He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Parable Of The Ten Virgins) # 14

Every young girl has this deep wonderful desire to have the perfect wedding. I do not want to crush these desires for these young ladies, but I do not believe there is such a thing as a perfect wedding.

That is, you can:

• Bring the pros in to conduct the wedding

• Spend thousands of dollars on flowers, clothing, and photography

• Bring in great musicians

You can put forth every effort to make it a great wedding, but you can depend on something unforeseen happening.

Illus: Such was the case with Dr. Odell Belger, who was performing a wedding for a couple that attended his church. They planned every detail of the wedding months in advance. The rehearsal time came, and after having prayer, everyone went though the ceremony 3 or 4 times because they wanted this to be the perfect wedding. The wedding time had arrived, and Dr. Belger could tell the groom was very nervous, but the groom assured him he was all right. Once the wedding got started, the processional was perfect. Everything was going as planned, until, after a few words, the pastor looked at the groom and he was pale, and then he hit the floor. Needless to say, the bride was shocked as well as the many folks who were attending the wedding. The pastor stopped the ceremony of course, and knelt down beside him, and the groom regained consciousness and assured everyone he was fine. The pastor started the ceremony again, and only got a few words out of his mouth when the young man hit the floor for the second time. After working with him, he regained consciousness and the Pastor asked that they bring him a chair to sit in, and instructed them to place a cold rag on his forehead. By this time everyone, including the bride, began to have a small grin on their face. They proceeded again, with him sitting in the chair with a wet wash rag on his forehead. But the pastor only got a few words out of his mouth and the groom passed out again, and almost fell out of the chair. If someone had not caught him, he would have hit the floor again. The pastor recognized that this young man couldn’t take the pressure of a marriage ceremony, so when he regained consciousness this time, the pastor said to him, “Say, I do!” He said, “I do” and the pastor said “You are married”. A big grin appeared on his face, and he stood up and kissed his bride, and everything was fine from there on!

Weddings are always exciting, because you never know exactly what to expect.

Illus: Edward Vanderhey, in the Christian Reader, tells of an unusual wedding also. He said that the Saturday wedding took place on a hot June day, so the front door to the church was open. The bride, who lived a few houses from the church, arrived not realizing she had been followed. Her German Shepherd came in the door and walked to the front of the sanctuary, lying motionless at her feet during the ceremony. After the benediction, the couple embraced. Immediately, the dog leaped up and grabbed the groom's pant leg, ripping it with a snarling tug. The newlyweds wisely postponed the kiss as the three of them recessed down the aisle. (Edward Vanderhey, Red Bank, N.J. Christian Reader, "Rolling Down the Aisle." )

But speaking of unusual weddings, in our text we read of a very unusual wedding in this parable of the Ten Virgins.

For us to fully appreciate this parable let’s look at -

I. THE CUSTOMS

The weddings we have today are not like the weddings they had then.

As you go from country to country, the cultural differences becomes obvious immediately. Some of these cultural differences are good, and some of them seem absolutely ridiculous to us.

Illus: For example, a tourist that was vacationing on the sunny and hot Mediterranean island of Malta was appalled by the chaotic traffic. Cars and buses were darting every which way with no apparent order.

The tourist asked his hotel keeper why it was so disorderly.

"Well," the hotel keeper replied, "In some countries they drive on the right side of the road; in others they drive on the left: Here, we drive in the shade." (Rusty & Linda Wright, _500 Clean Jokes _, p. 26.)

The story of the wedding feast, in this parable of the ten virgins, seems very different from any wedding that we have ever attended.

But while the wedding of the ten virgins might seem odd to us, the audience He was addressing when He spoke this parable knew exactly what He was talking about.

That is, according to wedding customs in ancient Palestine: