May 13, 2026
Wednesday, May 13
Christians often overestimate their ability to understand God’s plans for the End Times. We become hysterical when we think we can see biblical prophecy being fulfilled on the daily news. As we saw yesterday, Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:1-44 were meant to do two things: First, to make His disciples ready for the destruction of Jerusalem, which many of them would live to see. Second, to make all believers ready for His ultimate return. So what does it mean to be ready? He goes on to tell four parables in the rest of His talk (Matthew 24:45-25:45). We’ll run through the parables today, and for the next three days, explain what they tell us about being ready.
Parable one: The servant in charge (24:45-51). In the first story, a man goes on a trip and leaves one of his servants in charge of the house. His main job is to make sure everyone is well fed. But this servant figures the master is going to be gone a long time, so he starts slapping his fellow servants around, and partying with his friends instead of working. He’s sure he can get it together before the master comes back. But the master comes back sooner than expected, and this servant loses everything.
Parable two: The ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13). Ten young girls are waiting for the bridegroom to come, so they can escort him to the wedding feast. This is one of several times in which Jesus compares the world to come to a wedding feast. For a young girl in that time, there was no greater honor than being chosen for a task like this. The thought of messing it up was horrific. But the bridegroom takes longer than expected to come back, and all ten girls fall asleep. When he arrives, they all wake up, groggy and witless. But five of them have gotten ready in advance. They bought oil for their lamps, just in case it happened after sundown. The other five have no oil, so they get shut out of the feast.
Parable three: The money (25:14-30). Another man goes on a journey, leaving three servants in charge, and this time, their job is to take his money and increase it while he’s gone. One has five bags of money, another three, and another one. The guy with five bags works hard and earns five more. The one with three earns three more. But the one with only one bag buries his in the ground. When the master returns, he tells the first two, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in a little, I will put you in charge of big things.” But the third servant gets fired.
Parable four: The sheep and the goats (25:31-45). In this story, the most famous of the four, Jesus says that when He comes back, some people will be like sheep, praised by their King and inheriting the Kingdom because they cared for the sick, the poor, the prisoner. But others (the goats) will be cast out of the Kingdom because they didn’t do these things for the least of God’s children. This one sounds more like a prediction than a parable. Instead of having a bridegroom or a master be the main character, Jesus Himself, the Son of Man, is the focus. He’s telling us that someday, He will judge all the world.
“Lord Jesus, no one else is worthy to judge the world. Only you. I pray that I would live in such a way that you can say ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ In your name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
