Matthew 25 — ready and faithful: the ten bridesmaids and the three servants

Bible study · Matthew 25:1–30

Jesus is on the Mount of Olives, two days before the cross, answering His disciples' question about His return. Matthew 25 gives us three parables in a row. Here are the first two, and they belong together: one is about being ready, the other about being faithful.

The ten bridesmaids (vv. 1–13)

Ten virgins — part of the wedding party — take their lamps to wait for the bridegroom, whose arrival starts the feast. Five are wise and bring extra oil. Five are foolish and don't. The groom is delayed; they all fall asleep. At midnight comes the shout: "Here's the groom! Come out to meet him." The foolish find their lamps going out and ask to borrow oil. The wise can't spare it. While the foolish are off buying oil, the groom arrives, the ready ones go in with him, and the door is shut. When the others come back — "Lord, lord, open up for us!" — the answer is, "Truly I tell you, I don't know you." "Therefore be alert, because you don't know either the day or the hour."

A few things worth asking as you read. Why did they expect him that day? Why might he have been delayed? Who's shouting at midnight, and was a messenger sent ahead? Why is the door locked? And why doesn't the bridegroom know them?

Here's what I take from it. The bridesmaids were looking and waiting for the return — but waiting isn't the same as being ready. The foolish didn't count the cost of what it would take to be prepared, and by not being ready they disqualified themselves from a celebration they were supposed to be part of. In that culture it was deeply shameful to show up unprepared for a wedding, especially one you were in. Jesus is returning at a specific time; we don't know when, and the midnight shout is there to underline that it will be sudden and unexpected. And notice that "I don't know you" — to know someone in Scripture is to be in relationship with them, a relationship of covenant and obedience. The foolish weren't missing information. They were missing a relationship. One more observation: Jesus has one bride, not two. The church is the fulfillment of what God was doing with Israel.

The three servants (vv. 14–30)

A man going on a long journey entrusts his money to three servants — five talents to one, two to another, one to the third, "to each according to his own ability." The first two put the money to work and double it. The third digs a hole and buries his. When the master returns, the first two hear the same words: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy." The third explains that he knew the master was harsh, so he was afraid and hid the money. The master calls him wicked and lazy — you could at least have put it in the bank — takes his talent, gives it to the one with ten, and throws him out. "For to everyone who has, more will be given... but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."

The master recognized different levels of competence and allocated accordingly. The different amounts aren't favoritism; they're a practical decision about what each could handle. We're trusted with responsibilities in proportion to the abilities God gave us, and we'll be held accountable for what we do with them. There's no real difference between "investing" and "working" in the story — the money was put to use in whatever way each servant could. And "a few things" is the master's perspective, not ours: a single talent was roughly twenty years' wages. What God entrusts to us is of enormous value, even when He calls it small. Notice too that Jesus celebrates our victories when they're aligned with Him — "share your master's joy."

The third servant's problem is the heart of the parable. God entrusts us with opportunities and expects them to be fruitful, even though fruitfulness means risk. If we view God as unjust or harsh, we'll fear Him and refuse to use what He's given. The servant wasn't condemned for a lack of ability. He was condemned for failing to act. Fear-based inaction is not faithfulness. To those who use well what they've been given, more is given — and they have abundance.

Put them together

Be ready: know the Bridegroom, so that when the shout comes, the door is open to you. Be faithful: take what He's put in your hands, however much or little, and put it to work for Him until He comes. Those who don't use their abilities for God are not aligned with His kingdom. Those who do will hear the only words that will matter that day — "Well done."

Both parables end at a door. That's not an accident.

If you've never trusted Christ, hear this flat: you don't get oil off somebody else at midnight. Your mother's faith won't cover you. Your grandfather's won't either. Jesus died in your place, God raised Him, and He still receives anybody who calls on His name — but the shout comes when it comes, and the door doesn't hang open forever. Settle it while it's still today. It takes less time than reading this page.

And for those who are His already: what's the talent buried in the yard? You know what it is. The hours, the truck, the money, the words you keep not saying to the man at work. That third servant wasn't lazy, exactly. He was scared of the Master. Do the buried thing once this week, small if it has to be small. Fear-based inaction is not faithfulness.

Related: Are you bearing fruit? and Stewardship — managing God's resources.