Winter Bible Study Session 6

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Series: Parables of Matthew

Description

Session 6
Be Prepared to Meet the Master by Faithful Obedience
To Jesus as Lord (Matt 24-25)
The immediate context of the three parables is the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25. This was no time for nice little stories about lost sheep or mustard seeds. As Jesus got closer and closer to his arrest and execution, his parables got increasingly urgent and increasingly dark.

A. The Faithful and Unfaithful Servants (Matt 24:45-51)
In the context, the householder who entrusts the care of his estate to his servants until he returns is the coming of Jesus at the Parousia. The servants could be any and all of Jesus’ followers and their/our need to be good stewards of God’s purposes until he comes again. We should avoid a preoccupation with the timing of Jesus’ return and focus on the certainty of the event and what it means for our present existence.

B. The Ten Virgins (Matt 25.1-13)
Cultural Context
Jewish women were considered marriageable from age twelve; Jewish men eighteen and up. Unfortunately, what we know about Jewish wedding practices in the first century is limited. We do know the engagement (betrothal) was a grand event evoking celebration. The parable states in the introduction that the kingdom is like the whole process described, not merely the virgins. The coming of the bridegroom equates with the kingdom coming in its fullness. The five wise virgins parallel those who are prepared for the second coming of Jesus and the five foolish with those who are not prepared. Being prepared means to live our lives obediently before God. Live your life in such a manner that the appearing of Jesus will be a day of vindication and rejoicing, rather than shame and judgment.

C. The Talents (Matt 25.14-30)
This is the third in the series of parables calling for preparedness for the coming of Jesus and it returns to the setting of a traveling master and his servants.

Cultural Context
A talent, from the Greek term talanton, did not refer to human giftedness or ability. A talent was a monetary unit of approximately 6000 denarii, roughly equivalent to 20 years’ wages. Two talents would be roughly 12,000 denarii, or forty years’ wages; five talents would be roughly 30,000 denarii, or one hundred years wages. We are talking enormous sums of cash here.

Basic Teaching
The interpretation of the parable must not be boiled down merely to stewardship of God’s gifts, but it is stewardship in the context of the return of Jesus and a final judgment. Jesus called his followers to be faithful and obedient managers until Jesus returned. As the householder rewarded or punished his servants based on their stewardship during his absence, so Jesus would hold his followers accountable for their stewardship in the time between his ascension and return. Ultimately, each of these parables calls for serious commitment to Jesus as Lord.