BEMA Episode Link: 128: Faithful and Wise Steward
Episode Length: 43:00
Published Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2019 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings look at one of the most perplexing passages of Jesus’s ministry, asking if this is about the end times or ancient times.

Faithful and Wise Steward Presentation (PDF)

Addendum to BEMA 128 — Marty Solomon, YouTube

Discussion Video for BEMA 128

Transcript for BEMA 128

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 128: Faithful and Wise Steward - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: 128 - Faithful and Wise Steward
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Matthew 24-25 (The Olivet Discourse)

This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of one of the most misunderstood passages in Jesus’s teaching ministry. Rather than being primarily about end times prophecy, Matthew 24-25 is revealed as Jesus’s response to his disciples’ questions about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Marty and Brent demonstrate how Jesus uses rabbinical teaching methods, prophetic imagery, and three consecutive parables to teach about perseverance, faithful stewardship, and caring for the oppressed in the face of impending judgment on the corrupt temple system.

Key Takeaways

  • Matthew 24-25 is primarily about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, not distant end times events
  • Jesus’s entire discourse responds to the disciples’ question about when the temple will be destroyed
  • The phrase “this generation will certainly not pass away” indicates Jesus was speaking about imminent, not distant, events
  • Being “left behind” in biblical judgment is actually the desirable outcome - the wicked are taken away in judgment
  • Jesus reinforces his main teaching through three parables: the bridesmaids, the talents, and the sheep and goats
  • Each parable contains remez (hints) pointing back to Old Testament passages that deepen the meaning
  • The criteria for judgment is consistent throughout: caring for the oppressed and marginalized
  • The corrupt priesthood has failed in their stewardship, so God’s people must step up to do the work

Main Concepts & Theories

The Context: Herod’s Temple Mount

The disciples’ amazement at the temple buildings was well-founded. Herod the Great’s Temple Mount construction was an engineering marvel:

  • Massive stones weighing thousands of pounds, fitted perfectly without mortar
  • Some foundation stones weighed approximately 2,000 tons (4 million pounds)
  • Modern technology in Jerusalem would require six or seven of the largest cranes to move such stones
  • The construction was still ongoing during Jesus’s ministry
  • The Romans later destroyed this temple in 70 AD, fulfilling Jesus’s prophecy that “not one stone here will be left on another”
Reframing the Olivet Discourse

Traditional interpretation has often divided Matthew 24 into sections about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end times. However, examining the entire passage in context reveals:

Jesus’s Main Points (Matthew 24):

  1. You will hear rumors of the end and false messiahs - do not believe it
  2. The world is going to get crazy and there is nothing you can do to stop it
  3. All of this is going to happen and you will have to persevere
  4. You will have to be ready, and being ready means taking care of God’s people
  5. The priests are not doing their job, so you will have to
  6. Persevere and be ready by taking care of the oppressed

Critical Verse: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34)

This statement anchors the discourse in the first-century context. Jesus was not giving a distant prophecy but warning of imminent destruction that would occur within that generation’s lifetime.

The “Left Behind” Misunderstanding

Jesus uses the Noah narrative to illustrate coming judgment, but many readers reverse the meaning:

  • In the flood story, the wicked were “taken away” by the waters
  • Noah and his family remained (were “left”)
  • In Jesus’s parables about wheat/weeds and good/bad fish, the bad are always taken away and destroyed
  • Therefore, in Matthew 24:40-41, those “left” are the righteous, not those who missed the rapture
  • Being “left behind” in biblical judgment language means surviving God’s judgment, not missing his salvation
The Three Reinforcing Parables

After his discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus tells three parables that reinforce and expand his teaching:

1. The Parable of the Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

P’shat (Plain Meaning): Be ready, because you do not know when the bridegroom will return. The foolish bridesmaids were unprepared for the groom’s arrival at an uncertain time.

Cultural Context: In Jewish weddings, after betrothal the groom would leave to build onto his father’s house. This could take weeks, months, or even years. He could return at any time, even in the middle of the night. When he arrived, a celebration would begin immediately.

Remez (Hint): Jeremiah 25:8-11 - God used Nebuchadnezzar as his instrument to destroy Jerusalem, and among the losses would be “the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp.”

Drash (Interpretation): Just as God used Babylon to judge his people in the past, he will use Rome to judge Jerusalem. The wedding celebration imagery reinforces the tragedy of being unprepared for coming judgment.

2. The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

P’shat: You will have to give an account for what you have been entrusted with. Use what God has given you to bless the world.

Numerical Symbolism:

  • Five talents: Complete knowledge of Torah (the five Books of Moses)
  • Two talents: Basic understanding (the two tablets of the Law)
  • One talent: Only awareness of God (echad - God is one)

The message: Whatever level of understanding you have, God expects you to use it faithfully to serve others.

Cultural Background: The harsh master in the parable is based on Herod Antipas, who traveled to Rome to claim his inheritance, faced opposition from Jewish leaders, and upon return slaughtered thousands of Jews in revenge. This employs kal va’chomer (greater and lesser) - a rabbinical method using a negative example to highlight a positive truth.

Remez: 2 Kings 22:3-7 - During Josiah’s reforms, workers on the temple were trusted with money without having to give an account “because they are honest in their dealings.” The priests had lost the book of the Law, but the workers were faithful.

Drash: Those who are not corrupt priests should do the work of restoration honestly, and they will not need to fear giving an account because they have done God’s will.

3. The Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

P’shat: The criteria for judgment is how we treat “the least of these” - the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned.

Remez: Ezekiel 34:17-19 - God judges between sheep and goats, condemning those who trample the pasture and muddy the water that others need. The entire chapter of Ezekiel 34 condemns corrupt shepherds (priests) who feed themselves but do not care for the flock.

