After the Lord Jesus has spoken the parable of the evil husbandmen of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-46, referring to the Old Testament, likened to a vineyard, with the focus on the labor under the law, He continues to speak another parable, the parable of the marriage feast in Matthew 22:1-14, referring to the New Testament, likened to a marriage feast, with the focus on the enjoyment of grace. Both the householder of the former parable and the king of the latter one are God. The son of both the householder and the king is Christ. In the former parable Christ is the Heir who inherits the Father’s possession and becomes the cornerstone of God’s building, joining together God’s people of different sources. In the latter parable Christ is the Bridegroom who satisfies the Father’s desire and becomes the pleasure of God’s invited ones. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are for Christ. He is the center of God’s economy!
In Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked the Lord Jesus concerning the sign of His coming and of the consummation, the end, of the age. As part of His answer, recorded in chapters twenty-four and twenty-five of Matthew, the Lord says, “As the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (24:27). The Greek word rendered “coming” in this verse, as in verse 3, is parousia, which means presence. Christ’s coming will be His presence with His believers. This parousia will begin with His coming to the air and end with His coming to the earth. Within His parousiathere will be the rapture of the majority of the believers to the air (1 Thes. 4:15-17), the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10), and the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9). Matthew 24:27 indicates that Christ will be in the air for His coming to earth. As the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
The coming (parousia) of Christ has two aspects: one is the secret aspect toward His watchful believers; the other is the open aspect toward the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, The lightning in verse 27 signifies the open aspect after the great tribulation (v. 29), whereas the thief’s coming in verse 43 signifies the secret aspect before the great tribulation. Lightning is concealed in a cloud, waiting for an opportunity to flash forth. Christ will also be clothed with a cloud (Rev. 10:1) in the air for a time and then will suddenly appear like a flash to the earth.
In Matthew 24:43 the Lord Jesus says, “If the householder knew in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” The “householder” refers to the believer and the “house,” to the believer’s conduct and work that he has built up in his Christian life. A thief comes to steal precious things at an unknown time. No thief tells us in advance of his coming or steals things that are without value. Thieves come secretly to steal what is valuable, having a discerning eye for what is precious. The Lord Jesus will come secretly as a thief to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures. Because Christ will come to steal valuable things, we should seek to be precious, worthy of being “stolen” by Him in His secret coming. A normal Christian is one qualified to be stolen by the Lord. Furthermore, because the time of Christ’s secret coming is unknown, we need to be watchful. “If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief, and you shall by no means know at what hour I will come upon you” (Rev. 3:3). In Matthew 24:44 the Lord tells us, “Be ready, for the Son of Man comes in an hour that you think not.” Hence, for the Lord’s secret coming as a thief we need watchfulness and readiness.
In Matthew 24:45-51 Christ is the Master of the faithful slaves and of the evil slaves. Verse 45 says, “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the appointed time?” The slave here is faithful toward the Lord, who set him over His household, and prudent toward the believers. The “household” refers to the believers (Eph. 2:19), who are the church (1 Tim. 3:15). To “give them food” is to minister the Word of God with Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church. “Blessed is that slave whom his master when he comes shall find so doing. Truly I say to you, that he will set him over all his possessions” (Matt. 24:46-47). To be “blessed” is to be rewarded by Christ, the Master, with ruling authority in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. The Master will set the faithful slave “over all his possessions” as a reward in the manifestation of the kingdom. Here we see Christ as the Master of the faithful slaves.
In verses 48 through 51 Christ is presented as the Master of the evil slaves. The evil slave is a saved one, a genuine believer. As the Master, Christ would never assign duties to a false believer. That the evil slave is a saved believer is proved by the fact that he is appointed by the Lord, that he calls the Lord “my Master,” and that he believes that the Lord is coming. This evil slave, saying in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming” (v. 48), begins “to beat his fellow slaves, and eat and drink with the drunken” (v. 49), that is, to mistreat fellow believers and to keep company with worldly people, who are drunk with worldly things. “The master of that slave shall come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour which he does not know, and shall cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (vv. 50-51). For Christ, the Master of the evil slave, to “cut him asunder,” or cut him off, signifies His separating that slave from Himself in His coming glory. This corresponds to being “cast out into outer darkness” in Matthew 25:14-30. The Master will appoint the evil slave’s portion “with the hypocrites,” indicating not that the slave will perish eternally but that he will be chastened dispensationally. Here we see Christ as the Master of the evil slaves.