Matthew 24:51, commentary and pictures

Christ's words contrast two servants awaiting His return: the faithful and wise servant who feeds the household in due season and is blessed and exalted at His coming, and the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord delays, beats his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken. That evil course is not open denial but an inward presumption of delay shown in careless worldliness, neglect of watchfulness and prayer, accusing and condemning the faithful with suspicion and evil speaking, and uniting with the world in pleasure and practice until reason is controlled and judgment is lost. When the master comes unexpectedly as a thief, the unfaithful servant is overtaken and severely punished, cut asunder and appointed his portion with the hypocrites and unbelievers outside the City, where there is anguish, despair and suffering made greater by knowledge. The two servants portray two classes in the church in the last days, and the warning calls all stewards of light, especially those long expecting His appearing, to take heed, watch and pray always, repent and forsake sin, and give the household meat in due season rather than lulling souls asleep to destruction.

Words and Setting

The verse belongs to Christ's discourse concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and His coming at the end of the world, addressing both events together. It was given not only for the disciples but also for those living in the final scenes of earth's history. The chapter also foretells Jerusalem's destruction as a type of the world's final destruction by fire, and the verse stands within the prophecy of events before the coming of the Son of man.

The great prophecy in Matthew 24 sketches the history of the present dispensation to the complete restitution of all things, with special attention to the thrilling and momentous closing scenes of this world's history. It follows the church in her warfare and sufferings on to her promised redemption and the final triumph of the people of God. It reaches to the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total and eternal extirpation of evil from the universe, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints when the great controversy is concluded.

The chapter teaches Christ's second advent as distinct from Jerusalem's destruction, rejecting the claim that His coming took place at Jerusalem's destruction. The day and hour are unknown, but the signs show that His coming is near, and the world is to be warned of its approaching doom. The reference to Noah's days describes conditions at the coming of the Son of man. The verse shows the fate of those unprepared when the Son of man comes: they are lost and face judgment, and denying or disregarding His return and acting abusively toward a fellow servant bring condemnation.

The prophecies of Matthew 24 are to be studied and brought to the attention of all, for the time now living is the time when these predictions are being fulfilled. Ministers and teachers are to present and explain its predictions, leaving matters of lesser consequence and minor consequence aside to present the truths that will decide the eternal destiny of souls. The sure word of prophecy is to be held up as the foundation of faith together with the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Matthew 24:1-51 outlines what is to come upon the world, including the perils of the last days, and shows why those perishing in sin must be warned, while the unmistakable fulfilment of prophecy showing that Christ's coming is at hand calls the church to arouse.

Its warnings about the last days must not be passed by unheeded. They call for taking heed to oneself, studying Christ's words, seeing the fulfilment of His predictions, and believing and obeying. They call for watching and praying always, repenting and being converted and forsaking sin that it may be blotted out, and laying hold of the hope set before us in the gospel. Diligent work for repentance is to be made now while probation still lingers and mercy's gracious voice is still heard, lest hearts be overcharged and that day come unawares.

Faithful and Evil Servants

The parable sets two servants side by side over the household charged to give meat in due season, the faithful and wise servant who is found so doing at his Lord's coming being blessed and made ruler over all goods, and the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord delays his coming, smites his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, whose lord comes in a day he does not look for and an hour he is not aware of to cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The same contrast portrays the condition of the church living at Christ's second coming, with the faithful steward ministering to and educating souls and acting in his master's stead in dignified trust, and the selfish unfaithful steward turning his Lord's goods to his own advantage, burying talents in the world, serving Satan, and resisting Christ lifted up and the Spirit's pleading until he can no longer be trusted. The command surrounding both is to watch and be ready because no one knows what hour the Lord comes, as a householder would have watched against a thief.

Saying the lord delays is an inward attitude of the heart rather than open denial that Christ will come or scoffing at His second coming, yet it is declared by actions and words. It banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly, and its influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay and confirms them in worldliness and stupor until earthly passions and corrupt thoughts take possession of the mind. That spirit appears as worldly pride and selfish ambition, disparagement of fellow believers and fellowship with the ungodly, neglect of watchfulness and private prayer, dulled awareness of the signs of the times, living for the world with love grown cold amid abounding iniquity, and claiming peace and safety while saying the time is not yet and all things continue as from the beginning. Those who so use the apparent delay to excuse unfaithfulness will be punished and assigned the fate of hypocrites with weeping and gnashing of teeth, for the foretold coming will not fail because it has been long expected.

