Matthew 25:1 -13 – Be equipped, ready and prepared!

In our culture where a marriage does not take place in the wee hours of the morning, it is hard to imagine what took place in this parable. In some parts of the Middle East this custom is still known to be observed. A torch-bearing entourage is still seen in some marriages there. Apparently, there are still various stages of the wedding where the bridegroom could be delayed at an earlier venue, before arriving at the banquet hall to be greeted by bridesmaids. This story again re-enforces the need to be ready and prepared for the eventuality. But more than that, we see wisdom and folly being contrasted. Of the ten virgins, five personify wisdom and the other five, folly. In this parable, wisdom is seen in the five virgins in readiness, carrying extra flasks of oil for their lamp. And folly, of course, could be seen in the other five ill-prepared virgins. For they didn’t even put any fore-thoughts into their preparation till it was too late. 

Some in their teachings have taught that the oil represents the Holy Spirt. Others have said it represents faith or love, or any other Christian virtues. However, this is not the force of the story here. The crux of the whole account is about the folly of not being ready for the critical moment. We would be mistaken if we try to make each detail fits into each other. Take for example in this story both the wise and foolish virgins all went to sleep. Whereas, the disciples were told by the Lord in verse 13 to stay alert and awake. There seems to be a contradiction here. But we must understand that the point of the whole issue is about being equipped, being ready, being prudent. It’s a call to think ahead in the light of the impending crisis. If we don’t think ahead and be ready we might live to regret it.    

In Matthew 9:15, Jesus had referred to Himself as the bridegroom. In Matthew 22, Jesus told a parable that liken the kingdom to a wedding feast that a king threw for his son. As we look at those facts, we can safely conclude that the mention of bridegroom in this present parable is again hinting at Jesus being the Messiah. His identification as the Messiah had been the issue since His arrival at Jerusalem. As we examine further, this parable is not about the great and terrible day which we all, the world and the church await. It’s essentially to point to Jesus as the coming Messiah. In the drift of Matthew’s Gospel we see Jesus, the Messiah coming to Israel, His people. They were the one invited to the wedding feast. In this parable of the ten virgins, the people of Israel were divided into two groups. Those who were wise were those who recognized Jesus and kept alert for His “coming”. Those who were foolish were those who were oblivious of His Messiahship, to them Jesus at the end would say “I do not know you”  

If we look at it this way, we may be tempted to conclude that if it’s only relevant to the Jews of Jesus’ day, how can this account be relevant to us? In every way, it certainly is! Especially to us, who have acknowledged His Lordship! How so? We, like the people Jesus was addressing, could also slacken and get distracted. We can cease paying attention to the task God has assigned to us, and all the essential requirements. We can also fail to be equipped when God’s moment suddenly arrives. Let us not be caught unaware!