N.T. Wright constantly reminds his readers that the Bible talks far less about “life after
death” than “life after life after death”—the time when Jesus will return to judge and
bring the righteous into the eternal kingdom.

Matthew 25 is a perfect example of this. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells three parables,
using three of his favorite metaphors: a wedding (22:1), a rich man on a trip (21:33), and
farm animals (18:10). Each one gives a different warning to those waiting for God to
make all things new.

According to Craig Keener’s Bible Background Commentary, it was a great honor for a
young girl to be chosen as a torchbearer for a wedding feast. The girls would have been
celebrating with the bride all day, and then they were supposed to leave and escort the
groom to her to begin the real wedding. Some of them didn’t bring enough oil to keep
their torches lit, so they had to try to find more in the middle of the night. They insulted
the family by preparing poorly and were thus insulted by the family when they showed
up late. Seems weird to us, but honor cultures frequently confuse us.

The groom took longer than they expected. The listeners should understand this as
Jesus saying He would take longer to return than expected. The oil is their (and our)
love and passion for God. We lose love and passion when we have to wait. In the
previous chapter, Jesus talks about the persecution Christians will endure and that the
love of many believers will grow cold (24:12).

We are all waiting—whether for Jesus to return or for some situation to be made right in
our lives. We have to do what we can to keep our love from growing cold.

In this parable, a master gives valuable coins to his servants to do his business with
while he’s out of town. Each coin is estimated to be worth 6000 daily wages, so maybe
$600,000 per coin? That’s a lot of money. It would have been easy to invest and get a
return, even just by giving it to money lenders. The going rate was around 12%.
The one with 5 coins and the one with 2 coins use what they’ve been given wisely. The
one with one coin buries it. He does not like his master. He does less than the bare
minimum.

The message here is that we all have gifts, things God has entrusted us with. We must
use them wisely to build up his kingdom while we wait for his return.

I can’t think about this verse without remembering that weird Cake song from the 90s.
When Jesus returns, he will separate the sheep from the goats. Sheep will go to
heaven. Goats go to eternal punishment.

What is the difference? The sheep are those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the
thirsty, welcomed the foreigner or stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the prisoner
are the sheep, for they did so to Jesus. The goats did not. All of these were common
expectations of his Jewish audience except the prisoner. However, there is much more
argument and speculation around this passage than the other two.

First, verse 32 says that the “nations” or Gentiles will be gathered in front of them. This
leads some to believe that it means everybody. It leads others to believe it means those
who aren’t believers. Perhaps this is how God will judge those who haven’t heard or
accepted the Gospel of Jesus.

Second, the groups ask when they showed this mercy to Jesus. Jesus says, “whenever
you did it to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” (25:40). Some interpret this
to mean anyone poor. Others, seizing on Jesus’ use of “least” and “brothers and sisters”
in previous passages, thinks he’s referring to Christians or to missionaries. In other
words, how did non-believers treat Christians?

I don’t want to choose sides. Instead, I’d rather make sure I show mercy to anyone, not
just Christians. It also lets me hold out hope that there’s a way to heaven for those who
aren’t Christians even though I believe that Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life
(John 14:6).

However, if this is an admonition to everyone, it flies in the face of Paul’s gospel that we
are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Luckily, the very next
chapter in Matthew (26) tells the story of the Last Supper, where Matthew explains that
Jesus’ blood offers forgiveness of sins (rather than our actions).

I am saved by Jesus’ blood, but I should respond to this by loving others the way he
loves. (Ephesians 2:10)

We’ve waited a long time for Jesus, but there’s plenty to be done. We need to keep the
fire alive through worship, community, daily devotion, and prayer. And we need to look
for opportunities to bless the church and the poor. After all, the final kingdom is a place
where no one is thirsty, hungry, freezing, imprisoned, or unaware of the love of Jesus.