Smiting fellow servants means accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. It is smiting with words, by expressing suspicion, by evil thinking and evil speaking that changes confidence to doubt and unbelief, weakens faith, sows discord among professed believers, and imperils souls. Those who sow mistrust and discord while professing to serve Christ are in partnership with the enemy of righteousness and unconsciously do his work, turning away in mind and heart from the special work for this time instead of cooperating to establish souls in the faith and lead them to heed warning. The oppression follows the same principle by which Cain killed Abel when Abel insisted on worshiping God as God directed, resenting faithful worship and rejecting dependence on God.

Eating and drinking with the drunken means uniting with the world in pleasure-seeking, joining worldlings in pleasure gatherings, fellowship with the ungodly, conforming to worldly practices, and acting from the same principle as the worldly. It describes a shared course rather than literal drunkenness, in which the professed servant mingles with the world and like grows with like in transgression in a fearful assimilation until with the world he is taken in the snare. He is intoxicated and staggering not from wine or strong drink but because Satan controls the reason and sound judgment is lost.

The evil servant also neglects his duty to give the household what it needs, turning time and attention from serving God to worldly pursuits instead of ministry. He lives for self and indulgence, uses entrusted goods for selfish pleasure, and persists in an earthly self-serving course presuming on mercy while choosing temporal benefits over eternal life. When the master returns unexpectedly he is judged and assigned the portion of hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Lord comes in a day the servant does not look for and an hour he is not aware of, as a householder surprised by a thief, so the command is to watch and be ready because no one knows the hour and the Son of man comes in such an hour as is not thought of. As in the days before the Flood people ate and drank and married until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the Flood took them away, so the coming of the Son of man will be. The very same condition exists now when people are absorbed in worldly concerns and when pulpit and press proclaim that God's law is done away, so refusing or neglecting to heed the warning that Christ's coming is near is fatal and those who know the truth must warn like Noah that the end of all things is at hand.

Meaning of Judgment

When the master returns on a day not looked for and an hour not known, the unfaithful servant is overtaken and severely punished, cut asunder and cut off, and appointed his portion with the hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the fate of the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord delays his coming, smites his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, living indulgently and presuming on delay. It applies to pastors remiss in ministering and faithfully educating the household, to professing Christians grown careless with spiritual vision clouded by worldly gain, and to messengers indifferent to Christ's coming who fail to give needed warnings of coming judgments. A steward is set in dignity and trust to identify with his master, make his master's interests his own, and act in his stead as his master would do, and if he acts selfishly and turns advantage from trading with his lord's goods to his own advantage he perverts trust and can no longer be depended upon as trustworthy. Having light, truth, knowledge, opportunity and every advantage does not ensure faithfulness, and the call is to overcome, deny self, bring appetite and passion into strict obedience to God's Word, and serve faithfully in readiness for Christ's coming.

To be cut asunder is severe judgment ending in eternal loss. To have a portion with the hypocrites is to share their punishment and anguish, condemned with hypocrites and unbelievers, shut out and appointed a place outside the City. Weeping and gnashing of teeth is anguish and despair, grief and suffering, made greater by knowledge, for mere profession only causes greater anguish and punishment is greater because they knew His will but did it not. This is the controversy of the Lord with those who deny His speedy appearing in spirit, works and words, claiming peace and safety and that all things continue as from the beginning, who have outgrown advent faith, live for the world and for self, let love grow cold as iniquity abounds, smite fellow servants by oppression after the principle of Cain killing Abel for faithful worship as God directed, and eat and drink with the drunken by acting from the same principle as the worldly, intoxicated and staggering not from wine but because Satan controls the reason. In the perils of the last days it is the loss awaiting those who make earthly things the chief good and spend in self-gratification money lent by the Lord that should open doors for gospel work and give the last message of mercy, for such selfish use of means and neglect to proclaim warning and sustain the work brings eternal loss, while escape requires cutting loose from the world and being purged as leaven of pride, selfishness, covetousness and love of the world to become pure, holy, separate and unspotted, purified and made bright through suffering, whom alone He will acknowledge.

