THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is one of the best known of the parables of Jesus. It’s one of series of stories that our Lord told as He neared the end of His ministry in connection with His Second Advent, the end of the Day of Grace, each of them a different facet of this great truth. They are the climax of His teaching ministry. He wanted to alert His disciples to the importance of the ‘Day of the Lord’, the end of history as we know it.
Jesus was a master of story-telling! Everybody loves a wedding! The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is a real-life situation. Here is a slice of village life in Palestine. All His hearers would have been familiar with the subject, having been personally involved with this family occasion - and most of us well, although customs differ from country to country. It must be said that one feature of Jewish weddings at the time when Jesus witnessed them could pose problems: weddings in those days were a protracted affair. But that was the point that He wanted to use to illustrate the importance of being properly prepared to meet the Lord when He comes.
Honeymoons away from the home town hadn’t been invented. The couple wouldn’t go away, but stay at home and welcome their guests, the festivities often lasting for a week or two. People in the Middle East have a relaxed concept of time unlike in the West, when everything runs to a strict timetable. In our society everyone looks at the bride, but there the focus of attention is on the bridegroom! Sorry ladies! Jesus used that feature to present Himself as the bridegroom who is to come; the king who has to enter fully into His kingdom. The story highlights aspects of the Second Coming of Jesus as the heavenly bridegroom. He’s coming to take His bride (Rev 19:7), the Church; that is, all whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (21:27) as pictured in the book of the Revelation. The first point to notice is that:
HIS COMING IS CERTAIN
We’re told the ten virgins ‘went out to meet the bridegroom’ (Matt 25:1). The young ladies knew that the bridegroom was on his way and they awaited his arrival, just as today the wedding guests await the arrival of the bride. It’s true Jesus has already been on earth, some 2,000 years ago, but having accomplished His great work of making possible our salvation through His atoning death on the Cross, followed by His glorious resurrection and ascension to heaven, He is to come a second time. His disciples were told ‘This same Jesus … will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). His First Coming was to inaugurate His kingdom, breaking the power of Satan and establish the reign of God. His Second Coming is to complete what He started then, to consummate His victory over evil in the restoration of God’s universal rule.
Christians of all ages have looked forward to the Second Coming, waiting, in the words of the apostle Paul, ‘in eager expectation … in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God’ (Rom 8:19-21). Jesus is presented as the key figure in future history on whom we must keep our eyes fixed. But not only is His return Certain:
HIS COMING IS JOYFUL
Weddings the world over are the occasions for joyful celebrations, coming to a climax at ‘the wedding banquet’. Eating together is the most natural way of marking any special occasion. In fact, a wedding banquet was the scene of our Lord’s first miracle where we learn that Jesus changed water into wine at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1). But the greatest banquet of all will be the future wedding feast of the Lamb, anticipated in this parable and recorded in advance in the book of the Revelation (19:6-9) where Christ’s victory over all sin, wickedness and evil will be celebrated. It will be the ultimate Joyful occasion.
But just as in real life, there’s an unpredictable element in the story. We’re told that there was some snag in the arrangements. In the 21st century it’s normal for the bride to be delayed but here it’s the bridegroom! Details are not given. The point to note is the fact that there’s a delay. So it is with Jesus:
HIS COMING IS DELAYED
It’s 2,000 years since our Lord’s ascension into heaven. This may explain why Christians tend either to think little about the Second Advent of Christ, and even ignore prophecy altogether, or, at the other extreme, become obsessed with it and feed their enthusiasm with speculations about the signs of the times. Both are wrong, for Jesus is teaching His disciples the need for patience and watchfulness at the same time.
Christians have troubled themselves by the timing of the Second Coming. We read in Paul’s Letter to the church at Thessalonica that some believers thought that Christ’s Second Coming was so imminent that they stopped working and had to be given a stern warning by the apostle against idleness and told to ‘settle down and earn the bread they eat’ (2 Thess 3:12). In contrast to this, the apostle Peter warned of false teachers who poured scorn at the apparent delay in the Lord’s return, saying ’Where is this coming he promised?’ (1 Peter 3:4). The believers were told, ‘Do not forget, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise’ (3:8).
A third category in mistaken thinking is seen in those well-meaning Christians who choose to ignore the clear statement by Jesus that no-one knows the day or the hour of His return, ‘not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father’ (Matt 24:36). Incredibly, there have never lacked those who think they do know it. Much ink has been spilt in making confident prophecies with ingenious calculations and formula, conjured up from events and personalities in the prophetic scriptures and in history, probably to sell books to gullible readers. Inevitably the dates have gone by, leading to revised theories, only to come to grief and disillusionment that comes from disappointed hope and unwarranted predictions. We must be careful not to read in Scripture something which isn’t there at all! Jesus said He did not know the date of His Second Coming. We can be sure nobody else does.
