Gospel of Matthew Chapter24 Vs. 51

 No One Knows That Day and Hour

Matthew 24:51 “And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

shall cut him... This kind of punishment was anciently practiced. Sometimes it was done by the sword, sometimes by saws. It was practiced among the Chaldean's (Dan. 2:5; 3:29), and among the Hebrews (2Sam. 12:31; 1Sam. 15:33; 1Kgs. 3:25; Heb. 11:37). It was also practiced by the Egyptians and Romans. It is not perhaps here to be taken literally but signifies that the wicked servant should be severely punished.

Hypocrites – They are spoken of here as the worst of people.

weeping and gnashing... These are those who shall be cast out into outer darkness. This is an image of future punishment. It is not improbable that the image was taken from Roman dungeons or prisons. They were commonly constructed underground. They were shut out from the light of the sun. They were of course, damp, dark, and unhealthy, and probably most filthy. Another description of eternal hell, not the grave (Mat. 13:42, 13:50; Rev. 9:2). Wailing, here and in Mat. 13:50; weeping in Mat. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28; and gnashing of teeth in all these passages picture bitter remorse and pain.

Masters were in the habit of constructing such prisons for their slaves, where the unhappy prisoner, without light, or company, or comfort, spent his days and nights in weeping from grief, and in vainly gnashing his teeth from indignation. The image expresses the fact that the wicked that are lost will be shut out from the light of heaven, and from peace, and joy, and hope.

They will weep in hopeless grief, and will gnash their teeth in indignation against God, and complain against his justice. What a striking image of future woe! Go to a damp, dark, solitary, and squalid dungeon; see a miserable and enraged victim; add to his sufferings the idea of eternity. And then remember that this, after all, is but an image, a faint image of hell!

The punishment is correspondingly severe. The word used to picture it (shall cut him asunder) is one to make us shudder; and some have felt surprised that our Lord did not shrink from the horror of the word. Ah! but it was the horror of the thing which He dreaded and wished to avert. It was the infinite pity of His heart that led Him to use a word which might prove the very strongest deterrent. Besides, how significant it is! Think, again, of whom He is speaking, -servants set over His household to give food in due season, who instead of doing this maltreat their fellow-servants and ruin themselves with excess. Think of the duplicity of such conduct. By office in the church exalted unto heaven, by practice brought down to hell! That unnatural combination cannot last. These monsters with two faces and one black heart cannot be tolerated in the universe of God. They shall be cut asunder; and then it will appear which of the two faces really belongs to the man: cut asunder, his place shall be appointed with the hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat. 24:51).

But the judgment will come, and he will be dealt with as one would deal with a hypocrite, which is precisely what an unfaithful servant is. His separation will result in eternal judgment (weeping and gnashing of teeth, cf. comments on Mat. 13:42) apart from his master. Likewise, the judgment of the wicked at the Lord’s second coming will separate them eternally from God.