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If we look
at the chronological order of the Parables we will notice that firstly
they are in groups and secondly that there is a teaching pattern
beginning with the first group of simple lessons which set the
foundation for the next set of lessons with each step being more
spiritually demanding than the previous. The First group of Parables
deal with a new teaching as in the Parables of the Lamp Under a Basket,
the New Cloth on an Old Garment and the New Wine in Old Wineskins. Then
follow the Parables of the Sower, the Tares and the Mustard seed which
we saw four weeks ago. After these there is a group of short parables
dealing with the Kingdom of Heaven followed by what might be termed as
behaviour parables teaching us how a Christian must show love towards
his fellow man as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Parables of
the Wicked Tenants, The Talents and the Wedding feast which we heard
during the past two weeks and Today's parable of the Ten Virgins belong
to the last group of Parables which the Lord spoke after his entry into
Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and before his Passion and death on the Cross.
All four Parables in this last group deal with our preparation for the
Second Coming of Christ and the dreadful judgment that awaits us if we
fail to live our lives according to the teachings of the Gospel. The
Parables come to an end with the Parable of the Last Judgement, which
many do not list as a parable because it is not a parable in the same
sense as other parables that tell a story with a deeper spiritual
significance, but it is a straightforward image of the future judgement
that awaits all mankind, told in a language that needs no
interpretation.
The Church
reads the Parable of the Ten Virgins together with the Parable of the
Talents on Holy and Great Tuesday before the Lord's Passion and in
expectation of the Resurrection which is symbolically also the Second
Coming. The Bridegroom of the Parable is central to the first three days
of Holy Week with the hymns giving us an image of the Church preparing
to meet the Bridegroom, which is very appropriate for the days before
the Lord begins his passion. We see in the readings and hymns a clear
message that the Lord is coming and we must at all times be vigilantly
watching for the moment so that we do not find ourselves locked out of
the bridal chamber. The main hymn for the first three days of Holy Week
is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins:
"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night, and blessed
is that servant whom he shall find watching, unworthy however, is he
whom he shall find slothful. Thus beware, O my soul, be not overcome by
sleep, lest thou be given over to death and find the door of the Kingdom
shut against thee. But arouse thyself and cry aloud: Holy, holy, holy
art thou, O God, through the Mother of God, have mercy upon us."
Ideally then we should look at this Parable during Holy Week, but as we
always stop the talks for Great Lent we would never get a chance to
analyze it.
Let's then
hear the Parable:
"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto
ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the
bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that
were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise
took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry
made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all
those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise
answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but
go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they
went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the
other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (St
Matthew 25:1-13)
For the
parable, Christ uses an imagery of the traditional ancient Jewish
wedding ritual. After the betrothal of the couple arranged by the girl's
father without the betrothed actually seeing each other, the groom went
his way to build the family home which could take up to two years or
more. When the home was ready the wedding could take place. The
bridegroom with his family and friends would go to the bride's home who
would be waiting for him to arrive in her wedding attire surrounded with
her family and friends. The wedding ceremony usually took place at
night, so the friends of the bride would meet the bridegroom with lamps
burning. But because of the uncertain time of the bridegroom's arrival,
those waiting would store extra oil in case the lamps should burn out.
The bridegroom would meet with the bride whose face was still covered by
a thick veil, and together with all the participants they would proceed
to the bridegroom's home with singing and music. The doors would then be
shut and the marriage contract would be signed. Then, after the
blessings, the bride would uncover her face and the marriage feast would
begin, seven days for a maiden or three days for a widow remarrying.
The
Bridegroom of the parable of course refers to Christ who promised that
after his ascension he would come again in glory at the end of time. The
virgins represent the members of the Church, but not all and everyone.
Those Christians who are only Christians by name and those who were too
lazy to work for their salvation were sifted out in the preceding
parables of the Talents and the Wedding Feast. This Parable deals with
the more dedicated Christians who live a more dedicated life in Christ
in expectation of the Second Coming. This is derived from the fact that
they are virgins and that they are carrying lamps meaning that they seek
Christ through the way of life they follow.
The state of
virginity is highly esteemed in scripture and we can speak of it
literally, symbolically or allegorically. In the literal sense a
connection is made between virginity and purity, and a connection is
made between virginity and watchfulness, a state of preparation. St.
Paul says that virginity is a condition that helps us to spiritual seek
the Lord: "He that is unmarried careth for the
things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that
is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may
please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin.
The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be
holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the
things of the world, how she may please her husband." (1 Cor.
