Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25. — On the Ten Virgins. On Those Who Received the Talents. On the Coming of Christ

¹ Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise; for they that were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them. Under the person of the virgins He frames the parable concerning almsgiving, so that, since this is a great thing, no one who succeeds in it alone should neglect the rest; but learn that, if you should lack almsgiving even while possessing virginity, you will be cast out together with harlots. And rightly is the unfeeling and unmerciful person cast out, even though he be a virgin; for the fornicator was overcome by a passion that is both tyrannical and natural, whereas the unmerciful man was under no such necessity. The weaker the adversary, then, the more inexcusable is the one defeated by the passion of avarice; and such a person is foolish for this very reason, that he was able to conquer the burning of nature, yet was defeated by money. The slumber is delay; and the bridegroom’s tarrying is the failure to perceive the second coming.

² And at midnight there was a cry: Behold, the bridegroom; go forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying: Lest there be not enough for us and for you; go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said: Verily I say to you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man comes. He says the cry came in the middle of the night, to show that the Lord comes when He is not expected, just as at midnight we are all already sleeping a deep sleep. But He comes with a cry, for there is a trumpet; and the mind of each of us is a lamp, which may or may not have the oil of the virtues, that is, almsgiving. The virgins are foolish in this respect also, that they sought the oil at the very time when there was no longer any opportunity for transaction. And the wise say: Lest there be not enough for us and for you. For one man’s righteousness will scarcely suffice him for his own defense, much less for me as well; for each will be justified by his own works, not by his neighbor’s. And only now, for the first time, do they recognize that we ought to have had our oil from the poor. This, then, is what is meant: that they went to them that sell to buy oil—that is, they went in their thinking to the poor, and reckoned up what a good thing almsgiving is; but the door was shut against them, for after our departure from here there is no time for repentance or for labor. The Lord therefore says to them: I know you not. For the One who loves mankind and is merciful does not know the unmerciful. How should He know those that are foreign to Him and unlike Him? And know that every soul has received a lamp and illumination from God, and all are roused to meet the Lord; for all desire to meet and to be joined to God. But when God has given illumination and a lamp, the wise pour in oil through good works, while the foolish, leaving their lamps without oil, are shut out, having no good works by which to rekindle the light of God within us that we have quenched.

³ For it is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered to them his goods; and to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one—to every man according to his own ability—and immediately took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents; in like manner he also that had received the two gained another two. But he that had received the one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants comes and settles accounts with them. Having said above, You know not the day when the Lord will come, He adds this parable as well, showing that He will come suddenly. For just as a man traveling abroad, so too did the Lord call His own servants and arrange this and that for them. Christ, who became man for our sake, is said to travel abroad, either in that He ascended into heaven, or in that He is long-suffering and does not at once demand the work, but waits. His servants are those entrusted with the ministry of the word—such as bishops, priests, and deacons—who have received spiritual gifts, some greater and some lesser, each according to his own ability, that is, according to the measure of faith and of purification. For with whatever vessel I bring to God, with that same one will He pour out His gift upon me: if I bring a small one, little; if a great one, much. And immediately he that had received the five talents went and traded. See his diligence, how he neglected nothing, but immediately set to work, doubling what he had received. For whoever benefits not only himself—whether he has the word, or wealth, or power with kings, or any other ability or skill—but also wishes to benefit others, such a man doubles his portion. But he who buries his talent is the one who is concerned only for his own benefit and not for that of others, and he is condemned. And if you see a clever and capable man who has misused his cleverness for schemes and deceits and earthly affairs, say that such a man has buried his talent in the ground—that is, in the affairs of earth. After a long time comes the one who seeks the money; and the money is the tested word, the good thoughts, any gift whatsoever, that has gained interest for the one who holds it. And he who has traded well renders back the money for a glorious gain; and he settles accounts with those who received.

⁴ And he that had received the five talents came and brought him another five talents, saying: Lord, you delivered to me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them another five talents. His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord. He also that had received the two talents came and said: Lord, you delivered to me two talents; behold, I have gained another two talents beside them. You are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter; and I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground; lo, there you have what is yours. But his lord answered and said to him: You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; you ought therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with interest. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that has ten talents. For to every one that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[1] Those who labored with what was given are praised by the master alike, both of them hearing, Well done, good and faithful servant. By “good” we here understand the man who is ungrudging, who extends his own goodness to his neighbors as well; and having shown themselves faithful over a few things, they are set over many. For even if we are here counted worthy of gifts, these are nothing compared to the good things to come. The joy of the Lord is the unceasing gladness which God has, rejoicing over His works, as David says. With such gladness, then, the saints too rejoice over their works; just as sinners grieve over their own works and repent. And the saints, having the Lord as their wealth, rejoice in Him. Notice that both he who received the five talents and he who received the two are counted worthy of the same good things. For whenever someone, even though he received little, nevertheless administers well the grace given to him, however small it may be, he will receive equal honor with the one who was counted worthy of great things and succeeded. For each, according to what he received, seems also to reach the summit, if he succeeds. Such, then, are the grateful servants; but the wicked and slothful one makes another sort of defense, one unworthy of himself. For he calls the master hard, just as now too many of those who teach say: It is a hard thing to demand obedience from people in whom God has not implanted obedience, nor sown in them docility. For this he hints at by saying, You reap where you did not sow—that is, from him in whom you did not sow docility, you demand docility. But in calling the master hard, the servant condemns himself. For since he was hard, he ought all the more to have taken care, having so hard and harsh a master. For if he demands what belongs to others, he will all the more demand what is his own; so you too ought to have increased what you received, and to have made disciples, from whom he would have demanded what was owed. For he calls the disciples “bankers,” as those who approve or reject the word; and he demands interest from the disciples—the demonstration of works. For the disciple, receiving the word from his teacher, both keeps it himself and renders it back whole; and he adds, as interest, the working of the good. The gift, then, is taken from the wicked and slothful servant. For he who has received some gift for the benefit of others, and has not used it, loses even that; but he who has made greater effort draws to himself a greater gift as well. For to him that has effort shall be given greater grace, and he shall have abundance; but from him that has not effort shall be taken away even the gift he seems to have. For such a man received it, yet does not have the gift, but only seems to have it.

