Wise and Foolish Virgins/Christians
In Wisdom 6: 12-16 it tells us that wisdom is of such great importance,it ultimately determines our destiny.And we know that the beginning of wisdom is fear of, or obedience to and respect for the Lord God. We know also that Jesus is the Word and Wisdom of God. Wisdom as the term is used here is learning by observation the moral consequences of human behavior so as to serve God and neighbor diligently with love.
In the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the difference between self-described Christians who accept Jesus intellectually but who fail to live a wise Christian life is made clear. Foolish people who regard themselves as Christians keep their oil lamp of faith lit for a limited time, but have neither the patience nor diligence to complete their moral responsibilities of doing good and avoiding or repenting for sin over an entire lifetime. They run out of oil; nowadays we might say they run out of gas. They are like the foolish builder earlier in the chapter who built his house on sand rather than the wise builder who constructed his house on rock. The rock is Jesus, the Wisdom of God. The wise builder not only hears Jesus’ words, but also follows them. He is rewarded with a durable house, one that can withstand the storms in life and serve as an eternal dwell place in heaven. He chooses wisely his foundation. The work of one who builds on sand is done in vain after a severe storm destroys his house. He fails to weather the spiritual crises in his earthly life (7:24-26).
The oil in the parable has been seen as faith, (Luther) or good works (various interpreters.) Both of these would be involved in the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom would also include being prepared for any foreseeable eventuality. The foolish virgins lacked that preparedness. They could not get it in time for the heavenly banquet. They are like those others who said to Jesus,” Lord, Lord,” but were denied the heavenly kingdom.
Loss of zeal and diligence leads to unpreparedness at the end of life on earth.The oil already in the foolish virgins’ lamps is not enough for the wedding banquet of God’s kingdom. Christ the bridegroom is delayed. His coming for the final judgment is taking longer than expected. Some expected the coming during their own lifetime, and when that didn’t happen, their commitment to doing the will of God as manifest in Jesus begins to wane, like the light of their lamps.
The lamp oil that keeps the light shining might be seen as including Christian charity, although we must avoid evil as well as do good in our commitment to doing God’s will. In charity,we must live according to the Beatitudes and be like the sheep rather than the goats, the ones who cooperate with Jesus in serving his people rather than ignoring those in need. Those whom Jesus classified as goats did not realize that what they did for the least of God’s people, they did for Jesus Himself (Matthew 25:31-46). The goat-people didn’t even understand why they didn’t make it to heaven
The foolish virgins then, who lack the wisdom to be prepared for the final judgment, will not enter into the heavenly banquet. They are like the guest who showed up for another banquet without a wedding garment. He wasn’t prepared. When he could not explain why he had not done his part in response to Jesus’ invitation to salvation, he was sent away.
It may have seemed cruel for the wise virgins, who prepared themselves for the coming of the bridegroom at any hour of the night by bringing enough oil for any eventuality, to share with the foolish ones. The wise cannot help out the foolish because each one of us must work out out own salvation; we cannot live someone else’s life for them. Like the wise virgins, those who will be saved will tell the foolish virgins what they need to do to have sufficient oil, to get it from God, who is the provider rather than merchants who were the providers in the parable. Faithful Christians might be said to be providing an opportunity for learning to serve God by their good example, however. We don’t purchase our salvation; we work it out in fear and trembling. We must all be responsible representatives of God’s love. Rather than acting cruelly, then, the wise virgins, or faithful Christians, are giving good counsel, or good advice. Time, unfortunately, runs out before the doors to the heavenly banquet hall are closed to the foolish virgins. We only have one limited lifetime to prepare ourselves to share in Christ’s Resurrection.
Still, we need to be concerned for the spiritual welfare of the foolish. If we don’t warn people of wrongdoing, we too will be held responsible. ( Ezequiel 3:18). In addition, all of us act foolishly at times, sometimes habitually. Spouses are entrusted with watching out for each other spiritually, as are friends and family members. They are in a sense like guardian angels to each other, providing good counsel, good advice. Indeed, the wise have an obligation to counsel the foolish
To be wise is to heed the Word of God. It enables us to live a pure life, like that of a virgin, and pure in the sense of avoiding conflicting motivations. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes, “for they shall see God.” Those whose motivation is to serve God and neighbor will be pure in heart.
People often become less diligent in their faith lives, less eager to do God’s will because the reward for the wicked is seen to be greater than for the faithful, the pure of heart. Those who lie and cheat and steal may seem to come out ahead in wealth, power and prestige, but as Asaph wrote in the 73rd psalm about the success of the wicked:
12. Behold, these are the wicked. Always at ease, they increase in riches.
13. All in vain have I kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence.
14. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
16. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task.
17. until I went to the sanctuary of God; then I discovered their end.
18. Truly you led them in slippery places; you made them fall into ruin.
19.How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors
23. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24.You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.
.Through worship Asaph learned the value of doing God’s will despite the worldly successes
of those who were less faithful. Their temporary success was their only reward, however. Through prayer, meditation and observation Asaph learned to look to the end for the permanent results of leading a moral or immoral life. Faithfulness led to life with God in heaven,
abandoning faith to eternal rejection. Even leading a mediocre faith life would lead to God’s rejection; the lukewarm Christians are also rejected, spit out Jesus tells us later. The foolish virgins may have become lax in their faith life to the point where Jesus knew them not. Foolishly, they were likely preferring a temporary reward on earth to a permanent reward in heaven. By the time they came to that realization, it was too late; death removes all opportunity for repentance..
In addition, procrastination leads to failure.The foolish virgins in their weakened faith life could have fallen victim to procrastination. They might have lost their enthusiasm to please God who may have seemed not to be rewarding them right away.They put off doing what they needed to do until it was too late. They lacked the diligence needed to be always prepared. They assumed others would give them what they needed, They presumed that God would accept them into heaven no matter what they did or when they did it.
Procrastination means putting off doing what should be done right away for so long that it is done late or even not at all. Resolving to do something later convinces the procrastinator that the matter will be taken care of merely by intention. Such is not the case. What is merely thought about without good planning and implementation may well not get accomplished. Diligence and zeal in our faith life requires careful planning and implementing.
Lack of prioritizing is another reason for being unprepared for the final judgment.It is necessary to prioritize to finish what is most important. If we make earning money our first priority, for example, without a meaningful spiritual purpose, we can get so caught up in doing that we neglect the first priority, our spiritual welfare, and that of our neighbor. In the parable of Martha and Mary, for example, Martha is told that she is concerned about many things, but only one is necessary, listening to Jesus so as to know and accomplish his will. Other things are important. but have lower priority (Luke 10:38-42).
In Aesop’s Fables there is the well-known story of the Three Little Pigs. One builds his house of straw, but the wolf easily blows it down. It takes a little more strength for the wolf (Satan) to blow down the second house made of sticks. There is some attempt here by the pig to build a stronger house, but it is not enough. The pig who builds out of the strongest material, brick, is saved from the wolf’s efforts to blown down his house. The types of material in the fable represent the types of faith- little or none, some faith but lax, and strong faith that carefully plans and builds, considering the dangers that might have to be faced: storms, predators, etc. So it is that we must prepare for salvation, using dedication to Jesus as the strongest material, as it were.
Misinterpreting life’s pains and pleasures, procrastination or doing the less important before the more important, failure to follow the example of the faithful or to be a good example, or failure to foresee the end result or to prioritize all can lead to the lamp of our faith being extinguished for lack of diligence in serving God, for lack of oil. Instead of looking at the final judgment as coming right away or so far into the future we need not be concerned about it we must be like the Boy Scouts, whose motto is “Be prepared.” Make preparation for heaven by leading a good moral life a priority, resolving to remain always faithful to Jesus and his teachings despite life’s setbacks, which can bring us closer to rather than lead us father away from God, depending on a wise or foolish interpretation, a focus on the present here or the eternal future in heaven. In time of important decisions, consider the end result at the final judgment and choose what will make you better prepared. Consider the end.The time of Jesus’ coming is not for us to know. The time to prepare is now and always. Keep your light shining, as the song says in This Little Light of Mine.
James Kevin Bachmann, O.S.B