The judgment shows God's forbearance, which preserves people and gives sinners time to turn from sin and seek righteousness, yet does not make punishment uncertain. Those persisting in sin impenitently are cut off and assigned the fate of hypocrites and unbelievers when forbearance reaches its limit. The same warning applies to being unready when death comes, when the unready receive the portion of hypocrites and unbelievers. It therefore urgently calls for humbling the soul before God, seeking Him wholeheartedly, and turning from contention and self-pleasing before it is too late.

Prophecy and Fulfillment

The two servants engaged in feeding the household represent two classes who await Christ's appearing, portraying the condition of the church living in the last days at His second coming and calling true believers to earnest zeal. The teaching belongs to Christ's account of events leading to His second coming, which is distinct from the destruction of Jerusalem. The servant found watching and teaching His coming is rewarded, while the one who says in his heart that his master delays is condemned with hypocrites. To deny, disregard, ridicule, or neglect the warning of the nearness of that coming, and to mistreat and abuse fellow servants, brings condemnation and a fearful judgment. Refusing or neglecting to watch and heed was fatal in Noah's day and remains fatal now.

That division was fulfilled soon after the passing of the time, when Advent ministers who had stood together as a band of brothers divided. Those who became impatient cast away confidence in the work, yielded to a scoffing church and world, and attacked those who continued to strengthen the household. The faithful servant gives meat in due season, which is not teaching that lets people down from their position and sends them weeping and mourning back. It is expositions of God's word showing His hand in the movement and cheering testimonies vindicating it, the bread of heaven for that time.

The warning does not condemn those who refused to set dates for the Lord's coming as acting like the evil servant who says his master delays. The dates would pass, the time of trouble must come before Christ's return, and setting dates would weaken faith. Hypocrites and unbelievers will receive judgment with weeping and gnashing of teeth when Christ comes in glory and assigns the unfaithful their appointed fate. The fasting Pharisees who hypocritically condemned Jesus, scorned His work among sinners, misrepresented Him, and rejected those who received Him will share that portion with hypocrites. While they are judged, many of the scorned sinners who accepted Him as Redeemer will instead be gathered into His kingdom.

Doctrine of Profession

Mere profession will not make anyone Christ's and receives no reward. Professed followers who love the world, partake of its spirit and follow its fashions, with no distinction except in name from unbelievers, wound Jesus and put Him to open shame. They must cut loose from the world and be purged as leaven of pride, selfishness, covetousness and love of the world. They must become pure and holy, separate and unspotted from the world, purified and made bright through suffering, whom alone He will acknowledge as His.

To know God's will and yet disobey it brings assignment to the fate of hypocrites and unbelievers outside the City, with anguish, grief and punishment. That anguish is greater and that punishment is greater because they knew His will but did it not. Having knowledge and opportunity, light and truth and every advantage, does not ensure faithfulness. Unfaithful stewards who knew the Master's will but did it not, who chose selfish interests, who do nothing now to save others, will be left with those they did not try to save and share this punishment.

Those who profess faith but spend life building worthless work like hay, wood and stubble amount to nothing. Their life-work is lost for this life and lost to God for all eternity, while only enduring work like gold and silver survives fire. Those assigned the hypocrites' portion are contrasted with people saved from sin and changed by the Holy Spirit. Those so saved show a heavenly character in this world, are not counted among the rebellious, and their offensive traits must be made clean.

The warning falls on stewards who misuse entrusted means and influence, resist the Holy Spirit, reject repeated calls to repentance, claim to be at peace while turning from God, and are found unready for the Lord's return. Their formed characters leave them unable to enjoy heaven, and they are judged and excluded from God's presence with the hypocrites. A steward identifies himself with his master, makes his master's interests his own, acts in his stead as his master would do, and holds a dignified trusted position because his master trusts him.

If he acts selfishly and turns advantages gained by trading with his lord's goods to his own advantage, he perverts the trust reposed in him and can no longer be regarded as trustworthy and dependable. Such a selfish, unfaithful, dishonorable steward neglects ministry, buries talents in the world, serves Satan instead of the Lord, and resists Christ lifted up to draw him and the pleading of the Spirit. When weighed in the balances and found wanting, there is charged against him all the good he might have done through the atonement and all the wasted influence and improvement of talents.

