Welcome to Week 11 of He Gave Us Stories and to Matthew chapter 25 where we find this week’s parable: The Ten Virgins.
In any Bible study, considering the context of the passage is important. In the previous chapter, Jesus had taught his disciples that no one knows the day or the hour of the coming of the Son of Man (that is, the second coming of Jesus). In the parable today, Jesus stresses the need for preparation because we do not know when he will return and gives a warning about the consequences of not being ready. Let’s get started!
Index to Days 2 through 5
Day 1
Wise vs. Foolish
Observe
Jesus looks ahead to his eventual return and reveals it will divide people into two groups.
Matthew 25:1-4
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
Isaiah 54:4-6
4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
Matthew 9:14-15
A Question About Fasting
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus makes it clear this story looks ahead to when he will return in person. In the Old Testament, God calls himself the husband of Israel (Isaiah 54:4-6) and Jesus does the same in the New Testament, referring to himself as a bridegroom (Matthew 9:14-15). Virgins would be the bridesmaids in Jewish marriage customs, and in this story they are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. According to those Jewish marriage customs, the groom and his friends would arrive at the bride’s home for the ceremony (often at night) and afterwards the entire wedding party went either to the new couple’s home or to the home of the groom’s parents, if that’s where they would be living, for a feast that might last as long as a week. Jesus divides these ten bridesmaids into two groups: five who were foolish and five who were wise. The difference between them is preparation. While both groups took their lamps, only the wise bridesmaids brought extra oil.
- How does one prepare for the return of Jesus?
- By comparing it with marriage, what does God want us to understand about his relationship with his people?
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are able to use some of the realities of our lives as illustrations of our relationship with you. I’m amazed that you want to know me, and have me know you, as intimately as you do. But you desire to have a relationship with your creation and that is a truly wonderful thing. May I continue to grow in my knowledge of you. Amen.
Day 2
Asleep at the Wheel
Observe
All ten of the virgins, both wise and foolish, fall asleep as they wait for the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:5-7
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
2 Peter 3:4
4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
By acknowledging the bridegroom’s delay, Jesus urges his disciples not to lose heart when they believe his return is taking too long. The problem isn’t that the bridesmaids fell asleep, because all ten (both wise and foolish) did that. The problem is that half of them won’t be ready when the bridegroom does eventually arrive. It would be ideal if we could wait eagerly like children on Christmas Eve who fight going to bed and then wake up long before you’ve had coffee the next morning, or even like young adults who stay up to countdown that ball dropping in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. But the reality is we are more like that couple in their 60s who nod off by 9 PM and sleep through the entire hurricane when it finally arrives in the overnight hours. Give yourself some grace for your slumbering but be ready to come fully awake as soon as you hear the cry go out.
- Why do you think the Lord has delayed his return for so long?
- (This question may not be relevant to any who are new to the faith or in their walk with the Lord.) How has your expectancy of his return changed over time?
Dear Lord, I confess all the times that I’ve grown complacent and sleepy about your return. You spoke of it often, you want us to be mindful of it, yet I’m off to the side, napping and snoring, instead of redeeming the time of these evil days. Wake me, O Lord, and keep me moving for you! Amen.
Day 3
Preparation’s Payoff
Observe
When the bridegroom arrives, our two groups of bridesmaids have very different reactions.
Matthew 25:8-10
8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Proverbs 24:27
27 Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.
1 Peter 3:15
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Luke 14:28
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
The bridegroom finally arrives and our two groups have wildly different reactions. The wise virgins who brought extra oil are ready to greet the bridegroom. Their entire focus was on him. The foolish ones who had not prepared are immediately consumed with their lack of preparation and look to the others for help. In this parable, the wise virgins represent those who have found salvation by faith, while the foolish virgins are those who may have a familiarity with the wedding and know what’s going on, but they have no personal relationship with the bridegroom. There is no salvation by proximity. Simply because the people around you on a Sunday morning have found it does not mean it can rub off on you, and looking to others when the cry goes out and time is up cannot help you.
- Do you feel ready for the Lord’s return?
- If your answer is yes, what preparation did you make to give you this confidence?
- If your answer was either no or that you’re not sure, what do you think you need to do in order to be ready?
Dear heavenly Father, I am grateful that I know you and for the relationship we have. My heart is glad that I can read parables like this one without fear, because I know that I am ready to meet you and enter the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb. What a day of celebration and glory that will be! All the years and all the tears will fall away as we enjoy your presence forever, Jesus. Amen.
Day 4
Time’s Up
Observe
The bridesmaids that were not prepared finish their preparation and return, hoping to be admitted to the wedding feast.
Matthew 25:11-12
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Matthew 7:22-23
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Luke 13:23-25
23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’
Passages such as this one are always so difficult to read. We are all comfortable with the Lord’s patience. We readily accept that he does not want any to perish but all to come to salvation. Those are verses we love because they mean that the people we love continue to have a chance to find salvation through faith in Jesus. There may even be some among us, perhaps even some reading this meditation, that rely on God’s patience with respect to their own journey to salvation, believing that they will always have tomorrow to look into these things. Eventually, however, there will be no more tomorrow. When the wedding feast has begun, the door is shut, and no one else will be admitted. “There are no unbelievers in hell” is a popular quote by evangelists, who then tack on “just those who believed too late.” Provocative, designed to spur people to a decision now rather than later, but they are not wrong. There is a day coming, and we don’t know how soon it might be, when the only answer you can get from the bridegroom is “I never knew you.” How incredibly tragic.
- We all know someone who has yet to find salvation through faith in Jesus, perhaps even several people. Have you made an effort to share the gospel with that person or persons in your world? How did that go?
- What thoughts do you have about our Lord’s warning that the door will be shut one day, with no one else admitted?
God, it is truly hard to think about the ones I love and care about who do not seem settled in their relationship with you. Whether they have doubts that you are there or whether they just can’t accept that you are good even when you do things that are hard on us, I know that I can’t carry them into your presence. You must call and they must answer, Lord, but I am ready to do whatever is needed, whenever it needs to be done, to help them on their journey toward faith in you. Let me be your agent in their lives, Lord, because they can’t be saved themselves by knowing someone else who is. Amen.
Day 5
We Don’t Know When
Observe
The last sentence of this parable rings in our ears: “for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Matthew 25:13
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 24:36
No One Knows That Day and Hour
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Acts 1:6-7
The Ascension
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
The Day of the Lord
5 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Zechariah 14:6-8
6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
During my years in non-denominational American evangelicalism, I attended a Bible college in that theological system. In a class on Bible prophecy back in 1978, I listened as the professor explained how an extremely rare planetary alignment would take place in 1988, which was conveniently 40 years after Israel was reformed as a nation in 1948 (in the Bible, a generation is usually a period of 40 years). Since we were premillennial dispensationalists, we needed to subtract 7 years for the Tribulation and the 70th week of Daniel, so I did the math and wrote in the margin of my Bible (in permanent ink, no less) “1981, we’re out of here!”
Needless to say, we weren’t. But it was commonplace to hear churches setting dates, especially as we closed in on the Year 2000. Chuck Smith, the preacher credited with founding the Calvary Chapel movement, once went on record in a book he wrote and guaranteed an expiration date on the age we live in. (They’ve spent considerable effort pretending he never did that but I’ve read the book.) The point is, when Jesus said we know neither the day nor the hour, he didn’t mean we COULD know the month and the year. He meant that we have no idea when his return will happen. At that time even he did not know.
It has been over 2,000 years. It might be 2,000 more, or even longer. Or…it might happen tomorrow. Live accordingly.
- What effect does knowing that the Lord might return at any moment have on your long-range planning?
- What effect does it have on your daily life?
Heavenly Father, thank you for promising you would return someday. What a comfort it is to know that. I’m also grateful that you’ve kept me from foolish choices when it comes to planning for my future. Lord, let me plan as though you are never coming back, but let me live each day as if it will be my last. Amen.