Jesus is coming again. Each day is one day closer to that Day. Jesus give many warning about that day.
Matthew 24:42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus talks about the perilous times that wait for us as the time of His coming draws closer. As we have discussed over the last few week, it matter little if Jesus actually comes or he grants us our last heartbeat. Either way, we will meet Jesus, either in the fruition of our salvation or in Judgment. Either way, we do not know when that day will be.
As we have discussed, these parables (Matthew 24:43-25:13) tell us that the time of Jesus’s coming may be sooner than expected, or later than expected. In all cases, Jesus’s coming will be unannounced and unexpected. So Jesus tells us to “be on the alert.” The NIV say “keep watch.” As we will see in today passage, this could just as easily be translated in context as to “be prepared” or “be ready” which is the sermon title of this message.
These parables about being ready all have the element of salvation for those who are prepared and ready. Judgment is in store for those who are not. In all of these parables, it was never a matter about mere belief about Jesus. The characters in these parables all knew the time was coming. Last week, in Matthew 24:43, the head of house knew the thief would be coming and in Matthew 24:45-51 the evil servant knew the master would be returning. Today’s parable about the 10 bridesmaids, all of them knew the bridegroom was coming. The question is not about belief but of preparation. Are you ready?
Matthew 25:1–13
This parable is quite a realistic portrayal of the typical middle-eastern Jewish wedding, still practiced in many villages today. A wedding was an event for the entire village. The following story is told by a visitor to Palestine many years ago:
“When we were approaching the gates of a Galilean town,” he writes, “I caught a sight of ten maidens gaily clad and playing some kind of musical instrument, as they danced along the road in front of our car; when I asked what they were doing, the [driver] told me that they were going to keep the bride company till her bridegroom arrived. I asked him if there was any chance of seeing the wedding, but he shook his head, saying in effect: ‘It might be tonight, or tomorrow night, or in a fortnight’s time; nobody ever knows for certain.’ Then he went on to explain that one of the great things to do, if you could, at a middle-class wedding in Palestine, was to catch the bridal party napping.
So the bridegroom comes unexpectedly, and sometimes in the middle of the night; it is true that he is required by public opinion to send a man along the street to shout: ‘Behold! the bridegroom is coming!’ but that may happen at any time; so the bridal party have to be ready to go out into the street at any time to meet him, whenever he chooses to come. ... Other important points are that no one is allowed on the streets after dark without a lighted lamp, and also that, when the bridegroom has once arrived, and the door has been shut, late-comers to the ceremony are not admitted.”[1]
Jesus takes this scenario of a typical wedding and compares it to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
“Virgin” in the Greek means young unmarried girls, or in context of our passage today we could very easily call them bridesmaids for their part in the wedding procession. As I had mentioned in the example, having a lamp or torch was necessary. All 10 of these bridesmaids had their lamps and the lamps were ready to meet the bridegroom. The bridesmaid were the same except for one thing:
Matthew 25:2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
Five were “foolish.” The Greek word “m?ros” where we get our English word moron. It means to be stupid, or devoid of wisdom, lacking sound judgment.
The other 5 prudent, or in some translations, wise, or sensible, meaning they have good common sense. How so?
Matthew 25:3–4 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
We need to be careful about over analyzing this. There are those who feel we must allegorize every element in the parable. There are those who say the oil represent the Holy Spirit and others say the oil means good works. I believe the oil stand for oil. I’m trying to not read too much into this story.
What made the difference is the extra oil. They all had oil in their lamps, but the wise maids brought more in a flask. If the bridegroom was delayed in coming, all the oil in the lamps would be used up. The wise brought extra oil in a small jar just in case.
Matthew 25:5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
Here again, let’s not read too much into this. Notice they all fell asleep. Not that sleeping was inherently wrong as long as they were prepared. Wedding celebrations in that culture often lasted for days, even as long as a week, so getting some rest when you could was not necessarily a bad thing.
Matthew 25:6–7 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
The cry that the bridegroom was coming went out and the bridal party went out to meet him. Being night, the lamps were adjusted. It has been a long night so obviously the lamps were low on oil.
Matthew 25:8–9 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
This is where the story turns. There is not enough oil to share. When we look at the coming of Jesus, my preparation cannot be shared with another. We each must prepare for the coming of Jesus which is obviously represented by the coming of the bridegroom. I can teach others, mentor others, pray for others, but I cannot do the actual preparation for them. Each must come to the Lord individually.
I have heard people explain their spirituality to me saying that their father, grandfather or uncle was a pastor or deacon. But that really does not matter who are family is when we stand before Jesus individually. It matters little who my mother and father or friends are. We come to Jesus individually.