Calls to Faithfulness

The lesson reaches indifference toward Christ's coming and messengers who fail to give the warnings needed to prepare the world for coming judgments. It reaches false guides who deny His speedy appearing by word and conduct and oppress those who serve faithfully. To declare by word or act that the Lord delays His coming leaves souls spiritually asleep and exposes them to destruction, so they must wake before judgment comes.

The warning falls on pastors of churches who are remiss in ministering and in faithfully educating members in duty. Pastors and every Christian are stewards of God's household required to be found faithful in giving timely spiritual food by ministering to and educating souls. A steward identifies himself with his master, makes his master's interests his own, acts in his master's stead as his master would do, and holds a position of dignity because his master trusts him. If he acts selfishly and turns advantages gained by trading with his lord's goods to his own advantage he perverts the trust reposed in him and can no longer be regarded as a trustworthy servant to be depended upon. Those employed in God's publishing work must be loyal and true in appointed work, be a light amid moral darkness, and advance in knowledge of God and truth. Those with no relish for truth and no love for God, whose connection does not make them better, are after sufficient trial to be separated, for their irreligion and unbelief is felt and through them evil angels work to mislead apprentices, who must be promising youth who love God yet are in constant danger of being leavened by those never brought under God's control.

The same judgment threatens people entrusted with religious responsibility and knowledge who fail to overcome appetite and passion, deny self for Christ, and faithfully serve others. It threatens those who have received great light and responsibility, including workers in the ministry, who will not be overcomers, will not restrict appetite or deny self, and will not war with moral courage against appetite and passion. Even those with great light may be lost and walk in darkness despite opportunities, while the most depraved poor outcasts, even publicans and sinners, grasp the hope set before them in the gospel and enter the kingdom before them. At Battle Creek this describes those in the ministry who had light and knowledge of truth yet would not overcome, and in the last great day when they say Lord, Lord, open unto us the door will be shut and their knocking in vain.

Readiness is expressed in self-denial and bringing appetites and passions into strict obedience to God's Word. The servant who claims to wait for Christ yet lives as though His coming is delayed reveals his heart by worldly pride, selfish ambition, disparagement of fellow believers, and fellowship with the ungodly, leading to spiritual carelessness. Neglect of watchfulness and private prayer opens the way to further sins, so every Christian needs continual watchfulness and prayer and daily guidance by God's Spirit. Waiting for the near day of the Lord must include watchfulness and faithful work, with spiritual readiness maintained lest that day overtake a person unexpectedly, for those who neglect personal devotion and God's service live as if His coming were far off.

In the perils of the last days the warning falls on those who make earthly things the chief good and spend in self-gratification money lent by the Lord that should be invested to open doors for gospel work and give the world the last message of mercy. Such selfish use of means and neglect to proclaim warning and sustain the work brings eternal loss.

The warning falls on those whose ambitions and forbidden conduct require repentance, for without repentance they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. When the master returns unexpectedly the evil servant who has abused fellow servants and lived indulgently receives severe punishment and shares the portion of hypocrites in grief and anguish. Sabbath-school workers who make pretension of guiding souls to holiness while marked by pleasure-loving, pride, and love of display are unfaithful servants whose life contradicts profession and whose influence offends God. Their hearts filled with rubbish have no room for ennobling elevated truth, with Satan rather than Christ abiding within, and they need thorough conversion with the soul temple refined, purified, and cleansed, as seen in those passed from death unto life through transforming grace who reveal the deep moving of the Spirit upon the heart.

Leaders must be careful not to act as unfaithful servants by giving counsel contrary to God's will and betraying sacred interests. Each person in God's service must examine whether conduct and teaching lead others astray, since every soul will be tested and each influence helps or harms others.

The world lives in the last days and closing period of earth's history, when earthquakes, sinking ships, floods, burning buildings, and plagues show His coming draws near. Everyone, especially those long expecting His appearing yet grown listlessly indifferent to daily events, should ask if this Scripture refers to himself. The warning calls people living in the present period to heed God's warnings, remain watchful and faithful, be ready for Christ's coming, and avoid unfaithfulness, complacency, and spiritual carelessness.