After 2,000 years, it may appear that the Second Coming of Jesus is Delayed, but in fact this is not the case. God is working to His own timetable of events. We must not be sidetracked. So what were the implications of the bridegroom’s Certain, Joyful and Delayed Coming? The parable makes it clear that:
HIS COMING IS DIVISIVE
Jesus is inviting His listeners to consider how necessary it is to be ready at all times for His Second Advent or being summoned into His presence at death. People make fun of this as seen in the cartoon figure of the man with a sandwich–board
bearing the message: ‘Prepare to meet your God’. But it’s no joke when the call comes unexpectedly in the hazards of life. Jesus was vitally concerned that His hearers be prepared for the eternity they and we will soon enter.
The young unmarried women in the parable were of two kinds, the Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins. These girls represent the visible church. Here is a picture of Christendom. All who call themselves Christians share a common profession of faith, at least outwardly. This implies that Christians are all waiting for the coming of Jesus, just as the bridal party had been briefed to wait for the bridegroom. From all outward appearance they were prepared for his arrival. The two groups have much in common. They had been invited to the wedding and were expected to attend, equipped with their lamps for the night-time wedding. However, life isn’t always straightforward. With the delay in the bridegroom’s arrival, tiredness overtook them and they nodded off. Outwardly they were identical, but very different. We’re told that five of the bridesmaids were ‘foolish’ and five were ‘wise’. We look first at:
THE FOOLISH VIRGINS
The whole party knew the bridegroom was coming, but five of them acted as if he were not. ‘The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.’ ‘Oil’ is the symbol of preparedness. In Scripture, oil often represents the Holy Spirit. We read of God’s people knowing His anointing upon them (Heb 1:9; 1 John 2:20,27). The unwise girls were casual in their preparation and didn’t have sufficient supplies for the delay. They had some oil, illustrating that it’s possible for people to have some work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. It’s possible to have a lamp that looks good, but has no or little oil in it. These people have heard of Christ. They know His story and have some connection with church. But have they really trusted Him as their Saviour and made a definite commitment to follow Him?
There are others who have religion, rather like the Pharisees with whom Jesus had many confrontations. They looked good externally, said Jesus, but were inwardly decayed. He could see through their sham righteousness and roundly denounced them: ‘You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are … unclean’ (Matt 23:27). They didn’t honour Jesus as their Lord and at the same time scorned those who came to Jesus in simple faith and trust. The writer to the Hebrews warns of the danger of people ‘who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God’ (Heb 6:4).
They are like the people that Jesus referred to in the Parable of the Soils where He likened them to the seed which fell on a thin layer of soil on an outcrop of rock, allowing seeds to germinate but the plants could never get good roots. When the sun beat down, they withered and died. Jesus said it portrayed ‘the man who hears the word … with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time’ (Matt 13:5). It’s possible to make an enthusiastic initial response but it doesn’t last. It’s all emotion. The cost of being a Christian hasn’t been counted. In a time of trouble or persecution it’s evident that the profession of faith has been superficial. These are people who respond uncertainly to the seed of the Word – it’s “YES AND NO” – they want to keep a foot in both camps, but that’s unacceptable to our Lord.
The folly of this group literally caught them napping! ‘At midnight the cry rang out: “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”’ The girls quickly ‘trimmed their lamps’. But then catastrophe! Their lamps spluttered and went out as the oil supply was completely exhausted. It was too late to undo the damage. The foolish virgins asked for help from their colleagues but the wise ones quietly declined the request for help and directed them to ‘go to those who sell oil and buy some for themselves.’ But this was impossible at that time of night.
The moral of the tale is that there’s only one source of spiritual ‘oil’. God is the exclusive supplier and each one of us must go to Him. Our parents or our best friend’s faith isn’t transferable to us. Our church can’t supply it; it’s found only in personal faith in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. The parable clearly teaches that there’s no ‘second chance’ to be saved after this life is done. For those without the ‘oil’ of spiritual life, as for the ‘foolish virgins’, sadly it means to be shut out from the presence of the Lord but also from their loved ones who had a living relationship with Jesus. Yes, the Coming of Christ is Divisive. It will then be too late to ask for admission. Repentance and faith must come now. Someone put it like this: ‘Life is a bit like a one-innings cricket match. You can spend a long time at the crease and be bowled many gospel overs, but when the stumps fall and the bails fly, you are out, for ever!’
The ‘foolish five’ tried to find more oil but there’s no indication of success. Eventually they returned to the wedding banquet, only to find that ‘The bridegroom had arrived … and the door was shut.’ When they asked to be admitted, the master of the house replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ They were too late! Coming from the lips of Jesus, these are solemn and dreadful words: ‘I don’t want anything to do with you.’ Yes, God is a God of love, but He will not compromise His standard of righteousness when He has provided us an opportunity to be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ if we neglect to take His offer of salvation. Scripture repeatedly warns: ‘The Lord will come like a thief in the night’ (1 Thess 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). The message is: ‘Be ready for when He comes or calls.’ Happily there were:
THE WISE VIRGINS
The bridegroom arrived and the story ends on a wonderful note. We’re told that this second group of young women were ready and waiting. So what does the coming of Jesus mean for the real Christian? They ‘went in with him to the wedding banquet.’ They have immediate entrance into the presence of the Lord. That moment will mark our release from all of life’s limitations. As the apostle Paul put it, we shall be at once ‘away from the body and at home with the Lord’ (2 Cor 5:8). The Bride of Christ, the Church of the redeemed, will be united with the Bridegroom. If we die before He comes, we will be the first to be raised at His coming; if we are alive when He comes, we shall be caught up to be with Him for evermore (1 Thess 4:16,17). What a glorious hope! Jesus ended by saying ‘And the door was shut.’ This speaks not only of exclusion but of inclusion. Here there’s eternal security with Christ.
The First Advent of Jesus took the world by surprise. Although the Old Testament prophets had announced His coming, very few were awaiting His coming. Jesus’ ministry was rejected by the establishment and even after His resurrection from the dead, the Jewish nation failed to recognise Him as their Messiah, right up to this day and ‘have not gone in with the bridegroom.’ But Jesus hopes for better things of His church.
Jesus will return. The important point of the Parable is how we spend, as someone put it, ‘our short and uncertain earthly life and pilgrimage’, being ready at any time for His coming. He told another parable about an owner of a house. If he had ‘known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have left his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him’ (24:43,44). The watchword is to follow the Scout motto: ‘Be Prepared!’ So what more can we say but in the final words of Revelation, ‘Even so come, Lord Jesus’ (22:20).
(Synopsis for overhead projection)
THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS
One of Jesus’ best known parables to alert His disciples of the importance of the Second Coming
It is based on an Eastern wedding :
The Bridegroom … … … … Jesus
The Bride … … … … … The Church of Christ whose
The Guests … … … … … names are written in the
Lamb’s book of life
HIS COMING IS CERTAIN
Why? - Jesus’ disciples were told ‘This same Jesus …
will come back in the same way you have seen
him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11)
- God’s promise that ‘creation itself will be
liberated from its bondage to decay’
(Romans 8:21)
HIS COMING IS JOYFUL
Why? ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the
wedding supper of the Lamb’ (Rev 19:9)
HIS COMING IS DELAYED
Problem? Some Christians thought Jesus was sure to
return without delay and stopped working:
were told to ‘settle down and earn the
bread they eat’ (2 Thess 3:12)
HIS COMING IS DELAYED
Problem? Others were scornful of the apparent delay:
‘Where is this coming he promised?’: were
told ‘With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years’ (1 Peter 3:4,8)
HIS COMING IS DELAYED
Problem? Some try to calculate the date of His
return: were told that only the Father
knows ‘not even the angels, nor the Son’
(Matthew 24:36)
HIS COMING IS Divisive
Why? Jesus divided the Bridesmaid’s into:
THE FOOLISH VIRGINS
Why? They ‘took their lamps but did not take any
‘oil’ with them.’ Scripture often represents
the Holy Spirit.
Examples: - The Pharisees: good externally but
inwardly decayed. Jesus called them
‘whitewashed tombs … inside are unclean’
(Matt 23:27)
- Like seed sown on an outcrop of rock:
‘hears the word with joy … but lasts only
a short time’ Matthew 13:5)
THE FOOLISH VIRGINS
What happened when the midnight cry came: ‘Here comes
the Bridegroom!’?
- The oil in their lamps ran out! No time to
replenish and could not borrow any! Too late!
- Arrived at the wedding banquet but the door was
shut! The master of the house said: ‘I don’t know
you.’
THE FOOLISH VIRGINS
The moral of the parable: ‘Be ready when Jesus comes or calls.’
Scripture warns: ‘The Lord will come like a thief in the night’ (1 Thess 5:2)
THE WISE VIRGINS
Why? They were ready and waiting for the bridegroom:
‘went in with him to the wedding banquet.’
What this means for the Christian?
- Release from all life’s limitations: ‘away from the
body and at home with the Lord’ (2 Cor 5:8)
- If we die before He comes: ‘the first to be raised’
- If we are alive when He comes: ‘caught up to be with
Him for evermore’ (1 Thess 4:16,17)
The moral of the parable: ‘be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him’ (Matthew 24:43,44).
Follow the Scout motto: ‘Be Prepared!’
‘Even so come, Lord Jesus’ (Rev 22:20)
