Transcript
Okay, I’m here again with Zane Hodges, and we’re discussing the Olivet Discourse. Zane, I was wondering if you could just overview what’s going on in Matthew 24 and 25 and the Olivet Discourse, before we actually look at the parable of the just and the unjust servant and the parable of the ten virgins, etc. Could you give us an overview of the Olivet Discourse?
Well, Bob, as you know, this is a very important prophetic discourse. It is the longest prophetic discourse in the New Testament outside of the book of Revelation.
In overviewing the Olivet Discourse, the way that I would personally divide it is that there is a section beginning in 24:4 that extends to chapter 24, verse 35. In this particular unit, Jesus is covering what we would describe as the end times, or what we might describe as the day of the Lord.
The first subunit of this larger unit extends from verse 4 through verse 14. Here Jesus gives, I think, a very brief run-through of the entire period. Then He comes back in verse 15 to the middle of the period, which is marked by the abomination of desolation. He goes into some detail on the events of the last half of the day of the Lord.
Then, when He comes to the end of His discussion here, which of course terminates with His own personal appearance in glory in the clouds of heaven, He ends with an appendix in verses 32 to 35. These state that the generation that is alive at the time that these events begin to take place will survive until the events are over.
Then, beginning in verse 36 of chapter 24, and I believe going to 25:13, there is a unit that answers the question, or addresses the question, When will these things be? Basically, the answer that Jesus gives to that is that no one knows when these things will be. As for that day and hour, no one knows. They come unexpectedly.
This is a way of saying that the day of the Lord will arrive in the world at a time when people are not expecting it, when normal life is proceeding as usual. It will catch the unsaved world, obviously, like a thief in the night.
In concluding this section, which addresses the issue of time, He has two parables that are important here. One is the parable of the unfaithful servant in 24:45 to 51. Then there is the parable of the ten virgins in 25:1 through 13.
The climax of the unit is in verse 13 of chapter 25, where He says,
Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour when the Son of Man comes.
So that wraps up the unit which begins with this question concerning that day and the hour. The bottom line here is, watch, because you don't know when the day or the hour is.
Then He concludes the discourse, it seems to me, by two additional parables which actually address the responsibility of those who will live, first of all, just prior to the events of this period. That's the parable of the talents. And then those who will live through this period, which is the story of the sheep and the goats. It's not a parable exactly, but it has parabolic elements in it, the division of the sheep and the goats. With that, the Olivet Discourse comes to a conclusion.
That would be my overview of the whole discourse.
Ok, great. Let me ask you a question. With these three parables and the one historical account with parabolic features, the judgment of the sheep and the goats, it sounds like you're saying some of those deal with the saints in the Tribulation Period or believers in the tribulation period or at the end of the tribulation afterwards, as in the case of the sheep and the goats. And some of them deal with believers in this age. Is that right? And if so, is there any structure to that? Or in other words, today, does it go in some pattern?
You're correct, at least as I understand it. The final concluding parables, there are four of them. The first of these, which is the parable of the unfaithful servant, relates to people who will live before the advent of the end times. Then the second of these parables, which is the parable of the ten virgins, relates to those who will live through the end times.
Then we come back to the concluding stories. We have the parable of the talents, which relates to the responsibilities of those who live prior to the coming of these end-time events. And then we have the judgment of the sheep and the goats, which assesses the responsibilities of those who have lived through this period to the coming of our Lord to establish His kingdom. So that's the way I would divide it.
So that we have one, two, one, two. The two ones refer to the people who live before the coming of the end of the age. And the second two stories or parables refer to those who live through the end-time period. I probably should use the term day of the Lord to cover the eschatological period that is described here. So that parable 1 and parable 3 refer to those who live before the coming of the day of the Lord and who are held responsible up to that event. And parable 2 and story 4 relate to those who live through this period and are held responsible at the end of the period.
That raises a couple of questions. One of them is in terms of watchfulness. The Greek word gregoreuo, we get our name Gregory from it, I think it would be good to be a Gregory. Anyway, in terms of this watchfulness in 25:13, but that same word also occurs before we get into these final four parables in 24:42 and 24:43. And we find this same idea in 1 Thessalonians 5 also about whether we're watchful or whether we're asleep. Will we be forever with the Lord? But obviously God's calling us to watchfulness.
