and toil.
Jesus is our husband who freely loves us
Instead of those alternatives—hear the Gospel: Jesus is our husband who freely loves us. Look again at v. 10:
And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Before the fall, before sin, marriage was supposed to be a picture of Christ and the church.
Of course, because of sin, Paul tells us that marriage in this life is full of trouble and strife.
That is something all of us understand. Relationships in this life are not easy. We make mistakes. We argue. We suffer.
But, while the picture is imperfect, the reality will not be. Jesus is betrothed to the church. We are His bride. He is our husband.
Everything He has: he shares with us. His perfection in prayer. His righteousness in relationships. His total truthfulness.
All these things outshine mine infinitely. And all these things are mine simply by faith in his promises.
He gives me these things freely. Not because I attend church. Not because I pray. Not because I read the Bible.
But because of himself, his love, his grace… …and I receive them simply through faith, as I hear his promises and trust them.
This is God’s promise to you. This is His absolute assurance: You are destined for something far, far better than this life.
There will be a married feast that will last forever. Every blessing Christ has will be shared with you.
He is royal. You will be royal.
He is rich. You will be rich.
He is joyful. You will be joyful.
Is Jesus worth waiting for?
And so, Is Jesus worth waiting for?
10 virgins start by faith. But only 5 finish.
The alternative to Jesus is work and toil. Things we turn to now instead of Christ, to find blessing and righteousness and meaning and value.
But, Jesus is our husband who freely loves us:
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Keep your lamp of faith burning, by continually hearing the Word. Because when that hour does come,
those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast,