It is Tuesday afternoon of Passion Week, the final week of Jesus’ life. He prepares His disciples for His departure: His death by crucifixion on Good Friday. He also prepares them for the Final Judgment, for His Second Coming, when He will judge all mankind and lead all of His followers to heaven. Jesus tells His disciples many parables about this. Among the many parables is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins can be analyzed in this way. The bridegroom is Jesus. The virgins are Jesus’ followers. The marriage feast is heaven. The oil is faith. In this parable, Jesus teaches His disciples to always be prepared for His Second Coming. Jesus does this by comparing the wise virgins and the foolish virgins. How are they “foolish” and how are they “wise”?
How are the foolish virgins “foolish”? Or, what makes the foolish virgins “foolish”? Jesus says that the foolish virgins are foolish because they do not have oil for their lamps (verse 3). How does this make them foolish? They brought lamps that cannot provide light. All ten of the virgins went to meet the bridegroom. All ten of the virgins brought lamps with them in case the bridegroom arrived at night. The foolish virgins brought lamps that cannot provide light. This means that the foolish virgins are not ready to meet the bridegroom if he arrives at night. Having no oil for their lamps makes the foolish virgins “foolish.” It also makes them unprepared to meet the bridegroom. When the bridegroom arrives, they are not there to meet him.
How are the wise virgins “wise”? The wise virgins are “wise” because they are not foolish. Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins do have oil for their lamps (verse 4). Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins brought lamps that can provide light. Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins are ready to meet the bridegroom if he arrives at night. Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins are prepared to meet the bridegroom (verse 10). When the bridegroom arrives, they are there to meet him.
The lesson that Jesus teaches His disciples in the Parable of the Ten Virgins is about preparedness, readiness and vigilance. His disciples are to be always ready for His Second Coming (verse 13). He does not want His disciples to be like the foolish virgins, whose oil (faith) ran out and was not resupplied. He does want His disciples to be like the wise virgins, whose oil (faith) was resupplied (verse 8). As with most of Jesus’ parables from this period of His ministry, the Parable of the Ten Virgins is a parable of warning. Out of His love for His disciples, Jesus warns them about His Second Coming. He wants all of His followers to go with Him into the marriage feast (heaven). All of them may not, but He still loves them and wants them to be with Him for eternal life.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 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.’ 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. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. — Matthew 25:1-13