32-34)
In spiritual
terms virginity does not refer to the virginity of the body, but to
spiritual purity. The Lord himself spoke very highly of this kind of
virginity: "For there are some eunuchs, which were
so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were
made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it,
let him receive it." (Matth. 19:12)
The Ten
Virgins of the Parable are therefore people who have dedicated their
lives to Christ and made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake. Such people we could understand as monks and nuns who practice the
virtue of virginity, but also all Christians who live the sacramental
life, who work for their salvation and stand out from the average
Christian by observing a life of abstinence. But more than this, they
live in expectation and hope of the Second Coming of Christ. Outwardly
all ten virgins are exemplary examples of what a Christian should be,
but Christ separates them into five wise virgins and five foolish
virgins. The reason for their foolishness is that they didn't bring any
extra oil for their lamps so for us to understand the parable we need to
understand what the lamps and the oil symbolize.
The lamps are probably the small clay lamps used during those times
which didn't hold a lot of oil. It was usual therefore to have another
vessel filled with oil to top up the lamps when the oil was almost burnt
up.
St. John
Chrysostom says that the lamps signify the gift of virginity, the purity
of holiness; and the oil signifies human love, almsgiving, good works
and help to those in need. For St. Gregory the Dialogist the lamps are
good works and quotes the Lord's saying: "Let your
light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16) In this respect
the lighted lamps represent the inner spiritual strength which gives
light to the outward forms of religion such as public worship and
fasting and other external works which can be seen by others. Such
qualities were possessed by all ten virgins; all ten had lighted lamps
and went forth to meet the Bridegroom. Their difference lies in the
extra vessel of oil.
In Greek the
word for oil is elaio and the word for mercy is eleos spelt slightly
differently but sounding almost the same. In the Church's hymnology
there is a play on these two words with the word for oil spiritually
representing mercy. The vessel for the oil can only be the depths of the
heart and the oil which the wise virgins possess but the foolish didn't
is compassion, mercy and love. Outwardly the foolish virgins possessed
much; they had virginity and a desire to be with the Bridegroom and for
their lamps to originally have oil means that they also had good works
to their name, but these were not in abundance and they were works done
just for the sake of doing good works. They didn't do them with
compassion, mercy and love in their hearts towards those that needed
their help. They did certain good works, but these works were not done
for the love of God, but to be seen and praised by their neighbours and
for the self praise and glory they wallowed in. Christ calls them
foolish because they lived dedicated lives and achieved great virtues
like virginity, but they neglected and lacked the corresponding virtue
of love and compassion for one's neighbour and almsgiving to the poor.
St. John Chrysostom says they were foolish because they had undergone
the greater labour, and they betrayed all their struggles and good
efforts because they lacked a lesser virtue.
Some would
say that this interpretation is not quite correct because why should
they be lacking in good deeds if they are called virgins, even though
foolish ones? Virginity is the supreme virtue, an angelic state, and it
could take the place of all other good works. They therefore say that
the oil represents the acquisition of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit.
Personally I see no difference in these two interpretations. If one has
Christian love, mercy and compassion for others then one has acquired
the grace of the Holy Spirit and if one lacks these qualities then one
hasn't acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Having then
told us of the spiritual condition of the ten virgins Christ then tells
us that: "While the bridegroom tarried, they all
slumbered and slept."
While the
bridegroom tarried shows that the time intervening between his going
away and his Second Coming will not be short, leading His disciples away
from the expectation that His kingdom was to appear almost immediately.
During this long period of waiting all the virgins slumbered and slept.
Many understand this as spiritual weariness, a period we all go through
at some stage, but here Christ is not referring to spiritual laziness or
despondency, but to the death of the body, just as he had said that
Lazarus sleepeth but was referring to the fact that Lazarus had died.
St. Paul also says: "Brethren, I would not have
you to be ignorant, concerning them which are asleep" (1
Thessalonians 4:13) meaning those that have died and passed over to the
other life.
Then
"at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Midnight signifies a
time unexpected, a time when people are fast asleep. Christ will come
suddenly without any warning other than the warning he gave us that we
should prepare and be ready for his Second Coming. The cry made refers
to how he will come. St. Paul says: "For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trumpet of God." (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
Jewish
tradition held that the Messiah would come at midnight as the angel of
destruction came upon the Egyptians during the first Passover. This
tradition continued with the Apostles until our present day. Although we
don’t know the year, Apostolic tradition says that the Second coming of
Christ will be one year on the night of the Resurrection during the
midnight vigil.
The cry
announces the arrival of the Bridegroom and all the virgins whether wise
or foolish are summoned to go out and meet him. This suggests that they
were not sleeping somewhere in open space, but in a confined place like
a house.
"Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their
lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our
lamps are gone out."
The virgins arose
refers to the general resurrection from the dead. After the long wait
the lamps were going out and needed to be trimmed. If you keep a vigil
light at home we will notice that as the oil burns the wick collects the
residue and blackens. When adding more oil the wick has to be trimmed
down or changed to allow the light to burn properly. Why did the lamps
of the foolish virgins go out? While still in this life their lamps
shone as brightly as the lamps of the wise virgins. Externally they were
just as good Christians as them with many virtues and people could see
their good works. What people couldn't see and discern was their hearts
for only God knows the hearts of men (Acts 15:8) but in the other life
and especially at the day of judgement everything we have done will be
made manifest for everyone to see, for as Christ said:
"nothing is secret, that shall not be made
manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come
abroad." (St Luke 8: 17) Their lamps went out because in the
after life their good works didn't shine in God's presence; they were
not really good works because they were not done with love and
compassion and the vessel of their heart was empty of the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul says: "though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not
love, it profiteth me nothing" (I Corinthians 13:3). Similarly
the works of the foolish virgins were not done with love and they
profited them nothing.
Realizing
they had no oil they asked the wise virgins to give them of their oil:
"But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there
be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves."
This part of
the parable is rather puzzling and almost sounds as if the wise virgins
are unmerciful and uncaring of what happens to the foolish virgins. It
almost sounds like they are saying: that's your problem leave us alone
and get lost. If they represent everything that is virtuous and pleasing
to God how could they behave so unmerciful when Christ commands us to be
merciful to everyone? Isn't this a contradiction of Christ's teaching on
love? It would indeed be a contraction if we interpreted this passage in
this way, but what the wise virgins are saying is that they do not have
the power to give them of their oil.
The oil is
the Holy Spirit which we can only obtain through Christ. It is not a
commodity that can be passed around from one person to the next. It's
impossible to pass on the spiritual strength and grace of the Holy
Spirit received through a personal relationship with God. The wise
virgins couldn't give it to them even if they wanted to. Christ is
telling us that in the after life no one can help us. It reminds of the
story of the Rich man and the beggar man Lazarus with Abraham telling
the rich man “Between us and you there is a great
gulf, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither
can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” (Luke 16:26)
Being
powerless to help them the wise virgins tell them to go to them that
sell and buy for themselves. Those who sell are the poor in this life.
They should have sought them and helped them with compassion while they
were alive and not at this time when it was too late. St. John
Chrysostom says: "See what great profit is given us from the poor, if we
were to take them away we would take away the great hope of our
salvation. Therefore here in this life we must get together the oil,
that it may be useful to us there, when the time calls us. For that is
not the time of collecting it, but this. Spend not then your goods for
nought in luxury and vainglory. For thou will have need of much oil
there."
"And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came;
and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door
was shut."
Having heard
these things, the foolish virgins went their way; but they profited
nothing because even if they achieved the impossible by coming back to
this life they were too late. As they went their way the Bridegroom came
and the wise virgins who were ready and waiting went with him to the
marriage and the doors were shut.
"Afterward came also the other virgins, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you,
I know you not."
The
foolish virgins had dedicated their lives to God, yet even after their
many labours and spiritual endeavours the doors of the kingdom were shut
and with their lamps gone out they were left in outer darkness. They
called on the Lord to let them in, but he answered them saying
"I know you not." They had faith and they
had good works, but these were not enough to guarantee them a place in
God's kingdom, because they lack the one true virtue of love and
compassion which is above all other virtues. How then do we compare with
the ten virgins? Are we wise or do we risk hearing those dreadful words:
“I do not know you." Do we do good works out of genuine love for our
fellow men or are we seeking through good works to satisfy a desire for
self praise, self glory and human recognition?
Christ
finishes the parable with a warning: "Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
man cometh."
Christ is
telling us how ignorant we are concerning our departure from this life.
His Second Coming could be today, it could be in a hundred years or many
more thousands from now, but for each of us the time of our death could
happen at any moment so be must be prepared with spiritual provisions
now and not leave things until tomorrow. By spiritual provisions I do
not mean church attendances, prayer, fasting and other means we use to
help us grow spiritually, because as the parable clearly tells us the
foolish virgins had all these things, but they were accounted to them as
nothing because they lacked the one vital ingredient of love. Love is
the only thing that draws us to Christ because Christ himself is love
and we cannot be with him unless we also became the same love. This is
made clearer in the next Parable of the Last Judgement which as I said
in the beginning is not really a parable like all the others because
Christ does not use a image for comparison but speaks clearly in a
language everyone can understand.
