Category Archives: destiny

BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH!

In Syhcar, in Samaria, Jesus had been so busy with teaching the woman at the well and then the people of the city, that He had neglected to eat. His disciples, concerned for Jesus’ well-being, urged Him to eat something (John 4:31). But Jesus told them that His meat was to “do the will of Him” that had sent Him and to “finish His work” (John 4:34). Just before Jesus died on the cross of calvary, He said “It is finished” (John 19:30). He had completed the work He was given to do.

However, while the Lord completed His work on earth, He spoke about another phase of His work, especially toward the end of His work here. Jesus said “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3). Jesus promised to come again. This should have given the apostles comfort after Jesus’ death and an indication that He would keep His word and rise again the third day (Luke 24:37). But Jesus did leave this world and promised to return once again (Acts 1:11; Heb. 9:27). That promise still stands.

In one of the parables Jesus delivered during His last hours on earth, He described His return in the figure of the return of the bridegroom (Matt. 25:1-13). It was the custom in those days for the bridegroom to spend time at the home of the bride’s father and then to bring his new bride to his own home. Virgins waited for the bridegroom to come, so that they could assist the bride in her new surroundings. In this parable, ten virgins wait for the bridegroom to return.

At midnight, at an hour when you might least expect it, the call came that the bridegroom approached. The bridegroom had been away longer than anticipated. The young women, who had been busy with preparations, were now weary for waiting so long and had fallen asleep. But when the call came, they arose and hurriedly prepared to go to meet the bridegroom and his new wife. Five of the virgins were wise and had prepared beforehand by taking extra oil, anticipating a longer wait. Five were foolish and did not prepare for any eventuality.

The foolish virgins desired that the wise virgins would give them of their oil, but they refused, lest they should not have enough for themselves. They counseled the five unwise to go to the market and purchase their own oil, but by the time they returned it was too late. The door to the house was shut and when they called for entrance, the bridegroom said unto them “I know you not” (Matt. 25:11,12). Someone else cannot make preparations for us; we are all going to receive the things done in our bodies (II Cor. 5:10,11).

Jesus gives us the point of this parable. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13). Previously, Jesus had said that even the angels do not know when He will return (Matt. 24:36). There were many things the angels would like to have known but could not (cf. I Pet. 1:12). Mark also indicates that Jesus, on earth, did not even know when the return would be (Mark 13:32). If the angels and the Son did not know, how can we believe any mortal man who would claim to know the day or hour of the Lord’s return?

But as Jesus teaches us in His parable, the key is not knowing the day or the hour, but in being prepared no matter when He might return. It is easy, as the Lord delays His return, for scoffers to say “Where is the promise of His coming” (II Pet. 3:3,4). It is also easy for us who believe to grow weary in well-doing and faint as we wait (Gal. 6:9). Just as the virgins fell asleep waiting for their Lord to return, we might also fall asleep. Thus, Paul warns us:

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:14-17).

Do not be unwise. Don’t let your oil run out. Redeem the time. When the bridegroom comes will you be ready?

Eric L. Padgett

Deeds, Death and Destiny

Jesus does not give us the name of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), though He does give us the name of the beggar. There must have been a good reason for this. Perhaps there was no need to make a further spectacle of the rich man. Giving his name, and thus adding to his shame, would not have made the point more potent or made hearers more receptive. Often, however, you will read of commentators referring to him as Dives, but this is merely Latin for “rich man.” Traditions have also handed down a few names for the rich man, but we cannot know for certain if they are correct. In the end, his name really does not matter and thus is not given.

The beggar’s name is given, it is Lazarus. Lazarus is a form of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means “God is help.” That Jesus gave a specific name indicates that this account might be more than just a parable for in no other parable did Jesus ever give the name of one of the individuals to which He referred. A parable is usually defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. However, it is difficult to see how this is an earthly story with such a vivid depiction of the afterlife.

On the other hand, even if it were a parable, Jesus’ parables only presented that which was real, unless this account is the exception. Jesus never made up fictional characters or places, but used that which was known and used everyday. The parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, the parable of the sower, the parable of marriage feast, the prodigal son, the pearl of great price etc., are examples of the kind of parables Jesus told. The story of the rich man and Lazarus does not fall into this category and is probably an account of something that actually happened.

The picture painted by Jesus’ words is poignant. Here was a man afflicted with some great malady that kept him covered in sores (Luke 16:20). He was apparently unable to move himself, at least with any ease, because he was carried by others and “laid” at the place where he was (Luke 16:20). Because of this infirmity, he was apparently unable to work and had thus become poor. The word translated “beggar” is most often translated in the New Testament as poor. This man was laid at a rich man’s gate and would have been satisfied with only the few crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. It was this man’s sickness that reduced him to such beggary, and nothing else.

The beggar’s character is attested to by the fact that, upon his death, the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22). This suggests that he was given no grand burial and it was left to the angels to treat him with kindness. Abraham’s bosom, or paradise (Luke 24:43), is the place in the Hadean realm where the righteous go to await judgment (cf. Luke 24:43 and Acts 2:26,27). His character is also attested to by the fact that the rich man sought Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family of the reality of this place of torment to which he had been sent.

The character of the rich man is also plainly indicated. He was clothed in purple, a precious and costly dye desired by the wealthy and powerful. He wore fine linen. Every day he ate from an expensive table of delectable (Luke 16:19). He had everything he could want and more, yet he took no interest in the poor beggar who lay at his door seeking only crumbs to satisfy his hunger pains. He must have known of Lazarus for he identified him in the Hadean realm (Luke 16:23,24). Furthermore, that he only asked for a drop of water corresponds to the crumbs that Lazarus was seeking, suggesting his timidity in asking for anything more.

It is not that the man was wealthy that sent him to torment nor that he ate well everyday. It is not that he wore fine clothes which he could afford and paid for with his own money. These things in and of themselves are not sinful. There is no indication that he had obtained his wealth in a sinful manner. In truth, it was not what he did with what he had but what he didn’t do with what he had that made the difference. During his life, he could have helped Lazarus even in the smallest of ways but made a conscience decision not to. This, it seems, was his fault.

Now in torment, he wanted the assistance from Lazarus that he refused him in his life. Probably, if he had been able, Lazarus would have helped him even then. This seems to be the kind of person Lazarus was. But there was a great gulf that separated the two compartments of the Hadean realm that held the good and bad from this earth and Lazarus was not allowed, as no one is allowed, to cross the great divide (Luke 16:26). Further, no one can leave that place prematurely (Luke 16:31). Once this life comes to a close, our eternal destiny is set, forever.

Eric L. Padgett