⁵ When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all the nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Since the first coming of the Lord took place in dishonor and outrage, He says, When He comes in His glory. For at the second coming He will come with glory, with angels as His bodyguard. First He separates the saints from the sinners, freeing them from anxiety, and sets them apart, and then speaks to them. He calls the saints “sheep” because of their gentleness, and because they give us fruit and benefit as sheep do, providing wool—that is, a divine and spiritual covering—and milk, that is, suitable nourishment. The sinners He calls “goats,” for they walk along precipices, and are disorderly and unfruitful, like goats.

⁶ Then shall the King say to them on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? or naked, and clothed You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them: Verily I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these least of My brethren, you did it to Me. For this is what righteousness shows: that He honors before He punishes, before He examines; for He is righteous, and He trains us in this too, not to punish before we have examined. For thus those who are punished after a tribunal will be the more without excuse. He calls the saints “blessed,” as accepted by the Father; and He makes them heirs of the kingdom, to show that God makes them sharers of His own glory, as His sons. For He did not say, Receive, but, Inherit, as though some paternal estate. He calls them “least brethren” either His own disciples or, quite simply, all the poor. For every poor man is a brother of Christ in this very respect, since Christ too passed His life in poverty. See the righteousness of God, how He proclaims the saints; and see their good sense, how out of modesty they deny having fed Him; but the Lord takes upon Himself what is done for the poor.

⁷ Then shall He say also to them on the left: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me not in; naked, and you clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and you visited Me not. Then shall they also answer, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then shall He answer them, saying: Verily I say to you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life everlasting. Those on the left He sends into the fire which is prepared for the devil. For since the demons are without compassion and without pity, those who share their disposition are rightly counted worthy of the same punishment, and they have become accursed by their own works. Notice that God did not prepare the fire for human beings, nor make the punishment on our account, but for the devil; yet I make myself liable to the punishment. Shudder, O man, considering from this that, behold, these are punished not as fornicators, nor as robbers, nor for having committed any other evil, but for not having done good. For if you consider well, the unmerciful man is a robber; for all that he has beyond his need he has surely snatched from those who are in want but do not receive from him. For if he had laid these things up in common, they too would have been without lack; but now, since he has shut them up and made them his own, for this reason those others are in poverty. So the unmerciful man is a robber, wronging as many as he could have helped but did not; therefore these shall go away into punishment everlasting and never-ending, but the righteous into life everlasting. For just as the saints have unceasing joy, so too the unrighteous have unceasing punishment—even though Origen babbles, saying that there is an end of punishment, and that sinners will not be punished forever, but that there will be a time when they come to the place of the righteous, purified through punishment. For he is plainly refuted here, on the one hand by the words in which the Lord says “everlasting punishment,” which means never-ending; and on the other by the words in which He likens the righteous to sheep and the sinners to goats. For just as a goat could never become a sheep, so neither will a sinner ever be purified and become righteous. The “outer darkness” is that which is farthest from the divine light, and for this reason makes the punishment more grievous. And one may give this reason for it too: the sinner here also has darkness, having fallen from the Sun of righteousness; but since there is hope of change, for this reason this darkness is not “outer.” After he dies, however, and the examination of his deeds is set in place, the outer darkness succeeds it; for there is no longer hope of change, but he undergoes the complete deprivation of the good things of God. For as long as he is here, even if he enjoys the good things of God only moderately—I mean the perceptible things of creation—and seems in some way to be a servant of God, dwelling in His house, this creation, and being fed and sustained by Him; but then he is cut off altogether from God, partaking of none of His good things. This is the darkness, called “outer” by comparison, in relation to that which is here, which is not outer, since the sinner is not yet completely cut off here. But do you flee unfeelingness, and work mercy, both perceptibly and also spiritually. For feed Christ when He hungers for our salvation; and if you feed and give drink to the one who hungers for teaching, you have fed and given drink to Christ. For the Christ, or the faith, within the Christian is nourished and increased through teaching. And if you see someone becoming a stranger to the faith, bring him in—that is, together with your own entering into heaven, lead him in too, not preaching to others while you yourself are disqualified. And if anyone has cast off the garment of incorruption which he received through baptism, and has been stripped naked, clothe him; and the one who is weak in the faith, as Paul says, receive; and the one shut up in the prison of this dark body, visit, shining upon him like some radiance. These forms of love perform indeed also bodily; for since man consists of soul and body, these things can be understood in a twofold way.