Let's hear
the Parable
"The Lord said: When the Son of man shall come in
his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon the
throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the
goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and you gave me
meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you
took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I
was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink? When did we see thee a stranger, and took
thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when did we see thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an
hungry, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no
drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed
me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. Then shall they
also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty,
or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not
to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal." (Matthew 25:31-46)
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and
all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon the throne of his
glory.”
The
first time Christ came into the world was as a very humble infant in the
stable of Bethlehem. The second time He will come in His glory and in
His dignity. The first time he came, not many people noticed his arrival
and instead of a royal throne, the people put their king and God on the
Cross. But with his second coming he shall come sitting on the throne of
glory. But he does not say that the Son of God shall come, but the Son
of man. Many people, especially from the west confuse this as meaning
that he has only a human nature, but as we have seen in other talks,
Christ had two natures, the divine and human and sometimes he speaks and
acts as God and at other times as a human being. When Christ calls
himself the Son of man he is saying that he represents all of humanity.
He sees himself in a unique way as the leader of the human race because
every thing he did and everything he suffered was so that humanity might
be saved. The first time Christ came his entrance was escorted by
angels, again this next time he will be escorted by all the heavenly
powers. St. Paul gives us a more vivid picture of his second coming
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of
God.” (I Thessalonians 4:16) The reason that all the angels will
be present is simple: they are witnesses of everything that has happened
on earth. They were continually sent by God on missions to men with
messages and commandments concerning mans salvation. But also each and
everyone of us has a guardian angel who has been with us from the time
we were born. They are therefore witnesses of how we have lived our
lives and will bear record of that at the Great court of the Last
Judgement.
“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the
goats on the left.”
The
whole world will be gathered before Christ. In others words there will
also be a resurrection of the dead. All those millions and millions of
people who have long been dead in the graves, from Adam to the time of
the second coming will now stand before the throne of his glory awaiting
judgement. But they will all be mixed up and will need to be separated
into two groups: of those who are righteous and those who are
unrighteous. This will be done with such accuracy and ease because
Christ will separate them as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats and he will place the sheep to his right and the goats to his
left. There is no way Christ can make a mistake. In Palestine the sheep
are usually white whilst the goats are black. It would be easy to spot a
black goat among the white sheep or a white sheep among the black goats.
In spiritual terms, the righteous will glow with the divine light while
the unrighteous will remain in darkness. But it is not only the colour
of the two animals that separates them, but also their characters. The
sheep have a good, gentle and meek disposition, they give up their milk
and wool willingly without protest. The goats on the other hand have
none of the gentleness of the lamb; they are undomesticated, wild in
character, inclined to walking along the edges of dangerous steep
precipices.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world.”
We
should not be surprised that now instead of calling himself the Son of
man, he calls himself the King. If the Son of man comes sitting on the
throne of glory then indeed he is a King and his subjects are all the
nations that have gathered at his feet. And now he begins his judgement
on those he has placed to his right. Come you blessed of my Father. He
praises the righteous by showing them from how high up comes their
reward. How worthy to be called not only blessed, but blessed of my
Father. They were chosen by Christ and they were given to Christ by the
Father. “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world.” He does not say receive the
kingdom, but inherit as though it is their ancestral home, a familiar
place legally belonging to them. And it is their ancestral home, their
fatherland, which was prepared for them from the very beginning when the
world was created. Before we were all born God had prepared for this
day. He knew man would fall and he knew that man would also be saved and
come into his rightful inheritance.
“For I was hungry, and you gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:
Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in
prison, and you came unto me.”
He then
tells them why they have been found worthy of such an inheritance:
because they lived a noble and Christian life caring for the sick and
needy without prejudices even to the extent of visiting criminals in
prison. To give someone a glass of water today is no great feat, we just
turn on the tap and there we have running drinking water, but in those
days people had to draw the water from a well or spring and carry it
home in earthen pots. Giving a traveller who was passing by a glass of
water was an act of kindness and love. I was a stranger and you took me
in. Hospitality is indeed a Christian virtue which we rarely see
nowadays. How many people are willing to let a complete stranger sleep
overnight in their home? The first thing that would pass through our
minds is “what if they come into our bedroom and knife us while we are
asleep.” How many of us visit the sick? Are we not more worried that we
might catch something from them? As for those in prison, they deserve to
be locked away from us law abiding citizens. They are murderers and
villains, why should we keep company with such lowly scum? Yet, these
are the qualities that every Christian should have. Christ doesn’t
mention anything about the other Christian virtues, he doesn’t mention
how they lived uprightly with prayer and fasting. The only criterion
that Christians will be judged with is whether they showed love to their
fellow men. This is all that he demands of us Christians. Did he not say
elsewhere: “A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you
have love one to another.” (John 13. 34-35)
Love then is
the law and the criterion on which the separation will be based on. So
how did the righteous respond to such praises from the Lord. They were
amazed and puzzled at the divine valuation of their actions which is
very different from their own estimation of how they lived. Thus in
humility they answered: “Lord, when did we see
thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When did we
see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or
when did we see thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?”