Now here is where the story turns tragic.
Matthew 25:10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
Where do you go to buy oil in the middle of the night. They were oh so frantic. I know there was much regret, and wishing “if only I had done what was needed.”
All who were there for the bridegroom, all who were prepared and ready at the time of his coming went into the wedding feast. And the door was shut for everyone else.
Matthew 25:11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
Those who were oh so close but not quite ready. They went weeping and crying, “Lord, lord.” In scripture, the use of a name twice implies personal intimacy. So many examples of that throughout the Bible. Jesus: “Martha, Martha” (Luke 10:41); Jesus to Saul on the Damascus Road: “Saul, Saul” (Acts 9:4); David to His beloved son: O my son, my son, Absalom, O Absalom (2 Samuel 19:4). The cry of the foolish bridesmaids implies they knew the bridegroom well. But look at the response of the bridegroom:
Matthew 25:12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
Jesus is telling this parable to His disciples and they must have remembered these same words when Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 7:21–23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
These must be some of the most tragic words in all of scripture. Notice the 10 bridesmaids, with the exception of the oil, they all looked the same. They belonged to the same group, they even all fell asleep together. But something was missing.
This is descriptive of many our church members. There are many our churches today who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. They are not doing His will. Oh they do a great many of good things for the church. Some are Sunday School teachers, other are deacons, and some may even be pastors. Notice what Jesus says here in this passage and to the foolish bridesmaids: “I never knew you.” Again, we’re not talking about belief here. There are many in the world who believe all about Jesus. It is about a personal relationship with Him. Jesus is saying “you” never had a relationship, a relationship that saves, with Him.
What was missing? Remember even Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus was sent by Jesus to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8). Judas did wonderful things, yet he betrayed Jesus.
So we’ve done all these good things. But do we know Jesus? De we really know Him personally? Do commune with him, have lived with him day in and day out. Or has Jesus been merely something you have on the self that you take down when it's convenient?
God has not given me discernment over who is saved and who is not. You cannot always tell who is truly saved by outward appearances.
Some people may be burned out. The Christian life can be burdensome, especially in this world in which we live, which is diametrically opposed to the things of Christ. Jesus call for us to endure to the end, despite opposition. True believers, the truly saved, will endure to the end because of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.
What was missing from the foolish bridesmaids? Preparation. For the believer, taking the time to establish that ongoing personal relationship with Jesus resulting in salvation, a saving faith in Jesus. It is more than a profession of faith. Many profess faith, but they lack the very thing they profess.
From Matthew 7:22 where it says “many will say to me in that day,” and considering it was half of the bridesmaids who was shut out, it would appear that on that day, the day of Jesus’ coming, there will be a considerable number of church people to whom Jesus will say “I never knew you.”
This is a hard message for me to preach. It is relatively easy to preach about the evils in the world, but this message is for the people who call themselves Christians who are members of the church. But I am called to preach the word as I have received it.
So how are we, who claim to be saved, who claim to have that personal relationship with Jesus supposed to act? Let me bring up a few things to consider.
1 John 2:3–4 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
A huge part of discipleship is obedience. If we are truly born again and have that relationship with Jesus, we would truly want to do those things which He calls us to do, to be found in His will. Not do the good things we choose to do, but as He so directs. Herein is the problem, if we claim to be a follower of Jesus and we won’t do those things we know in our hearts we should be doing, can we say we are doing His will. We tend to substitute our "good things" over those things which we know we are called to do. we are in in His will unless we do what we are called to do.
The next thing to consider is one of attitude. How sold out to Jesus are we individually? Jesus talked about this in His parable of the costly pearl.
Matthew 13:45–46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Would we give all we have for Jesus? Would we leave all to follow Him. How much is eternity with Jesus worth to you? Have we really given all to Him?
And Lastly, I want us to consider the delay of Jesus’ coming. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Jesus to come right now. But if Jesus delays, will I grow weary in doing His will? The fact is, it will be harder in this world, as time goes by, to live for Jesus, to be faithful in doing His will. But the Scriptures is full of encouragement:
Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
2 Thessalonians 3:13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Jesus makes great promises for those who overcome and endure to the end. Read Revelation 2-3 and at the end of each letter to the seven churches makes great promises for those who overcome, to those who endure and persevere to the end.
So Jesus end this parable of the bridesmaids by saying:
Matthew 25:13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Be on the alert, be ready. Be sure of your salvation. Examine you relationship with the Lord. There is coming a time when it will be too late to do so.
The call is clear. Be ready. Are you ready today? Tomorrow may be too late.
[1] William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2, The Daily Study Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 319–320.
