‘At that time the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom…’ (Matthew 25:1-13)

This parable at the beginning of chapter 25 comes after a difficult chapter 24 speaking about the destruction of the Temple and the end of time. In that chapter it could be argued that there are lessons that could be classed as parables in the discourse on the fig tree and the one on the wicked and faithful servant, parables which speak to us of the coming of Jesus Christ as King and our need to be ready and prepared for that. However, we will move on to chapter 25 and this parable which speaks to us of the fate of those who are unprepared.

To the audience of Pharisees and others in authority who may have been listening this parable is directed towards them in rather a blunt way. Quite simply, they were God’s chosen people, they knew that one day He would send His chosen one, the Messiah, their history was steeped in that promise and they should have prepared for that day, ready to embrace it and their Messiah when that day came. Yet they failed to do so and would therefore be shut out from the Kingdom.

As for us today, there are perhaps two main lessons we can take from this. First of all, we need to be prepared to meet our Lord. As we go through life there are some things that we cannot leave until the last minute before we seek to acquire or attain them. We cannot, for example, expect to pass our driving test and obtain our licence if the first time we sit ‘behind the wheel’ is only 30 minutes before the test, nor indeed can we expect to pass any exam if we only first read the course notes 30 minutes before we take the exam. The warning is clear, do not leave it too late to prepare ourselves to meet with the Lord – as it says, we never know when that time will come!

And secondly, we have to make our own preparations and come to know the Lord for ourselves. We cannot depend on our relationships with others who know the Lord – we cannot ‘adopt’ their relationship with Him and think that is enough. We must know the Lord for ourselves, otherwise we risk being shut out like those at the end of this passage.

‘Jesus again answered them in parables: The Kingdom of Heaven is like the situation which arose when a man who was a King arranged a wedding for his son…’ (Matthew 22:1-14)

Although they form one continuous narrative, over the years there has been much debate as to whether these verses actually constitute two separate parables – verses 1-10 and then verses 11-14 and the fact that it begins with Jesus again answered them in parables (plural) has added to this. No doubt these discussions will continue. Personally, I like to think of verses 11-14 as being a kind of P.S. to the opening 10 verses, but that’s just my view on it. What does it say to us?

The invited guests represent the people of Israel, God’s chosen people. Over the years they had turned their backs on God and rejected Him, time and time again, and even when He sent His own Son among them, still they rejected Him. Those out on the highways are the Gentiles and sinners who would never have expected such an invitation to come their way, but who joyfully accepted when it did.

For us today this parable first of all reminds us that the invitation to God’s Banquet is a joyous occasion and one which we should joyfully embrace. But it also teaches us a few things. Some of the reasons given by those who rejected the invitation weren’t in themselves all that bad; they were things that we might be involved in every day of our lives. However, the lesson for us here is this. It is so easy to get caught up in our own affairs every day, to be caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, that suddenly we forget Christ. And once we forget Him we might start to neglect Him, and continue to neglect Him, even to the point that we miss out on the greatest gift of all – eternal salvation.

This invitation comes to us by the Grace of God Himself and was an invitation offered to all  – to all – through the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord and that takes us to the P.S. as I call it. Grace is the most wonderful we can possibly imagine and we should all embrace it joyfully, however, it comes with responsibilities also. Once we accept this wonderful gift of God we cannot continue to live our lives as they were before coming to Him. Yes we will make mistakes and stumble along the way, but we must consciously seek to change our lives by seeking, as best we can, to follow in our Lord’s footsteps. In any walk of live the way the way in which we approach things and present ourselves speaks volumes about the spirit in which we are doing so. So it should be in terms of our faith lives.

Through His Son God invites us all to Himself, every single one of us, and He will rejoice when we accept that invitation. But saying yes to God has to be yes – and that means allowing Christ to clothe us in His Grace and allowing that to change our lives.

‘Listen to another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard…’ (Matthew 21:33-46)

Although Jesus parables ‘spoke’ to the people in terms that they were familiar with and in a way that they could understand, they did often vary in the manner of the detail within them. Some were fairly straightforward and to the point, whereas others contained lots of details within them, with each of these details having a significance. This parable is the latter of these.

As this story unfolds we learn so much about God; about His patience, His trust in us as human beings and His judgement. Here we find that God trusts us to carry out His will and His work and is patient with us when, because of our sinfulness, we fail to do so, but ultimately, if we continue in our sinful disobedience His judgement will be to give to someone else that task that He had called upon us to do. In terms of us living out our everyday lives of faith this is about as stern as it gets.

But if we look again at the parable we can add a caveat to this. To be called upon to play our part in the building up of God’s Kingdom is a wonderful privilege for us. Not only does it show the faith God has in us, but He will also provide us the means necessary to complete the task He has called us to, whilst at the same time allowing us free will to fulfil that task in the best way we see fit to do so. However, we are all answerable to God, and whilst we all make mistakes and at times behave in ways we should not, this parable warns us of the consequences of deliberate sinfulness.

Finally, this parable speaks to us of Jesus and contains one of the strongest and clearest claims in the Gospels as to Jesus true identity and mission, and the sacrifice that this would involves. Ultimately, however, Jesus would be cornerstone on which the Church, and ultimately our faith, would be established.

‘What do you think? There was a man who had two sons…’ (Matthew 21:28-32)

When we look at this parable we perhaps forget that in reality it is not in fact praising either of the two sons in the story – they are both imperfect in their own way. Yes, the one who eventually did as his Father asked does come out slightly better in the story, but what this story teaches us is that there are those who claim to obey God and live by His commandments, but don’t and those who would claim they are happy to go about life in their own way, but then look to God. However, it perhaps goes further than this.