Drash: God will divide his flock into sheep and goats based on how they have treated others. The deciding factor is whether they have cared for the marginalized and oppressed, doing the work the priests have failed to do.

The Unified Teaching

When viewed together, these three parables reinforce the exact same message Jesus gave in Matthew 24:

  • Bridesmaids: Be ready
  • Talents: You will have to give an account
  • Sheep and Goats: Take care of the oppressed and do what the priests are not doing

The remez and drash interpretations add even deeper layers:

  • God is about to use Rome as a Nebuchadnezzar-like instrument to judge his people
  • You should be faithful workers who can be trusted with the investments of the kingdom, even if the priests will not
  • You will be judged by how you treated others

Examples & Applications

Historical Fulfillment

Jesus’s prophecy about the temple’s destruction was literally fulfilled in 70 AD when:

  • Roman armies besieged Jerusalem after Jewish revolts
  • The temple was burned and systematically dismantled
  • Massive stones were thrown down from the Temple Mount (some still visible today at the base)
  • Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed or enslaved
  • The temple system and priesthood came to an end
Modern Parallels

The hosts draw parallels to contemporary society:

  • Unsustainable systems (economic, political, religious) that will either change or crumble
  • False messiahs and leaders promising to “save” us from impending crisis
  • The temptation to focus on predicting the future rather than faithful living in the present
  • The call to care for the marginalized regardless of what institutional leaders are doing
Practical Application

The passage calls believers to:

  • Perseverance: Remain faithful even when systems around us are crumbling
  • Readiness: Live in constant preparation, not through anxiety about timing but through faithful service
  • Stewardship: Use whatever God has given us (much or little) to bless others
  • Justice (Mishpat): Actively care for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned
  • Independence from corrupt leadership: Do what is right even when religious authorities fail to do so

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. Eschatology vs. Preterism: How does viewing Matthew 24-25 as primarily about Jerusalem’s destruction affect our understanding of Jesus’s return and end times theology?

  2. The Prophetic Literature: How did Old Testament prophets use cosmic imagery (sun darkened, stars falling) to describe historical judgments rather than literal cosmic events?

  3. Jewish Wedding Customs: What other aspects of ancient Jewish betrothal and wedding practices illuminate New Testament parables and metaphors?

  4. Herod Antipas and the Historical Context: How does understanding the political background of the Herodian dynasty help us interpret Jesus’s parables?

  5. Rabbinical Teaching Methods: What other examples of remez, drash, and kal va’chomer appear in Jesus’s teaching throughout the Gospels?

  6. The Temple System: What was the nature of the priestly corruption that Jesus consistently critiqued, and how did it affect ordinary Jewish people?

  7. Ezekiel 34 and Leadership: How does Ezekiel 34’s extended critique of corrupt shepherds inform our understanding of church leadership today?

  8. The “Least of These”: Who specifically are “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” in the parable of the sheep and goats - all marginalized people or specifically Jesus’s followers facing persecution?

  9. Numerical Symbolism in Scripture: What other instances of symbolic numbers (like the five, two, and one talents) appear in biblical narratives?

  10. The Age to Come vs. This Age: How did first-century Jewish eschatology understand the interaction and transition between “this age” and “the age to come”?

Comprehension Questions

  1. What specific event prompted Jesus’s discourse in Matthew 24, and how does this context shape our interpretation of the entire passage?

  2. Explain the significance of the phrase “this generation will certainly not pass away” in Matthew 24:34. How does this affect whether we read the passage as about distant end times or imminent first-century events?

  3. Why is being “left behind” actually the desirable outcome in biblical judgment passages? Trace this pattern through the Noah narrative, the wheat and weeds parable, and Matthew 24:40-41.

  4. How do the three parables (bridesmaids, talents, sheep and goats) reinforce the main teaching points Jesus made in Matthew 24? What is the unified message?

  5. Describe the remez (hints) in each of the three parables and explain how they point back to Old Testament passages. How does understanding these references deepen the meaning of Jesus’s teaching?

Personal Summary

Matthew 24-25 represents one of the most frequently misinterpreted passages in the New Testament, often divorced from its historical context and read through the lens of modern end times speculation. This episode brilliantly reframes the entire discourse by anchoring it in its proper setting: Jesus’s response to questions about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

The key insight is that Jesus was not primarily giving a cryptic roadmap to distant future events but addressing the imminent crisis facing first-century Judaism. The corrupt temple system, the failed priesthood, and the brewing conflict with Rome were unsustainable. Jesus warned his disciples that destruction was coming within their generation, that many would promise deliverance, but that the only faithful response was perseverance and faithful service to the oppressed.

The three parables that follow reinforce this message on multiple levels. On the surface level, they teach readiness, accountability, and compassion for the marginalized. But through rabbinical hints pointing back to prophetic passages about Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem, faithful temple workers, and God’s judgment between sheep and goats, Jesus was saying: “This has happened before. God has judged his people through foreign powers when they failed to live justly. It will happen again. But in the midst of judgment, be those who remain faithful, who use what you have been given to serve others, who do the work the priests have failed to do.”

This interpretation does not eliminate all eschatological significance from the passage, but it properly grounds it in history while extracting the timeless principles: systems built on injustice will crumble, leaders who promise easy salvation will disappoint, and the call to faithful service and care for the marginalized remains constant regardless of what empires or institutions do around us. The question is not “when will these things happen?” but rather “will you be found faithful when crisis comes?”

Study notes generated from BEMA Podcast Episode 128 transcript. For discussion questions and additional resources, visit bemadiscipleship.com

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