I recently read an article in a pre-trib study group newsletter in which they suggested that watchfulness is only for saints in the Tribulation Period and that saints in this age wait on the Lord, and it's a different concept. But it seems to me at least that watchfulness here is not simply for the people, the ten virgins, but watchfulness is for all people, even those who are going to live before the day of the Lord. Is that correct?
Yes. In fact, I would want to say probably that the command to watchfulness relates very particularly to those who will live up to the coming of the day of the Lord and for whom the coming of the day of the Lord will be sudden and unexpected. As a matter of fact, watchfulness is not really a theme of the parable of the ten virgins. In the parable of the ten virgins, all of them are aware that the midnight cry has been uttered. They've been asleep, but there was nothing wrong with that because they were waiting for this signal that the bridegroom was close.
So all ten of them wake up. All ten of them, therefore, are aware that the bridegroom is coming. The problem in this parable is not watchfulness but readiness. The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins is that the wise ones are ready with their extra supply of oil and the foolish ones are not ready with an extra supply of oil. Therefore they have to dash away and see if they can find some oil in time to meet the bridegroom. So they're not ready for him. But they know he's coming. They heard the midnight cry and so on.
Now, however, we need to remember that Jesus has in mind, when He speaks the whole discourse, not only those who will live during this period but also those who will live up to the period. And as I indicated, this structure is such that starting at Matthew 24:36 we're really addressing the issue of the day and the hour. Which means that the focus falls upon those who are going to be overtaken by that day and hour, not on those who will live after the day and hour has begun. You follow me?
So the command that He gives, for example, in 24:42,
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord comes,
is repeated in 25:13. Now here I want to say a further word. When we compare and contrast the first two parables, the parable of the unfaithful servant is the parable of a servant who is completely caught by surprise by the coming of his lord. He is not awakened by a midnight cry that says the bridegroom is coming. He continues in his deteriorating behavior right up into the moment that his lord comes.
So the problem with him, however, was that he wasn't watching for him. He said in his heart, my lord delays his coming. It's not going to be for a while. So he wasn't looking for him. And because he wasn't looking for him, he's caught by surprise. And his lord judges him for his failure.
Now in the second parable, as I've already said, the problem is not watchfulness but readiness. Nevertheless, even though the parable is addressed to, or is in reference to, people who will live during the day of the Lord, it is important for us to be ready as well. And that is something that is significantly different from watchfulness.
Let me try to explain this. Suppose I am watching for a visitor to come to my house and I don't know exactly when he's going to arrive. But I keep looking out the window and I keep on tiptoe so that when he first steps out of his car and starts up my driveway, I will know that he's there. Now suppose he comes and I think, there he is. And then suddenly I realize I haven't cleaned the house. No, I'm not ready. You know, I'm watching but I'm not ready.
Now you say, wouldn't it be very foolish to be watching for someone and not be ready for them? Agree. And that's the story of the foolish virgins, right? They're watching for him. Even when they go to sleep they know they're waiting for that midnight cry. But they're not ready. That's what makes them foolish: to look for him and not be prepared for it, not to be ready to cope with the difficulties that stand in the way when the midnight cry occurs.
So what Jesus is able to do here is that while telling a parable that can be interpreted in relationship to people living during the tribulation period, He also drives home to people who live in the here and now and who are waiting for the unexpected arrival of the coming of the Lord. He drives home to them the importance of being ready. Because it's not just a matter of, okay, I'm looking for him.
One of the problems I think that we have as Christians is that even though we may believe very intensely in the coming of the Lord and we may scan current events to see how things are shaping up and maybe he's getting near, you know, even though of that day and hour no one knows, but still we can hope that these things indicate the nearness of His coming. But it's surprising how many things we can overlook in our own lives and experiences that really need to be taken care of before He arrives.
So if I have attitudes or habits or deficiencies in my life that He's going to hold me to account for, why am I not getting ready by taking care of these attitudes or by filling up these deficiencies? So what I'm pointing out here is that a parable that actually is interpreted in relationship to people living during the tribulation has a powerful lesson for us. We look at the foolish virgins and we say they weren't ready. And we should then say, but am I?