At another level this parable teaches us that there are those whose promises turn out to be so much more than their ultimate actions. They give their word that they will say or do something yet when the time comes for that to be done they fail to do so. Then there are those who will promise very little but ultimately do so much more. As William Barclay once said, ‘promises can never take the place of performance and fine words are never a substitute for fine deeds…’ and in terms of our faith lives it means that our professed faith and our living out of that faith should be equal. No, we are not perfect and yes, we will make mistakes, but ideally we should be saying yes to our Lord and then seeking to act in accordance to His will wherever and whenever we can.

‘For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard…’ (Matthew 20:1-16)

For many this is one of the greatest parables that Jesus told and it certainly contains so much within it – enough for a series of sermons. Yet at the same time it teaches us some basic truths about God’s love for us in a simple and straightforward way.

Those listening to Jesus speak these words at the time may have detected a hint of a warning in what Jesus said. His disciples had been privileged to have been chosen by Jesus to follow Him and shared a relationship with Him that others did not. However, that didn’t make them special. The fact that they had this relationship with Jesus before others didn’t entitle them to any place of honour or any greater love – we are all precious and loved by the Lord equally, no matter when we come into a relationship with Him. A valuable lesson for us all today!

However, over and above this, what this parable teaches us is of the great comfort and compassion of God. No matter who we are, no matter our background, no matter when we confess the Lord as our Saviour – we are all equally loved by God and the generosity of that love is never ending. It is a love that is poured upon us freely day after day after day.

But this parable also teaches us another great truth that we often forget. We cannot earn God’s love nor do we deserve His comfort and compassion. What God gives to us is offered through love. We are not saved by our own merits, by what we do for God or His Church – salvation is not a reward given to us because of the way we try to live out our faith. It is offered through grace. Again another valuable lesson!

‘Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a King who wanted to settle his accounts with his servants…’ (Matthew 18:23-35)

Jesus told this parable in response to Peter’s question about how often he should forgive those who sinned against him. Peter thought he was doing well in suggesting that offering such forgiveness seven times was acceptable and perhaps justifiably so. Rabbinic teaching at the time, based on Scripture found in the opening chapters of Amos where God judges and condemns other nations, stated that you had to forgive someone on three occasions. Should a fourth offence occur, then punishment was justifiable. To forgive seven times – Peter must have thought he was doing good; however, Jesus response to Peter teaches us otherwise.

Over the years there has been much debate about the numbers given by Jesus in response to Peter and indeed different versions have different translations. However, what Jesus is saying here is quite simply that there should be no limit to the forgiveness we offer to those who sin against us. Of course such teaching might have been difficult for Peter and the others to understand and accept – as it still might be for many today. But in this parable Jesus goes to say why this is so.

Essentially, we need to forgive in order to be forgiven. Divine and human forgiveness go hand in hand and this is clearly illustrated in the parable. If we would come to God seeking His forgiveness for our sins and misdemeanours we must show that same forgiveness to others and James also warns of the consequences of not doing so, ‘…judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy…’ (James 2:13).

Through the sacrifice of His Son, God offers us forgiveness for all our sins – past, present and future. What this parable teaches us is that it is this same level of forgiveness we should offer others.

‘What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep…’ (Matthew 18:12-14)

This is one of the simplest and easiest to understand of all the parables Jesus ever told. That said, I wonder if we do stop to reflect on what it fully tells us about the love that God has for us.

Such is God’s love for us that He cares for us all as individuals. Every single one of us matters to the Lord and His love for all of us is such that He wants us all to know that love. It’s also a love that is patient and that will wait for us even when we wander from His path – indeed it is more than even this. God’s love is an active, seeking love that will search for us when we do wander and when He finds us He will rejoice. There will be no recriminations or regrets, God will simply welcome us back into His fold and embrace us with His caring protective love. What a wonderful picture and what a joy for us.

‘What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them…’ (Matthew 15:10-20)

Many may not think of this as being a parable as such as it doesn’t appear to take the same format as the others and yet this was possibly one of the most disturbing things Jesus could have said to the Pharisees at the time. If we look through Leviticus we see many commandments associated with food and cleanliness, all of which were part of the various rituals and ceremonies that they adhered to in their obedience to the Torah. Yet what Jesus appeared to be saying here was that following the Torah to the letter was not enough and not pleasing to God. Imagine how they must have reacted to this. But what do we take from this parable?

If our faith was simply all about simply following a laid down set of instructions then it would too easy and in effect be meaningless, because at the end of the day anyone can go through the motions of following a ‘tick list’ without any really thought or emotion as to why they were doing so. However, if we think back to the Beatitudes – Blessed are the pure in heart… – that’s where our faith should begin and that is what Jesus is highlighting here. It’s not so much how we act and how we behave – but rather why we do so. We cannot call anyone one good just because they follow a set on instructions, but we can call them good if their hearts belong to good and it is this that guides them.

‘Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was cast into the sea…’ (Matthew 13:47-50)

If you ask any fisherman, even today, they will tell you that once you cast your net into the water and then haul it in, there is no telling what you might find in it.  You of course hope there will be fish, but there will almost certainly be other things in there too – a whole mixture of things as the parable suggests. What does this say to us today?

Over the years many have thought of the Church as being only for good people and those who are fully committed to Christ. Yet whilst we hope that all might seek to commit their lives fully to Christ, to look on the Church in this way suggests an exclusivity which should not exist and also suggests an element of being judgemental. The New Testament view of the Church is that it is completely inclusive – it is for all people – and what this parable teaches us is that if there is any judging to be done, it will be done by God at the end of time.