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Section 139f

The olivet Discourse - Five darables to teach watchfulness an faithfulness

The Mount of Olives

Matthew 24:42-25:30Mark 13:33-37Luke 21:34-36
33Be on guard0x3B stay alert and pray! For you do not know when the time is coming. 34It is like a man away on a journey: When he leaves his house and gives authority to his servants, assigning to each one his task, he also commands the doorkeeper to keep watch. 34“Watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly. 35For it will come like a trap upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
42Therefore keep watch, for you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming. 35Therefore keep watch, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. 36Otherwise, he may come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!” 36Therefore stay alert at all times, praying that you may be considered worthy to escape everything that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
43But know this: If the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him. 45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51and will cut him in two and assign his portion to be with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3When those who were foolish took their lamps, they did not take oil with them, 4but the wise took oil in their flasks along with their lamps. 5When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But in the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all the virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise replied, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. Then the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13Therefore keep watch, for you do not know the day or the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 14“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, to each according to his ability. And he immediately went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17In the same way, the man who had received the two talents also earned two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19“After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents came to him and brought the other five talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted me with five talents0x3B behold, I have earned five more talents besides them.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things0x3B I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22The man who had received the two talents also came to him and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents0x3B behold, I have earned two more talents besides them.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things0x3B I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24Then the man who had received the one talent came to him and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25So I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Behold, you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I came I would have received what is mine with interest. 28Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Notes

Mount of Olives

The mountainous ridge called the Mount of Olives stretches totay from the Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus in the north to the Jewish cemetery and beyond, to the village of Silwan in the south. Between these two ends of the mountain are the olive trees from which the mountain takes its name. The area at the bottom of the mountain would have been the place for the olive gardens and an olive press, “Gat shemen” in Hebrew, from which the name “Gethsemane” comes.

The gospels record on more than one occasion Jesus’ sorrow for Jerusalem as he made his way down the slopes of the Mount of Olives. It was a path he would have known from childhood from His many visits to Jerusalem.

Down the road from Bethphage He came riding on a donkey colt with palm branches symbolic of Judaea strewn along the way. “Hosanna!” (“save now!”) was the cry upon the lips of the people (Matthew 21:1-9). This prayer from Psalm 118:25 was a request for salvation. Yet Jesus knew that these cries would be changed within a week to “Crucify him!” He wept again for Jerusalem, for He knew what would befall the people in less than one generation as the city would be besieged and taken.

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