<p>24:51&nbsp;<i>And will cut him in pieces</i>- Gk. &lsquo;to cut him in two&rsquo;, literally &lsquo;to dichotomize&rsquo;. This unreal and severe punishment- to cut a slave in half as punishment- emphasizes the extreme nature of the wrongdoing. This may also allude to the idea of cutting a covenant. The parties to the covenant passed between the pieces of the covenant sacrifice and thereby proclaimed that they should be cut in two if they broke the covenant. These condemned persons, in this particular teaching, would therefore refer to those who had already entered covenant with God and are being judged for it. And the hint is that they broke that covenant because they preferred to be hypocrites, to look good in the eyes of men when their heart was somewhere else. The evil servant will be &quot;cut asunder&quot;, i.e. his hypocrisy will be openly revealed for the first time (remember, he was an ecclesial elder in mortal life, according to the parable). There will be a public dimension to the judgment process, for the whole purpose of it is for the learning of those present at it, rather than for God&rsquo;s benefit. What we have spoken in the Lord's ear will be revealed by him openly (&quot;from the housetops&quot;) at the judgment (Lk. 12:3). When the righteous receive their inheritance (i.e. at the judgment), then the fool will be held up to shame (Prov. 3:35 NIV).</p><p><i>And put him with the hypocrites- </i>AV &quot;Appoint him his portion with the hypocrites&quot;. Christ &quot;will appoint (the wicked servant) his portion with the unbelievers&quot; (Lk. 12:46), his portion with the hypocrites (Mt. 24:51), reminiscent of a &quot;goat&quot; in the later parable&nbsp;being told to go to the group of goats at the left hand side- &quot;the unbelievers&quot;, i.e. those responsible but lacking in real faith (the word is used concerning this group in Jn. 20:27; Mt. 17:20; Rom. 11:20; Heb. 3:12; Tit. 1:15; Rev. 21:8). Note the parallel between hypocrisy and faithlessness. It is faith which is the real power against hypocrisy; if we believe that the Lord sees and knows all things, we will not act in the eyes of some. We will be ourselves, because we believe in Him and His grace and love towards us. The Lord&rsquo;s self-indulgent servant will be cut asunder at judgment day- revealed for who he really is- and then be appointed his portion with the other hypocrites (Mt. 24:41). The Lord used almost identical words earlier in His ministry, but with the conclusion that such a servant would be appointed his portion with&nbsp;<i>the unbelievers&nbsp;</i>(Lk. 12:46). The rejected servants, who appeared to believe but who only play-acted, are in fact unbelievers. They have as little faith as the unbelieving world, although they think they believe and serve the Lord.</p><p>Just as the man had chosen to be &ldquo;with <i>meta</i> the drunken&rdquo; (:49), so the Lord&rsquo;s judgment of him will reflect the decisions he himself made, and the position in which he was found at the Lord&rsquo;s coming- he will be &ldquo;with&rdquo; <i>meta</i> the hypocrites.</p><p><i>There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth</i>- This phrase is recorded seven times on the Lord&rsquo;s lips, but six of them are in Matthew (8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). The awful prospect clearly gripped Matthew, and in presenting the Gospel he felt it his duty to remind people graphically of the future they might miss, and the eternal consequence of rejecting God&rsquo;s Son.</p><p>The Olivet prophecy doesn't finish at the end of Mt. 24; the chapter break with chapter 25 is unfortunate. The context runs straight on. The Lord spoke a number of parables at the end of the prophecy, which teach us the need for watchfulness against his coming. Each of them speak of his &quot;coming&quot; and the state of his ecclesia. They refer back to various parts of the Olivet prophecy.&nbsp;<i>Without any doubt</i>&nbsp;their main relevance is to the second coming; whatever minor relevance they may have to AD70, when they speak of the Lord coming and judging us, they speak of his second coming. They are a further elaboration on the things of which he had been speaking in the prophecy: and therefore the prophecy must basically concern his second coming and the state of the ecclesia at the time of the end.</p>