They never once thought that their good acts of love were directed to
brothers of the Lord let alone to his very person. They had no idea that
they had offered help at any time to the Saviour: they just did what was
in their nature to do – to offer a little help and love to their fellow
men who were in need. But the King answers their puzzlement:
“Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” That
Christ sees the poor and suffering as his brethren is in complete
agreement with his character as the Son of Man and the Son of God. God
is his Father and the Father of all people.
In that
Great court of the last judgement, Christ justifies why he has placed
the righteous to his right and why they are worthy to inherit the
Kingdom of God. But now he turns to those on his left and say:
“Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” In this sentence we
should take note of two important differences with what he said to the
righteous. Firstly we should notice that with the righteous he said
“blessed of my father,” now with the
unrighteous he doesn’t say cursed of my father, but only cursed. God
doesn’t curse anyone: they are cursed by their own works. The
condemnation and curse of the sinner is a result of his bad actions, but
the salvation of the righteous is an act of grace and therefore the word
blessed is followed with “of my Father.”
Secondly, that the everlasting fire is not for us, but for the devil and
his angels. To the blessed he said “inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” but
he doesn’t say this of the everlasting fire, but only that it has been
prepared for the devil. He is thus saying: “For man I have prepared the
Kingdom, the fire is not meant for man, but only for the devil and his
angels: But you have taken on the likeness of his angels, you no longer
resemble the man I created in my image and of your own free will you
have put on the image of demons. Therefore you will share the same
reward as the demons you resemble.”
And they are
worthy of such condemnation because they had no love for their fellow
men. “For I was hungry, and you gave me no meat: I
was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me
not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you
visited me not.” They are guilty because they didn’t do any good
works and are condemned because they were unsociable. They are not
accused because they committed murders, or fornicated, or lied, or stole
or broke any of the other Old Testament Commandments, but because they
neglected to do a few good works. Christ does not expect us to spend our
lives going around looking for ways to be a Good Samaritan, but to offer
that most needed help when it passes our way.
To these
accusations the unrighteous respond in a similar way as did the
righteous, but whereas the righteous answered with humility, here they
try to justify themselves by saying: “Lord, when
did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or
in prison, and did not minister unto thee?” If we saw you at any
time suffer those things you now accuse us of, we would surely have
offered you help, but we are innocent of all these things because you
never once came to us for help. And the Lord answered them saying:
“Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of
these, you did it not to me.” Notice that he does not say “to one
of the least of these my brethren” as he said to the righteous, but only
“to one of the least of these” The unrighteous are ignorant of the
brotherly relationship between the righteous and Christ and will
continue to be ignorant. Having then heard the reason for their
condemnation they cannot respond with an answer. Every mouth is sealed
and the righteousness of the decision is recognized by all.
With the
great court come to an end, it remains for each group to receive the
sentence. “And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Eternal means eternal and everlasting without change or end. If hell has
an end then so does life, but as we do not deny that the life of the
righteous in heaven is forever more, thus we do not deny that punishment
in hell will be forever more. At the Last Judgment we saw that Christ
directed his judgement first on the righteous so that the unrighteous
could hear, but with the carrying out of the sentence it will be
reversed. The unrighteous shall depart first so that the righteous can
see God’s justice on the unjust, but the unrighteous will not be able to
see anything of eternal life.
Keep in mind
then that whatever help we offer even to the lowest man it is as though
we offered that help to Christ, and whatever help we didn’t offer to
someone who was in need it is as though we didn’t help Christ. Love is
the criterion by which we shall be judged. If we cannot love our fellow
men then in truth we don’t love Christ, because he has created each man
in his own image and likeness. Christian love transcends above someone’s
physical appearance, social standing, ethnic origin, intellectual
capacity and reaches the soul, the unique personal root of a human being
where the image of God is.
Thus the
first message of the Parable is love. Blessed are they who are full of
love, and cursed are they who did not have any trace of love, but lived
only for themselves. Whatever we sow that is what we shall reap.
In the
majority of the parables we have heard over the past few weeks, Christ
is telling us about the Great Judgement and how life will be thereafter.
All of these parables give us a warning of the Second Coming of Christ
and the Last Judgement. They are all telling us how to live so that we
don’t end up, by our own actions in a place distant from eternal life
with God.
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